The NHL 2022-2023 regular season is underway, and the chase for the Stanley Cup is officially on. The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup a season ago, and they are looking to defend their title. Colorado is looking to go back-to-back like the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Pittsburgh Penguins have recently.
People are playing Online casino games to take their minds off of betting on hockey for now. Who has the best odds of winning the 2022-2023 NHL Stanley Cup Title?
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche has the best odds of winning the 2022-2023 Stanley Cup Title. Colorado has a core of Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Valeri Nichuskin. They have the speed and lethal offense to win it all again. One of the major question marks about this hockey team this season will be the goaltending.
They lost Darcy Kuemper during the offseason in free agency to the Washington Capitals. Alexander Georgiev feels like a downgrade as the starting goalie. He was acquired via trade from the New York Rangers. Pavel Francouz is the backup goalie and will see action as well this season.
Jared Bednar is the head coach of this hockey team. He will need to make sure this hockey team has the hunger and drive to get going once again this year.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning has the second-best odds to win the 2023 Stanley Cup Title. This is a surprise because they are getting older, but this isn’t a surprise because they have won the Eastern Conference Title in the last three seasons. Andrei Vasilevskiy is the best goalie in the world, but he may be getting worn down a little bit.
Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and Victor Hedman are talented players under head coach Jon Cooper, but some are already showing wear and tear to start the season. Tampa Bay has gone through the grind, and it may finally catch up to them this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs also have the second-best odds of winning the 2023 Stanley Cup Title. The fact that Toronto has high odds once again is quite laughable. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2004, and that is 18 years and counting. The Maple Leafs have talent, but the question will always fall on goaltending and defense. Those are very critical positions.
Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov will split duties in net this season. Auston Matthews scored 60 goals last season, and Mitchell Marner is one of the most talented players in the entire NHL. William Nylander and John Tavares are two other key offensive players on this roster, and depth players will need to do their work. Morgan Reilly is by far their best defense on this roster.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have the third-best odds of winning the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup title. They made some interesting moves during the offseason by acquiring Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames for Jonathan Huberdeau. Florida has high expectations, and Aleksander Barkov is the team’s captain. Head coach Paul Maurice takes over the reins behind the bench.
The biggest question will be this. Is this Sergei Bobrovsky’s team or Spencer Knight’s team between the pipes? This question was asked last season, and it is going to be asked once again this season. The blueline is very interesting, led by Aaron Ekblad.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes also have the third-best odds of winning the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Title. Carolina has been one of the top teams in the NHL over the past couple of years. The Hurricanes are well-coached by Rod Brind’Amour.
The issue with the Hurricanes is that they have really good players, but they don’t have those elite players that are going to take them over the top in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Marty Necas, Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Tervainanen, Seth Jarvis, and Andrei Svchenikov are solid players but not elite. Goaltending will be a question once again with Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen. The Carolina Hurricanes are in win-now mode. If they get bounced again this season in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, something will have to change for them, also.
