NHL: EAST IS UP FOR GRABS
The Montreal Canadiens are the Eastern Conference favorite, but there is a long list of teams with the potential to make the Stanley Cup Finals.
Any of the eight teams that make the playoffs in the East will have a good chance to win the conference, which means there’s plenty of good value in our NHL Futures Odds.
Montreal leads the list of Eastern teams at 3:1 odds but they have a lot to prove if they expect to win in the playoffs. The Habs play a fast, skilled game but that doesn’t always transfer well to the tougher of style of hockey needed to win in the playoffs.
That was proven last year when the 8th seeded Boston Bruins took the top-seeded Canadiens to seven games in the first round. Although Montreal escaped that series, they were knocked out in the next round in just five games by a grittier, feistier Philadelphia Flyers team.
Goaltender Carey Price also has a lot to prove for the Canadiens this season. In his second year in the NHL, the 21-year-old must look past the tough outings from last year’s playoffs and rebound into the goalie that had a .920 save percentage and 2.56 goals against average in 41 regular season games last year.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers follow the Habs at 5:1 odds each. The young Penguins team won the Eastern Conference last year, eventually losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Led by two of the NHL’s brightest stars in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins have a lot of talent on their first two lines and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is starting to perform like the #1 overall pick he was back in 2003.
In last year’s playoffs, Fleury had a 1.97 goals against average and .933 save percentage. If he can replicate anything close to those numbers, Pittsburgh will be tough to beat.
New York also has a solid goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist and he’s a large reason the Rangers are one of the conference favorites, even with star forward Jaromir Jagr leaving to play in Russia. In his place is Sweden’s Markus Naslund who joins the team after 12 seasons in Vancouver.
The addition of Naslund may not be enough to get this team over the hump unless youngsters Nikolai Zherdev, Dan Fritsche, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan step up.
At 7:1 odds, the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals are interesting bets. New Jersey relies on goaltender Martin Brodeur and strong defense because they often have trouble scoring goals. The Devils averaged just 2.4 goals per game in last year’s playoff series against the Rangers and that is not enough offense to get it done.
With Alexander Ovechkin, Washington definitely doesn’t have a problem putting up points. Perhaps the most exciting player in the league, Ovechkin led the league in goals last year (65) and points (112). He adds instant scoring to any lineup but the question will be in goal.
Gone is longtime Captials goalie Olaf Kolzig, along with Cristobal Huet, who they acquired at the trade deadline last year. In their place, the Caps have brought in Jose Theodore. The former league MVP and Vezina Trophy winner for the league’s top goaltender, Theodore has had some great seasons but also some poor ones.
He rejuvenated his career last season in Colorado by recording his best stats since the 2003-2004 season. His 2.44 goals against average and .910 save percentage earned him 28 wins in 53 appearances. If he continues to play as well as he did last season, Washington could go a long ways.
Two other teams getting respectable odds are the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. Ottawa (8:1) has a lot of talent up front with Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley on the top line but they also have goaltending questions with Martin Gerber in net.
Philadelphia overcame a ton of injuries just to make the postseason last year and went all the way to the conference finals. With a completely healthy lineup, Philadelphia has the scoring, defense, goaltending and most importantly the toughness to last in the playoffs and they could be a terrific value at 8:1 odds.
Rest of the East
Buffalo Sabres (14:1)
Boston Bruins (18:1)
Carolina Hurricanes (18:1)
Florida Panthers (18:1)
Tampa Bay Lightning (18:1)
Atlanta Thrashers (50:1)
New York Islanders (50:1)
Toronto Maple Leafs (50:1)
