The All-Star break is an excellent time to break away from the grid of nightly NHL matchups and look forward. With no games on the NHL schedule today, we’re looking ahead at futures betting lines and exploring the Eastern Conference Championship in 2023.
The Eastern Conference features the top four teams in the NHL standings and five of the top six. Before looking at the betting lines, this gives us five potential candidates for our NHL picks. Is there a long shot outside the top five teams that could be this season’s team of destiny?
Boston Bruins +280
Did you think any other team would be first on this list?
The Boston Bruins are the best team in the NHL, with an astonishing 39-7-5 record. The Bruins’ incredible season gets more impressive when you look at their NHL stats. The Bruins are the second-highest-scoring team in the NHL, averaging 3.73 goals per game, which is one-one hundred below the high-scoring Edmonton Oilers (3.74 gpg), while Boston has the sixth-ranked power play converting at 25.1%.
Defensively, the Bruins goaltending duo of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have kept the opposition to a collective 2.12 gpg, which is far and away the best in the NHL. The Bruins have the best penalty-killing unit in the NHL, operating at 85.8%.
The Boston Bruins are the vegas favorites to win the Stanley Cup, let alone standing alone at the top of the Eastern Conference Championship odds. You might want to get in on the Bruins before this line moves into the -125 region as the season progresses.
David Pastrnak is set to cash in this off-season and leads the Bruins in NHL player stats with 72 points (38 goals, 34 assists) in 51 games.
Carolina Hurricanes +500
Imagine a team putting together a 34-9-8 record, which leads the division, but has you ranked second overall in the league and the underdog on NHL odds against a team that is apparently better than you.
That’s the situation the Carolina Hurricanes find themselves in the Eastern Conference: the best team in their division, one of the truly elite teams in the league, and still staring up the NHL standings at a better team, with Carolina currently second in the NHL’s overall standings.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, goaltending is as important as any aspect of the game toward a team’s success. The Hurricanes have three goalies they can call on at any time to get a win after the emergence of Pyotr Kochteckov as the goalie of the future, while Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta spent considerable time on the NHL injury report this season.
Carolina Hurricanes’ three-headed goaltending monster has combined to keep teams to 2.61 goals per game.
The Hurricanes should emerge from the Metropolitan Divison, making their Eastern Conference Championship odds more likely to hit in the spring.
Toronto Maple Leafs +450
The Toronto Maple Leafs have the largest, rabid, and most disappointed fans in the league, which should account for the Leafs having better odds of winning the Eastern Conference than the Carolina Hurricanes.
But this Maple Leafs squad is a real Stanley Cup contender and is currently ranked third overall in the NHL standings with a 31-13-8 record. Toronto is averaging 3.37 gpg, while the Leafs’ goaltending has been impressive, despite injuries, ranked seventh overall and giving up 2.67 gpg.
However, Toronto has the misfortune of playing in the same division as the best team in hockey, the Bruins, and the three-time reigning, defending Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. To have a chance at cashing on these Eastern Conference Championship odds, the Maple Leafs will have to defeat the Bruins and Lightning to get to the Eastern Conference finals.
Yeah, best of luck with that Toronto.
Maple Leafs’ fans might experience another traumatic playoff in 2023, but this might be the year the Leafs actually escape the Atlantic Divison and make it to the conference finals and maybe even an ultra-elusive Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
Tampa Bay Lightning +600
The only thing the Tampa Bay Lightning do is have incredibly successful and quiet seasons, roll into the playoffs, and win. It seems like the Tampa Bay Lightning are always quietly under the radar but end up with deep playoff runs annually.
The Lightning has emerged from the Atlantic division and won the Eastern Conference in the previous three seasons, winning two Stanley Cups in the process. Tampa Bay is ranked sixth in the NHL with a 32-15-1 record and is the third Atlantic Division team in the top-6 teams in the league.
While Tampa is giving up 2.92 gpg, the Lightning are ranked fourth in the NHL, averaging 3.63 gpg.
Clearly, the Lightning are a team worth wagering on at +600 in the Eastern Conference Championship odds.
New Jersey Devils +750
The New Jersey Devils were an early surprise in the league, and their young core has improved dramatically since last year, propelling the Devils to the fourth-best record in the NHL, with a 32-12-4 record.
The Devils might be the only real threat to the Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division and are the higher-scoring team, averaging 3.47 goals per game. New Jersey’s goaltending has been very good all year, giving up only 2.65 gpg.
Devils could be an excellent sleeper pick in the Eastern Conference Championship odds.
New York Rangers +900
Goaltending can take you far, and the New York Rangers know this very well. Last season, the Rangers rode 2022 Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin to the Eastern Conference Finals. Unlike Toronto, Boston, Carolina, or New Jersey, the Rangers are a one-goalie show, with their playoff aspirations squarely on Shesterkins’ shoulders.
Shesterkin has been great, helping the Rangers give up the third-fewest goals per game in the league (2.59 gpg). However, the Rangers are in the middle of the pack in scoring, ranked 15th and averaging 3.16 gpg.
The Rangers are a long shot at making the Eastern Conference finals, let alone winning. However, goaltending can take you far and Shesterkin is that goalie who can carry a team to the promised land.
Buffalo Sabres +6600
We’re going way off the board, but hear us out because we know it seems ludicrous to put the Buffalo Sabres and their +6600 Eastern Conference Championship odds in this list.
Considering we only see one of the top-five teams in the Conference winning the East, the Sabres are extreme long shots and would need some magic to make a run.
But anything can happen in the NHL playoffs; you just need to get in. The Sabres will be fighting for a wildcard spot for the rest of the season and could make the playoffs.
Yes, we know that if Buffalo were to make the playoffs, they would have a first-round matchup with one of the two best teams in the NHL: Boston or Carolina.
However, the Buffalo Sabres are one of the most fun teams to watch, and they are a team of players that have embraced the spirit of Buffalo. The Sabres are the third-highest-scoring team in the NHL, averaging 3.70 gpg.
Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen is the Sabres’ goalie of the future and might not be ready for a playoff run, while the Sabres are awful defensively, which adds to the fun of watching the Buffalo Sabres.
But underdogs find magic, superstars emerge, and legends are made in deep playoff runs. Picking a team at +6600 in the Eastern Conference Championship odds is insane, especially considering five of the top six teams in the entire league are in the East.
But if there is one team in the East that could find that magic and make an improbable run in the playoffs, it’s the Buffalo Sabres.
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