On October 10, the Vegas Golden Knights commence the 2023/24 NHL season by lifting their first Stanley Cup banner to the rafters a mere six years after entering the league.
However, somewhat strangely, the Golden Knights don’t return to the top of the odds, or even particularly close, despite being the reigning champions. Instead, Vegas starts the season at +1100.
Ahead of them are five other teams ranging from being at +800 to +1000, which tells you that even the oddsmakers behind the NHL futures still aren’t overly sure about which teams are the outright frontrunners.
Here, we’re looking at the leading contenders for the 2024 Stanley Cup, as well as a team that’s perhaps being overlooked right now.
Toronto Maple Leafs (+800)
Itching to break the three-decade wait for Canada to welcome home the Stanley Cup, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the favourites to conquer all in 2023/24.
Outright Winner - Toronto Maple Leafs
Under new general manager Brad Treliving, the Buds had a fairly decent offseason that clearly points to a desire to score more goals. Not only was Auston Matthews locked down for a record fee, but John Klingberg joined the blueline corps.
Klingberg is one of the most outright offence-minded of all of the top-tier defensemen in the league, and while his puck-moving skill is superb, he’s certainly left wanting when backtracking to the defensive end.
Still, this is a very strong Maple Leafs team, and as we’ve seen from Conor Timmins’ preseason, there’s plenty of depth and competition to help carry Toronto through an arduous regular season.
Finally getting over that First Round hurdle was huge for this hockey team, and now, the likes of Matthews, John Tavares, Mitchell Marner, William Nylander, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Morgan Rielly look primed for a run at the Cup.
Should the Maple Leafs be the favourites at +800, though? There seems to be a bit of a lack of defensive depth, but if Ilya Samsonov improves again in what is a contract year, he should be able to cover.
Colorado Avalanche (+850)
The year after winning the Stanley Cup, the Colorado Avalanche found a whole host of its top players suffering a bunch of injuries.
Outright Winner - Colorado Avalanche
Nathan MacKinnon missed 12 games, Cale Makar missed 22, Artturi Lehkonen was away for 18 games, Valeri Nichushkin only made 53 appearances, Bowen Byram played 42 games, Erik Johnson was limited to 63 games, and Gabriel Landeskog missed the whole season.
Regardless, a second-half surge propelled the Avs to the top of the Central Division and into the playoffs. They couldn’t stay hot in the postseason, but an extended summer break is exactly what the team needed.
A surprise bright spark for the Avalanche throughout was Alexandar Georgiev. Signed to play his first full season as a starter, the Bulgaria-born netminder played 62 games to keep a .919 SV% and 2.51 GAA.
Over the offseason, GM Chris MacFarland made a few savvy moves. Jonathan Drouin joins the ranks on a one-year, $825,000 deal, and Tomáš Tatar adds some depth scoring after his 48-point campaign for $1.5 million over one year.
Given the age of the incredibly talented core, and even with Landeskog set to miss another season, the Avs should be coming back very strong this season, warranting their +850 odds and standing as narrow second-favourites.
Edmonton Oilers (+900)
Having Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same roster seems unfair, but when you throw in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, an Evander Kane who’s enjoying his hockey, Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, and Evan Bouchard, the Edmonton Oilers look like true contenders.
Outright Winner - Edmonton Oilers
Even though much of the same team is returning that outscored the rest of the league by at least 20 goals, the average of 3.17 goals per game is troubling and ultimately what led to the 50-23-9 record.
Still, the high-powered offence was ultimately enough to pull the Oilers to the Second Round, but the stacked Vegas team was a step too far.
In the rather weak Pacific Division, few would doubt the Edmonton Oilers snagging a divisional position to get to the playoffs, but from there, it might just come down to getting lucky with their goalies.
Jack Campbell certainly underwhelmed with his 34 games for a 3.41 GAA and .888 SV%, but there was hope provided by Stuart Skinner in his first full season with .913 SV% and 2.75 GAA from 48 starts.
However, in 14 more starts than Campbell, Skinner only put up seven more wins. The Oilers will need Skinner to cement himself as a top NHL starting netminder this season to be in with a real shot at the crown.
Even so, in the NHL betting this season, the Oilers will invariably be favoured to win games and often score over 4.5 goals.
Carolina Hurricanes (+1000)
The Carolina Hurricanes have been playing superb hockey for a good few years now. They’ve gone to the playoffs and won at least one series in each of the last five seasons and have won their division three years running.
Outright Winner - Carolina Hurricanes
Last season, for the first time since 2018/19, the Canes went to the Conference Finals, but once again, they bowed out 4-0 to the eventual Stanley Cup runners-up.
While there are some undisputedly talented players on this roster, there isn’t a standout star that everything relies upon, with even names like Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Andrei Svechnikov, and Brent Burns, they’re all parts of a much greater whole.
Everything looks to be going the right way for Carolina, especially with goalies Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta staying on the books for cheap, and Dmitry Orlov joining to enhance an already vaunted blueline group.
The Vegas Golden Knights powered their way to the Cup with a full team effort and tremendous strength in depth, and the Hurricanes could do the exact same thing in 2023/24. Perhaps their +1000 odds are a bit long.
Dallas Stars (+1700)
Throwing in a dark horse contender, the Dallas Stars appear to be overlooked among the 2024 Stanley Cup favourites, especially as their +1700 odds place them joint-ninth with the Los Angeles Kings.
Outright Winner - Dallas Stars
The Stars made it to the Conference Finals last season, only losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in six games, and return with what is arguably a strong team.
Just as importantly, only the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins conceded fewer goals than Dallas’ 218 goals against last season, re-establishing their mighty defence from 2018/19 and 2019/20.
Headlined by Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Ryan Suter, and Jani Hakanpää, this defence won’t concede many when it’s mostly healthy.
Throw in leading Vezina Trophy candidate Jake Oettinger, and Dallas looks to have the best defence in the NHL. Even the Oilers would struggle to score thrice against the Stars when they’re fit and on form.
At the other end of the ice, Tyler Seguin, Max Domi, Wyatt Johnston, and Joe Pavelski scored 20 or more goals and at least 20 blocks; Jamie Benn and Roope Hintz scored more than 30 and blocked more than 35 shots; and then Jason Robertson topped the lot with 46 goals and 109 points.
The Maple Leafs, Oilers, Avalanche, and Hurricanes open the betting as the Stanley Cup favourites, but on paper, perhaps the Stars should be thrown into that mix.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to AP Photo*
