Stanley Cup Odds for Every NHL Team Ahead of the 2014-15 NHL Season
What chance do the Los Angeles Kings have of defending their Stanley Cup championship after three consecutive deep playoff runs? Which teams in both the East and the West have the best chance of overtaking the Kings and claiming the 2015 title?
After a careful analysis of each team's roster, we've assigned Cup odds to all 30 NHL teams. In a league with parity, there aren't many teams well and truly out of the mix, and these numbers reflect that reality.
Read on for a breakdown of the championship odds of all 30 NHL teams as well as a description of what is working in each team's favour and what is working against them in their pursuit of hockey's Holy Grail.
Buffalo Sabres
1 of 30
Working in their favour: Buffalo added a pile of veterans during the offseason in the hopes of improving the team's on-ice performance. Matt Moulson, Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges and Andrej Meszaros all came over without subtracting any players from the roster and they should help.
Working against them: It isn't a coincidence that the Sabres have eight players who are pending unrestricted free agents. This is not a good team, and it's all set for another fire sale at the trade deadline.
Odds: 500-1
Calgary Flames
2 of 30
Working in their favour: Calgary has a legitimate NHL blue line, and if Mark Giordano is healthy for the whole season, that will help tremendously. Additionally, Jonas Hiller gives them the proven goalie they lacked last season.
Working against them: The forward group really isn't very good. Jiri Hudler is probably the team's top offensive threat and the forgettable Matt Stajan centres the first line.
Odds: 250-1
Florida Panthers
3 of 30
Working in their favour: The Panthers spent a lot of money in the offseason, bringing in veterans like Jussi Jokinen, Dave Bolland and Willie Mitchell to shore up the team. More importantly, they addressed their biggest weakness by bringing in goaltender Roberto Luongo at the trade deadline.
Working against them: The Panthers didn't have one skater crack the 40-point barrier in 2013-14, and they didn't add significant scoring in the summer. Bolland is a third-line pivot and Jokinen is a complementary player offensively. They will help, but they won't be enough.
Odds: 150-1
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Carolina Hurricanes
4 of 30
Working in their favour: New head coach Bill Peters will bring fresh eyes to an organization that has struggled in recent seasons. The forward corps boasts some high-end weaponry, particularly in Eric Staal and Alex Semin. The team also potentially has two capable No. 1 goalies (Anton Khudobin and Cam Ward) on the depth chart.
Working against them: The forward depth wasn't all that good to begin with, and a serious injury to Jordan Staal isn't going to help matters. The defence lacks top-flight talent and is only middling depth-wise.
Odds: 90-1
Edmonton Oilers
5 of 30
Working in their favour: The Oilers have an impressive collection of young talent, and an active general manager in Craig MacTavish has made significant upgrades at wing and on defence. The goaltending is a little uncertain, but Edmonton has two guys in Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth who could emerge as starters.
Working against them: The centre position is a question mark, with not much there beyond Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and the defence still lacks top-end players. Neither position is a match for the best teams in the West.
Odds: 90-1
Winnipeg Jets
6 of 30
Working in their favour: The Jets don't have many marquee names, but the forward group is deep and capable. The defence would be too, if that's where Dustin Byfuglien was playing. Instead, he'll take his talents to right wing.
Working against them: The Jets' goaltending duo of Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson is probably the worst in the NHL, and the defence in front of them is only middling.
Odds: 90-1
Ottawa Senators
7 of 30
Working in their favour: Ottawa has a wizard as its No. 1 defenceman in Erik Karlsson, a solid goaltending duo in Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner and a pretty decent collection of young talent up front. With a break or two, that might be enough to make it out of the East.
Working against them: The summer departure of Jason Spezza is a big blow, and the moves the team has made suggest it doesn't have the willingness to compete financially with the rest of the league.
