Updated Stanley Cup Odds - April 16th Edition

Updated Stanley Cup Odds – April 16th Edition

Written by on April 16, 2018

The first round of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup playoffs has gotten off to a lopsided beginning, as seven of the eight series featured 2-0 series leads for one team or the other. Some of the wins haven’t been pretty, such as Tampa Bay needing to ride goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to a Game Two win, and Colorado pushing Nashville hard in Games One and Two, only to come up empty. Boston looked like the most dominant team in the first two games of the playoffs, but their collapses in seasons past have them down the list here. It’s no surprise to see Nashville as the sports betting favorite to hoist the Cup, since they made the Finals last year and won the President’s Trophy for the best record in the regular season this year. Check out our Stanley Cup odds on the 16 teams tangling for the championship.

Updated Stanley Cup Odds – April 16th Edition

Nashville

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +350
Nashville is showing that even the top teams need to get breaks once in a while. Colorado had been putting on the pressure and pushing the Predators hard, but Nashville came away with the luck, as P.K. Subban got away with a trip in his own end that turned into an odd-man rush for the Preds and a breakaway goal for Ryan Johansen. 

Tampa Bay

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +500
Tampa Bay has an elite offense, but it wasn’t their offense that brought them Game Two against New Jersey, as the Devils put 44 shots on the Tampa Bay net. Luckily, they had Vasilevskiy in net to make save after save, and they converted enough New Jersey mistakes to put four of their own goals on the board, including two with the man advantage. 

Boston, Vegas

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +550
Boston is getting terrific play out of their top line of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, combining for 20 total points in the first two games of their series against the Maple Leafs. Pastrnak had a hat trick and six total points all by himself in the Game Two win on Saturday — a game that saw Boston score four goals in their first seven shots. A lot of observers (including this writer) saw Vegas folding under the pressure of the postseason against a seasoned Kings roster. All Vegas has done is deliver a pair of wins to open the series at home. Could we really be looking at an expansion team winning the Cup? 

Winnipeg

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +750
When the playoffs started, we had Winnipeg listed as a team that had the youth and the discipline to roll to a playoff series win — if not two or three. They’re showing no signs of disappointing. 

Pittsburgh

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +900
The Penguins-Flyers series has seen three routs so far — two big wins by Pittsburgh, and one by Philadelphia, as the teams have taken turns winning games. The Penguins have the postseason experience (and Sidney Crosby), and the Flyers have the energy of a youth movement. The Flyers have already exposed that creaky Pittsburgh defense in their Game Two win. Can they even the series in Game Four and put the screws to Pittsburgh. 

Columbus, San Jose

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +1400
It looks like Columbus already has Washington on the ropes, heading down to DC and coming away with a pair of wins to open the series. Washington has a history of collapsing in the playoffs, but losing like this to a wild card team would take the history of collapsing to new depths. The San Jose Sharks continue to be one of the more intrepid postseason teams in the Western Conference. Once again, they head on the road in an early round and simply win, delivering a pair of victories in Anaheim to head back to the Bay Area with a hammerlock on the series. 

Washington, Toronto

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +3300
We had a lot to say about the youth movement in Toronto heading into this series. However, the Boston defense has shut down the Toronto attack so far. Star forward Auston Matthews still has yet to tally a single point for the Leafs. As the series returns home, he will need to lead the offense if the Leafs have any thoughts of taking this series back down south of the border. What has happened to the Washington Capitals? They’ve decided to panic and stop playing defense — and the blue-collar Blue Jackets have taken advantage. Will the Blue Jackets finish Washington off in four games? 

Philadelphia, Minnesota

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +4000
The Flyers’ youth movement needs to come back and send the series to Pittsburgh tied up — or else, the Penguins will win this in five.

Anaheim

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +5000
The Ducks are perfectly capable of going to San Jose and winning a pair of games to reestablish home ice. But will home ice matter?

New Jersey

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +5500
The Devils show a real lack of speed and skill in their series against Tampa Bay. Don’t be fooled into thinking that changing to goalie Cory Schneider will alter the momentum.

Los Angeles

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +8000
Yes, there are a lot of Kings who have their name on the Stanley Cup from the Kings’ two prior wins. But the Golden Knights don’t seem to care…yet.

Colorado

  • 2018 Stanley Cup Odds: +10000
This seems like an immense moneyline for a team that has given Nashville a pair of tough games on the road. This moneyline is less an indictment of the wild-card Avalanche than an affirmation of how complete a team Nashville is, and how difficult it will be for the Avalanche to get buy them to the second round.