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Best Bets For Every NHL Team: Oilers Win The Stanley Cup

Michel Anderson & Gavin Keel Updated on: Oct 09, 2024 8:46 AM ET

Feel that cool crisp breeze in the air? That's not just the announcement that fall is here. But so is the NHL 2024-25 regular season!

Just like you we've got thoughts about every team in the league so Odds Shark's NHL experts, Michel Anderson and Gavin Keel, put their money where their mouth is and cooked up some best bets for every team in the league!

Read 'em all or jump to your favorite team's division:

Atlantic | Metropolitan | Central | Pacific

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Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins - Brad Marchand under 68.5 Pts (-110)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

FADE THE RAT.

The media attention around the Boston Bruins has been solely focused on the contract negotiations between the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman, but I’m looking at the health of captain Brad Marchand.

Marchand underwent three surgeries this summer, elbow, groin and abdominal, causing him to miss the first week of on-ice sessions during camp.

He participated in a full practice for the first time this year on September 25, admitting his offseason has been a struggle and that he hasn’t really been able to train.

This is a huge deal. For a 20-something-year-old kid, I wouldn’t be AS worried, but Marchand is now 36 years old and needs a proper offseason to prepare and maintain his body. I expect a slow start to the season for the B’s captain.

Even without the offseason factor, I still believe this number is set too high. Marchand has failed to cover this line in two straight seasons, finishing both respectively with 67 points.

Take the under 68.5.

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Buffalo Sabres - Rasmus Dahlin over 62.5 Points (-110)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

Dahlin scored 59 points last year for the Sabres. Can he score four more points this year? Yes, I absolutely believe so. Consider that Dahlin benefited greatly from Tage Thompson's scoring prowess on the power play. It's no coincidence that Dahlin saw a massive drop off in production at the same time Thompson's shooting percentage dropped from 15.9% to 11.8% last year.

Thompson already has a goal on six shots. Starting the year at 16.7%. He'll be better in 24-25 and so will Dahlin. This is easy money at -110.

Detroit Red Wings - under 88.5 points (-110)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

Will the Detroit Red Wings break their franchise-record eight-year playoff drought? I don’t think so.

It’s been five years since Stevie Y took over as General Manager of the Red Wings and fans cheered for the “Yzerplan”, which has frankly been a failure so far.

The 2023-24 Red Wings were a 91-point team, which was actually them OVER-PERFORMING.

The Wings ranked 7th in PDO (which is the calculation of a team's shooting percentage and save percentage).

To put this in perspective, the Wings had the third-highest shooting percentage (11.6%) and 19th in team save percentage (.897). The shooting percentage will regress, and they didn’t do anything to address goaltending. I don’t think 37-year-old Cam Talbot or Jack Campbell are the answer.

Florida Panthers - under 102.5 points (-110)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

Florida has gone over 102.5 points twice in the last three years. The only time they didn't coincided with Sergei Bobrovsky forgetting how to play his position. In 2022-23, Bob averaged a pathetic 3.07GAA and a 0.901SV%. Truly horrible numbers for any goalie let alone making $10 million per year

Another year and another deep playoff run and what was likely a long summer of celebration might be too much for the now 36-year-old goalie. I'm not backing on Bob being horrible, but I'm sure he won't be as good as his 2.34GAA and 0.915SV% from last year. He's going to fall off this season. And so with that, I'd take the UNDER on the Cats' points total.

Montreal Canadiens - Under 76.5 Points (-105)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

The Montreal Canadiens have been the talk of the town this offseason when it comes to a “Dark Horse” point total, with many betting the OVER here.

I’m not buying the hype. I won’t argue that the Canadiens have a promising future ahead of them, but I think this year will be filled with growing pains.

The Habs are the YOUNGEST team in the NHL, with an average age of 25.54. (Look to bet the OVERS in their games).