Odds: 80-1
Nashville Predators
8 of 30
Working in their favour: Nashville just missed the playoffs last season while getting AHL-level goaltending for more than half the schedule. Assuming Pekka Rinne is back to 100 percent, the team should be much improved, and an injection of offence in the offseason in the form of former 40-goal scorer James Neal won't hurt, either.
Working against them: The defence is still young, and the scoring will have to come largely from reclamation projects like Derek Roy and Mike Ribeiro. It's going to be difficult for either group to help the team make it out of the tough West.
Odds: 80-1
Toronto Maple Leafs
9 of 30
Working in their favour: Phil Kessel is a superstar, and the Maple Leafs have worked hard over the summer to improve the depth behind him up front. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier was superb for the team last season, and James Reimer might be the NHL's best backup.
Working against them: The defence corps is suspect, and head coach Randy Carlyle, who has guided the team to miserable possession results in his two-plus seasons at the helm, remains in place.
Odds: 65-1
Arizona Coyotes
10 of 30
Working in their favour: The Coyotes have a strong defence headlined by a legitimate star in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, reasonably capable goaltending in Mike Smith, and Dave Tippett is one of the best coaches in hockey.
Working against them: As always, the biggest question in Arizona pertains to goal scoring. The team's forward corps leans heavily on kids and reclamation projects.
Odds: 65-1
Philadelphia Flyers
11 of 30
Working in their favour: Claude Giroux was a deserving Hart Trophy candidate last season, but he doesn't get the press a franchise player like him really deserves. Philadelphia has three different forward duos that form the backbone of a very capable group.
Working against them: Starting goalie Steve Mason is an uncertain bet for the top job, and the defence is flat-out ugly with Kimmo Timonen sidelined with injury.
Odds: 55-1
Washington Capitals
12 of 30
Working in their favour: Barry Trotz is an excellent coach, and if he can adapt his style to a very different team than the one he coached in Nashville, he should be a valuable asset. Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are an all-world duo, and the defence was upgraded over the summer.
Working against them: Behind Backstrom, the centre position is a question mark, and the team lacks top-end players on defence. Depth on the wings is also a concern.
Odds: 55-1
New York Islanders
13 of 30
Working in their favour: For the first time in seemingly forever, the Islanders have a decent goaltender (Jaroslav Halak), and their forward corps boasts both depth and top-flight talent. They should be vastly improved from 2013-14.
Working against them: Even in the East, the team's defence simply isn't good enough. The team will lean heavily on youth (Travis Hamonic, Calvin de Haan, maybe Griffin Reinhart) and 38-year-old Lubomir Visnovsky.
Odds: 55-1
Columbus Blue Jackets
14 of 30
Working in their favour: Sergei Bobrovsky has looked like a franchise goalie over the last two seasons. Assuming restricted free agent Ryan Johansen gets signed, the Jackets have a really nice one-two-three punch down the middle, some decent wingers and an underrated group on defence.
Working against them: Johansen is still a restricted free agent as of this writing, Nathan Horton's health remains a question mark, and advanced stats horror-show Jack Johnson is still a top-four defenceman on the team.
Odds: 45-1
New Jersey Devils
15 of 30
Working in their favour: The Devils always seem to be better than the sum of their parts. The departure of Martin Brodeur removes the team's primary 2013-14 millstone, which should help a pretty decent possession team improve on last season's showing.
Working against them: The defence corps is basically composed of Andy Greene and spare parts, while too many forwards are past their best-before date. An injury to goaltender Cory Schneider would be catastrophic.
Odds: 45-1
Colorado Avalanche
16 of 30
Working in their favour: Patrick Roy's triumphant return to the NHL saw the Avs put together an exceptional record on the basis of shooting and save percentage; the analytics crowd doesn't trust the performance, but it worked last season. A group of exceptional young forwards and a suddenly brilliant Semyon Varlamov represent Colorado's best shot at improvement.
