The NHL playoffs may be the most physically gruelling format in professional sports.

To win the Stanley Cup, a team must win four separate best-of-7 series.

Games are played every other night, with the only real rest awarded to teams who can close out a series early and enjoy a few days off before the next one begins.

For 15 teams, the playoffs are full of extreme physical demands and, ultimately, heartbreak.

But for one team each year, the physical and mental demands of the NHL playoffs seem worth it when they can finally lift that 35-pound trophy over their heads.

As the 2024 NHL Regular Season starts winding down, let’s review our Stanley Cup Contenders and Pretenders list.

2024 NHL Stanley Cup Preview

Edmonton Oilers +500 To Win Stanley Cup

Shame on all of us who didn’t grab an Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup futures ticket, especially after the team’s terrible start.

There is no better buy-low time than when a team feels the need to fire its head coach to spark a change.

Edmonton responded strongly to the coaching change, and at one point, the Oilers won 20 of 23 games after their brutal start.

After winning the scoring title by 25 points last year, Connor McDavid, the best player in the game today, recorded his first 100-assist season, although it still wasn’t enough to repeat as league scoring champ.

That said, the Oilers are a definite NHL Stanley Cup contender, especially if goaltender Stuart Skinner continues to post quality stats.

Dallas Stars +300 To Win Stanley Cup

The Dallas Stars prove there are many ways to build a roster and succeed.

Where teams like the Oilers, Maple Leafs, and Avalanche have multiple superstars and well-paid high-end talent, Dallas comes at you with depth, defense, and solid goaltending.

Jason Robertson, Dallas’s most offensively gifted player, led the team in points with 109 last year, and he is once again Dallas’ most productive offensive player this year.

Roope Hinz is considered the team’s best two-way forward, contributing at a very high level at both ends of the ice.

At 25, many believe that Miro Heiskanen is the best player on the Stars roster and the leader of their blue-line group.

Heiskanen averaged over 25 minutes of ice time per game and is equally gifted in both ends of the ice.

Dallas feels like they are built for playoff success, especially if they can get solid goaltending play.

Florida Panthers +300 To Win Stanley Cup

Last year, in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Florida Panthers knocked off the greatest regular season team in NHL history and then made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

If you like your hockey teams with a rare blend of skill and toughness, you will like this year’s version of the Florida Panthers.

Matthew Tkachuk is a gifted offensive player in this league. He is also very physical and can impact the game in several different ways.

The Panthers have several players who are very skilled and capable of making an impact physically.

Rare is the player in today’s game who is highly skilled and very physical.

Sergei Bobrovsky has regained his form from several years ago and should once again be considered an elite NHL goalie.

Bobrovsky will never live up to the money he is being paid, but if he can be a good goalie for Florida, that might be all they need to make a long playoff run.

NHL Stanley Cup Pretenders

Colorado Avalanche +1200 To Win Stanley Cup

Oh my goodness, I will never be comfortable calling any hockey team with Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews a Pretender.

Less than two years ago, the Avalanche were lifting Lord Stanley above their heads and celebrating being crowned the NHL’s best team.

However, even though we are deep into the playoff season, I am far from sold on Alexander Georgiev being the solution for Colorado in goal.

I’m not sure if the issue is with the goalie or with the team in front of him – but Georgiev is letting in almost a half goal a game more this year compared to last.

His save % has fallen 25 points this year, although his winning percentage (25-11-2) was still very good.

Nathan MacKinnon was maybe the best player in the entire league this year, and has continued his regular season dominance into the playoffs.

Colorado doesn’t have the roster depth it had during its Stanley Cup run from a couple years ago, but it does have a lot of top tier star power.

Vancouver Canucks +1500 To Win Stanley Cup

I think the Vancouver Canucks are an absolutely amazing story.

• Brock Boeser surprised many scoring 40 regular season goals
• Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson combined for more than 180 regular season points
• Rick Tocchet is 70-35-13 as the Vancouver Head Coach.

They have so many great storylines playing out in 2024, and it is turning into a lot of regular-season wins.

Will it translate into a long playoff run in the Western Conference?

I wish I was more convinced it would.

Popular NHL Stanley Cup Prop Bets

Series Total Games

When we bet on the total number of games in the Stanley Cup Finals, we don’t need to predict the winner, and we have no team to cheer for.

Instead, just as this bet sounds, we are only looking to predict how long the final series will last.