In addition to the growing pains, the Canadiens can’t stay healthy:

Even if the Canadiens kick the injury bug this season, I don’t see them winning too many games in arguably the toughest division in hockey.

Ottawa Senators - To Make The Playoffs (+125)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

I've been going back and forth on the Sens making the playoffs this year. And I think I've settled on "they will make the playoffs". This is the team that had the 12th-best xGA in the league (in all situations). They did a good job of protecting Joonas Korpisalo, but the Finnish goalie did not reciprocate.

Korpisalo had the second-worst goals saved above expected at -16.1 -- only Chicago's Arvid Soderblom was worse. With Linus Ullmark in net, Ottawa has a shot-stopper that's averaged 21 goals saved above expected in his last three seasons. That is the exact type of goalkeeping they need to make the playoffs.

Toronto Maple Leafs - Auston Matthews to win the Selke Trophy (+750)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

A perennial lock to win the Rocket Richard Trophy – barring health. I think Auston Matthews adds the Frank J. Selke to his trophy cabinet this season.

Matthews was a Selke finalist for the first time in his career last season, ultimately finishing third in voting. But there are serious arguments to be made that he should have won the award for top defensive forward of the year over Florida Panthers Captain, Aleksander Barkov.

Here are some stats to further my point:

Selke Trophy Debate: Comparing Barkov & Matthew
StatBarkovMatthews
Plus/Minus Rating+33+31
Blocked Shots5093
Takeaways6185

 

I’ll save you some time here and ask you to trust me, but there are even more defensive stats where Auston Matthews has the edge over Aleksander Barkov.

I think reputation and narrative played a big part in Barkov winning – surely 69-goal scorer Auston Matthews doesn’t play defense right? Wrong.

Bet on Matthews this season. I think the new Leafs head coach Craig Berube will have the team playing even harder, shifting the narrative and giving Matthews the recognition he deserves on the defensive side of the puck.

Tampa Bay Lightning - Jake Guentzel o35.5 Goals (-110)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

Tampa Bay shocked everyone this off-season by moving on from their captain Steven Stamkos…but when you look into it, the move actually made a lot of sense.

At a high level, Stamkos was fine last season, he had 40 goals and 81 points…but Tampa saw Stamkos’ 5-on-5 numbers starting to decline.

Stamkos only had 14 even-strength goals last season. He went the entire month of November with 1 even strength goal and didn’t score a single 5-on-5 goal between the middle of December and mid-January.

Guentzel last season had 19 even-strength goals, and now will be playing with arguably the best playmaker in the league in Nikita Kucherov, who had 100 assists last season.

It’s extremely reasonable to expect Guentzel can come in and fill Stamkos’ shoes and potentially perform even better. Consider betting the 40+ on FanDuel at +290.

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Metropolitan Division

Carolina Hurricanes - Under 100.5 Points (-110)

You read that right, I’m fading the “Storm Surge” this season. The Hurricanes lost far too many pieces in the offseason and did not do nearly enough to address it. When you look at the forwards, they are losing a 25+ goal scorer in Teravainen, and although Guentzel was a trade deadline acquisition, he would have been good for 35-40+ goals.

The defensive subtractions can’t go unnoticed either. Carolina went from having one of the BEST D-cores, to now having the OLDEST D-core in terms of average age.

The Canes were a 111-point team last season, and I can easily see them being 5-6 wins worse this season. Give me the under.

Columbus Blue Jackets - Under 67.5 Points (-115)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

Even with Patrick Laine (for only 18 games) and Johnny Gaudreau last year, the Blue Jackets hit the UNDER on this bet with 66 points. Without them this year, there is no chance they hit OVER 67.5 points

Columbus has had to pick at scraps in James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Labanc to make the NHL cap floor. That's not going to make up for the players they lost. Sorry, but there's no way you can convince me CBJ will be better next year. It's not happening.