Working against them: The defence is shoddy and Varlamov is only one season removed from a .903 save-percentage performance. If those percentages fall off, this will be a team in real trouble.
Odds: 45-1
Vancouver Canucks
17 of 30
Working in their favour: Everything that could possibly go wrong did in a disastrous 2013-14 campaign that got the team's coach and general manager fired. The Canucks have pretty decent talent at all positions and should be much improved in 2014-15.
Working against them: Both defence (minus Jason Garrison) and centre (minus Ryan Kesler) are a little weaker than they have been in recent years, and it's a lot tougher to come out of the West than it is the East.
Odds: 45-1
Detroit Red Wings
18 of 30
Working in their favour: Crippling injuries and a bad year from goaltender Jimmy Howard made the Red Wings look much weaker than they really are. With a mix of healthy veterans and emerging youngsters, this is a deep and dangerous team up front, and Howard has been much better over his career than he was in 2013-14. The Wings would be in trouble in the West, but their odds are improved considerably in the East.
Working against them: The defensive group is only mediocre and suffers from a lack of right-handed shots. Health from the veterans probably can't be taken for granted given the age of many at this point, and Daniel Alfredsson will leave a hole if he opts to retire. Pavel Datsyuk's preseason injury also bodes ill for a team that needs to put injuries in the rear-view mirror.
Odds: 35-1
Montreal Canadiens
19 of 30
Working in their favour: A franchise goalie and a franchise defenceman is a pretty decent starting point for any team, and Montreal has both in Carey Price and P.K. Subban. The team also boasts reasonable depth at all positions.
Working against them: The top-end talent up front in Montreal is some distance shy of the best teams in the league. Tomas Plekanec is often criminally underrated, but he isn't the No. 1 forward on most contenders.
Odds: 25-1
Anaheim Ducks
20 of 30
Working in their favour: Anaheim's forward group has both top-end talent and solid depth. The duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry combines a nasty physical game and top-end offensive skills with the ability to play a brilliant possession game regardless of who else is on their line.
Working against them: The defence has decent depth, but at the top end, Cam Fowler doesn't match up with the best in the West. The team's trio of goalies are uncertain at best, featuring two guys with a combined 31 NHL regular-season games (Frederik Andersen, John Gibson) and a veteran (Jason LaBarbera) who was just barely a .900 save-percentage goalie in the AHL one season ago.
Odds: 25-1
New York Rangers
21 of 30
Working in their favour: The defending Eastern Conference champions retain many of their advantages from last season. Henrik Lundqvist is one of the few indisputably elite goaltenders in the NHL, and the defence corps in front of him is quite good. The forward group has some standouts and quite a few underrated players.
Working against them: It wasn't a great offseason for the Rangers; the team's forward depth took some significant blows, and Derek Stepan's broken leg makes things worse. The addition of Dan Boyle on defence does not completely make up for the loss of Anton Stralman.
Odds: 25-1
Dallas Stars
22 of 30
Working in their favour: The Stars have a wicked one-two punch down the middle in Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza, and boast some extremely good wing options to round out the group. The bottom-six forward spots are loaded with capable veterans, too. Goaltender Kari Lehtonen is solid.
Working against them: The defence, led by Alex Goligoski, Trevor Daley and (the still unsigned) Brenden Dillon, sticks out like a sore thumb on a team that is a legitimate contender in other areas.
Odds: 20-1
Tampa Bay Lightning
23 of 30
Working in their favour: Steven Stamkos is a franchise talent, and he's backed up at forward by an emerging group of young forwards and a coach who has familiarity with all of them. The defence was massively upgraded with the additions of Anton Stralman and Jason Garrison, and if Ben Bishop can show the same form next season, they'll be golden in net.
Working against them: The forward group is still young, with many players a few years away from the hearts of their careers. Ben Bishop's short career (108 NHL games) means he's still a bit of a risk in net.
