NHL Playoffs 2024: Updated Odds, Betting Advice for Stanley Cup Final

The 2024 Stanley Cup Final has two distinct narratives in play.

Connor McDavid is playing in his first championship series with the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton declared "Stanley Cup or bust" at the start of the season and it endured some tough times to reach this point of the season.

The Florida Panthers have had their eyes on the cup since they lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights last season.

Florida possesses the better overall roster and it flexed that during its run through the Eastern Conference.

The Panthers are the slight favorite to lift the cup, but McDavid carries the lowest odds to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for the series' Most Valuable Player.

Series Odds

Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

SUNRISE, FL - JUNE 01: Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) chews on his mouthpiece before a face-off win the third period during game six of the Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Ranges and the Florida Panthers on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

To Win Stanley Cup

Florida (-135; bet $135 to win $100)

Edmonton (+115; bet $100 to win $115)

Game 1 Odds

Florida (-142)

Edmonton (+120)

Over/Under: 5.5

Florida is a slight favorite to win Game 1 and the Stanley Cup.

The Panthers showcased their overall team skills in the Eastern Conference Final. Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe were key points of the offensive success.

Florida's defensive game plan smothered Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider and took them out of the series.

The Eastern Conference champion has an even tougher defensive task guarding McDavid and Co. for as many as seven games.

Edmonton could have the betting edge in the eyes of fans because it has the best player on its roster in McDavid.

The McDavid-Zach Hyman-Leon Draisaitl power play unit has been lethal in every round, and if Florida can't stop that, the Panthers will be in trouble.

The Oilers need to be a bit better on the road to compete with the Panthers. They have not won consecutive road games in the postseason. They have also started slow. They were down after Game 3 in their last two series against the Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars.

Florida needs to be better at home. The Panthers dropped three home contests in the last two rounds against the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.

If Florida dictates the pace of play, a lot of unders could hit in the series. The Panthers have had five or fewer goals scored in each of their last six wins.

Four of the last five Edmonton wins went under 5.5 goals as well, so the unders may be the way to bet the single games despite all the offensive firepower on both sides.

Conn Smythe Trophy

Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images

EDMONTON, CANADA - JUNE 02: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers warms up ahead of Game Six of the Western Conference Final of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place on June 2, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

Connor McDavid (+190)

Aleksandar Barkov (+400)

Sergei Bobrovsky (+450)

Matthew Tkachuk (+550)

Leon Draisaitl (+900)

Evan Bouchard (+1100)

Carter Verhaeghe (+2200)

Gustav Forsling (+5000)

Sam Reinhart (+7500)

Zach Hyman (+10000)

McDavid is the obvious favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

If Edmonton wins Canada's first Stanley Cup since 1993, McDavid will most likely be a focal point of every success.

McDavid has 31 points (five goals, 26 assists) through three postseason rounds. He has three more points than Leon Draisaitl and four more than Evan Bouchard.

McDavid has been lacking in the scoring department, which is why Draisaitl or Zach Hyman could be in position to steal the Conn Smythe from him.

Hyman has 14 postseason tallies, while Drasaitl scored 10 times in the playoffs. A majority of their goals will be assisted by McDavid, but you could make the argument that their scoring prowess is more important than the passes McDavid dishes out.

Draisaitl has a better Conn Smythe case because he has played on a separate line from McDavid and Hyman for most of the postseason. He could have some goals and assists away from the power play that will not be helped by McDavid.

Matthew Tkachuk leads the Panthers with 19 playoff points. Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe have 17 each. Verhaeghe is the team's leading scorer with nine goals.

Verhaeghe's scoring ability could separate him from the other Conn Smythe candidates on the Florida roster.

Of course, all of the scoring may not matter if goalie play dominates the series. That would give Sergei Bobrovsky the edge in the Conn Smythe conversation.

Bobrovsky is the more likely goalie to have an incredible series, and if Florida keeps up its stout defensive play, he could allow fewer than two goals per game.

Other Series Props

Codie McLachlan/Getty Images

EDMONTON, CANADA - JUNE 02: Zach Hyman #18 of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period in Game Six of the Western Conference Final of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on June 02, 2024 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

There are an abundance of other props to look at for the Stanley Cup Final.

If you think Hyman will score but not win the Conn Smythe because of McDavid, you could look to his scoring props.

Hyman is +360 to have the most goals in the series. He sits at +125 to score four goals in the series and +300 to net five tallies.

McDavid is the favorite to have the most points at +140. Draisaitl is the second favorite at +330. There is some value there if you believe Florida wins the series.

Barkov has the lowest odds for most points from the Florida roster at +800. Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Verhaeghe are all between +900 and +1100.

The stars will likely control the series-long props, but DraftKings has a few goal-specific props that can be taken advantage of.

Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins both have plus-money prices to score two goals in the series. They are the two other pieces of Edmonton's deadly power play.

Gustav Forsling and Mattias Ekholm each have four postseason goals. They are long shots to to have two goals in the series at +400 and +600, respectively. They are worth a look on that prop because they have two of the highest shot volumes among defensemen in the series.

The overall goal total is set at 32.5 for the series. Both teams went under that number in the conference finals. Edmonton's clash with Dallas had 31 total goals, while the Panthers and Rangers combined for 27 goals. Only three of the six series involving both teams this postseason went over 32 goals.

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