Stanley Cup Finals – Series Total Games

Total Games	Odds	Last 21 Years
4-Games (Sweep)	+580	0 of 21 (0%)
5-Games	+265	6 of 21 (29%)
6-Games	+198	9 of 21 (43%)
7-Games	+194	6 of 21 (29%)

Our table above shows us last year’s Series Total Games Odds. In the final column of our table, we also see how often each option has occurred in the previous 21 Stanley Cups.

Bettors can quickly see that there have been zero sweeps in the last 21 Stanley Cup Finals and that a 6-game series has been the most likely outcome for this bet.

To Lead The Series In Goals

Another popular betting option for the Cup Finals is picking the player who will lead the final series in total goals.

Don’t be confused with trying to pick the player who will lead the entire playoffs in goals because that is not what this bet is asking you to do.

For this bet, every player starts the final series with a clean slate.

It doesn’t matter if you have 15 goals before the finals start or just one – everyone begins with 0 goals to start this bet.

Odds To Lead 2023 Stanley Cup In Goals

Player	Odds	Total Goals	Last Round
M. Tkachuk	+400	9	4
J. Eichel	+500	6	0
C. Verhaeghe	+600	6	1
J. Marchessault	+550	9	4

The sportsbooks will factor in many different data points to set their odds.

How many goals a player has throughout the playoffs, how they performed in the most recent series, and even how a player performed in the regular season will all be factored into the odds.

Your job is to pick the player who ultimately scores the most goals in the final series.

Sounds easy, but rarely do the betting favorites win this bet.

Conn Smythe Trophy Winner

The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This award differs from the NBA Championship in that it includes the entire playoffs, not just the finals.

Last year provided an interesting scenario for bettors. The two betting favorites to win the award before the Stanley Cup Finals began were from the Florida Panthers.

That was an opportunity for savvy bettors to pounce because the Vegas Golden Knights were the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

That means we were getting better odds to pick Vegas players further down the odds board – even though most believed VGK was more likely to win the Cup.

2022’23 Conn Smythe Winner Odds

Player	Odds To Win Conn Smythe
Sergei Bobrovsky	+210
Matthew Tkachuk	+290
Jack Eichel	+425
Adin Hill	+1200

Since 1987, there have been only two players to win the Conn Smythe but play for the losing team.

In 2003, J.S. Giguere of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and in 1987, Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers were named Conn Smythe trophy winners, despite both players playing on the Cup Finals losing team.

History tells us that we can expect a player from the winning team to have their name called for this award.

Stanley Cup Betting Strategies

NHL Player Prop Betting

Sportsbooks have deep pockets and many resources. They are very skilled at creating lines and setting odds.

The more popular the bet, the sharper or more accurate the odds will likely be.

One area where some bettors are having success is Player Prop betting.

With each team dressing 20 players per game, hundreds of player prop bets can be available each night during the NHL season.

Sportsbooks must focus most of their time and efforts on the bets to make the most money.

These tend to be traditional bets, like which team will win (Moneyline) or whether the game will go Over or Under the total.

Savvy bettors believe that can lead to an advantage with Player Prop betting because sportsbooks don’t spend the same amount of time handicapping those bets as they do some of the other ones.

Stanley Cup Betting Trends & Stats Worth Knowing

• When betting on the series winner over the last 21 years, the favorites are 17-4.
• The Florida Panthers entered the playoffs as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The only 8th seed to win the Stanley Cup was the Los Angeles Kings in 2012.
• The last underdogs to win the final series were the 2019 St. Louis Blues (+140 to start the series) and the 2018 Washington Capitals (+133 to start the series).
• In the last 21 years, there have been zero sweeps in the Cup Finals. In the previous 11 years, only one series lasted the full seven games.

Always Shop Around

For some recreational bettors, analyzing stats can be as much fun as watching the games and bets play out.

Spending time in the data science lab doing our betting homework is always a smart idea. The more information we have before placing our bets, the better off we will be.

However, it is important to remember that whether you are a sharp bettor doing it professionally or a recreational bettor just adding some excitement to a game, our biggest edge against the sportsbooks is our ability to shop for the Best Odds available.

Odds – Lead Stanley Cup Finals In Total Goals

Player	DraftKings	FanDuel	Caesars
M. Tkachuk	+450	+390	+400
J. Eichel	+550	+700	+500
J. Marchessault	+600	+750	+550
C. Verhaeghe	+600	+550	+600

Our graphic above shows how valuable shopping around for our Best Odds is. For someone like Jack Eichel, you can bet him at +500 or as high as +700.

We can also see how odds fluctuate between sportsbooks for the other players listed.

The ability to shop around and play only the Best Odds available can significantly impact our ROI over time.

If you aren’t playing the Best Odds available each time you make a wager, then you are definitely leaving money on the table.