Odds: 20-1
Minnesota Wild
24 of 30
Working in their favour: An already-imposing forward corps is on the upswing. The team's underrated group of young skaters is now a year better, and the addition of Thomas Vanek adds another impact forward to an already deep group. On defence, Ryan Suter is an excellent linchpin.
Working against them: After Suter, the quality of the defence falls off precipitously, and even general manager Chuck Fletcher probably doesn't know who the team's No. 1 goalie is going to be.
Odds: 18-1
San Jose Sharks
25 of 30
Working in their favour: Frankly, the Sharks have an incredible top-six group—a mix of seasoned veterans and younger forwards that can go toe to toe with any team in the game. The defence isn't bad, either; Marc-Edouard Vlasic is an elite defender, and Brent Burns' return to the blue line should bolster the group.
Working against them: Depending on what the Sharks do, they could ice the worst bottom-six forward group in the West. Questions abound at every position after an offseason where management signalled massive changes but nothing much happened.
Odds: 16-1
St. Louis Blues
26 of 30
Working in their favour: The Blues are a legitimate contender. The forward group is deep and capable, and the defence is anchored by the oft-overlooked Alex Pietrangelo. The addition of Paul Stastny adds some firepower up the middle.
Working against them: Goaltending is a question mark, and the lack of a top-flight sniper has yet to be addressed. The loss of the brilliant Vladimir Sobotka to the KHL will hurt more than most realize, even with the team's offseason additions.
Odds: 14-1
Pittsburgh Penguins
27 of 30
Working in their favour: The Penguins have two of the five best players in the game of hockey up front in superstar centres Sidney Corsby and Evgeni Malkin, and that always makes them a contender. The forward depth is improved from a year ago, while the addition of Christian Ehrhoff and good health for Kris Letang will bolster the defence.
Working against them: The depth up front is better, but it still isn't on par with the top teams in the league. A key factor here will be the coach's willingness to use Thomas Greiss if Marc-Andre Fleury struggles in the postseason.
Odds: 14-1
Boston Bruins
28 of 30
Working in their favour: The Bruins' biggest advantage might be playing in the East; the road to the Stanley Cup Final is a lot easier for them than it is for a comparable Western Conference contender. But this is also a brilliant team. The forward corps is deep and is headlined by one of the two or three best two-way pivots in the NHL in Patrice Bergeron. An aging Zdeno Chara is still potent on defence and anchors a deep group, and Tuukka Rask might be the best goalie in the league.
Working against them: Salary-cap issues are going to make the season a delicate dance, and the closer Chara gets to 40, the less he's going to resemble the franchise player he's been for so long.
Odds: 10-1
Los Angeles Kings
29 of 30
Working in their favour: The defending Stanley Cup champions have it all. The forward corps is a big, tough, brilliant possession group that got an injection of pure offensive talent late in 2013-14 with the addition of Marian Gaborik. The defence could be a little deeper but has good talent and arguably the best blueliner in the NHL in Drew Doughty. Jonathan Quick's reputation probably exceeds his ability, but he's a good No. 1 goaltender. This is an exceptional team in all positions.
Working against them: Playoff fatigue may end up being a factor; the team has played 64 playoff games over the last three seasons, and after a while, that's going to wear. The second and third pairs of the defence corps were vulnerable at times during last season's run.
Odds: 9-1
Chicago Blackhawks
30 of 30
Working in their favour: Chicago's collection of talent is almost unfair. An already deep, capable forward group had its biggest weakness (No. 2 centre) addressed in the offseason in the form of Brad Richards, and at the top end, the duo of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane is hard to beat. The defence is exceptional, too; the Blackhawks have arguably the best top-four group in the NHL led by Duncan Keith.
Working against them: Corey Crawford has proved himself capable of winning behind this group, but he's probably in the bottom half of NHL starters in terms of ability. Salary-cap issues are going to force cuts somewhere, and this isn't a particularly big team.
Odds: 8-1
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