New Jersey Devils - Sheldon Keefe To Win Jack Adams (+600)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

This is by far my favorite NHL future bet this season. It makes too much sense. The Devils literally cannot get any worse than they were last year, finishing 23rd in the league with a 38-39-5 record.

The poor season can be blamed on poor goaltending - 26th ranked team save percentage (.896%) and a lot of key pieces missing time due to injury (Dougie Hamilton - 62 Games, Jack Hughes 20 Games) to name a few.

Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has worked to address the goaltending issue by acquiring Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline last year and acquired their No. 1 guy in Jacob Markstrom over the summer from the Calgary Flames, who was a top 10 goalie last year in terms of Goals Saved Above Expected.

The Devils also added Brett Pesce, Tomas Tatar, Stefan Noesen, Paul Cotter, Brenden Dillon, Johnathan Kovacevic and Adam Beckman, who no doubt add depth to this team.

Now with the team improving on the ice, I think it’s the perfect opportunity for Sheldon Keefe to win the Jack Adams. Keefe was an incredible regular season coach during his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, in 349 games, he had a 212-97-40 record. That is good for a .665% point percentage.

I’m talking the chalk here with Sheldon Keefe (+600) but I think the opportunity and narrative are far too good to pass up.

New York Islanders - Matthew Barzal O21.5 Goals (-110)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

My big call on the Isles this year is that Mathew Barzal scores 30 goals. He's already scoring a goal per game in the preseason.

But seriously, Barzal saw his shot totals JUMP last season from a previous career-high 179 to 240 in 23-24. Barzal's shot has long been underrated even former coach Barry Trotz said so. If he converts shots to goals at his typical 12% he's scoring 30 goals (rounded up). This is not only enough for my hot-take to come true but for this bet to EASILY cash.

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New York Rangers - Matt Rempe o2.5 Regular Season Goals (-110)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

I’m going to keep this one simple. I think the play rocks. We all saw how Rempe-mania electrified the city of New York last season, fighting pretty much anyone he crossed paths with.

Last year, Rempe only scored once in the regular season as a rookie in 17 games and added one goal in 11 playoff games for a total of two in 28 games. That’s roughly a six goal pace.

Sure, 6'7" enforcer Rempe may miss some games due to suspensions this season, but I do think he can score at least three goals this season.

Philadelphia Flyers - Matvei Michkov OVER 48.5 Points (-114)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

Michkov has been as advertised; electric. The young Russian has been outstanding through pre-season with seven points in four games, including this OT winner.

Michkov will have the chance to play with the Flyers better players like Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett where his offensive flair will shine. Of course, he plays for Torts so he HAS to play some defense, but that shouldn't limit his offensive output too much. He will score no less than 50 points over a full 82-game season. I have no doubt.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Michael Bunting 60+ Points (+150)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

Let me tell you, no one, I mean absolutely no one is excited to talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. When I was tasked to write about this team, I just wanted to take the easy route and fade them. I decided against that. We’re going to have some fun here instead.

The Penguins acquired Michael Bunting at the trade deadline last year as a key part of the Jake Guentzel trade with Carolina.

While all eyes were on how Guentzel performed with the Hurricanes, Bunting was a sneaky good add for the Penguins. In the final 21 games of the season, Bunting had six goals and 13 assists for 19 points. That’s good for a 74-point pace over 82 games.

Now I don’t necessarily think that type of production is entirely sustainable for a player of Michael Bunting’s caliber, but he’s scored at a 55-point pace on average throughout his career.

Yes, that’s under the 60+ we are betting here, but Bunting has a bigger role in Pittsburgh than he did in Toronto, Arizona and Carolina. He’s quietly becoming a key driver for this aging Pens team, which leads me to believe he can exceed his career average and score 60+ points.

Washington Capitals - To Miss The Playoffs (-190)

Pick from: Michel Anderson

I get it, Washington snuck into the playoffs last year and added Andrew Mangiapane, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jakob Chychrun over the summer. That's three, seemingly, high-quality players added to a playoff team. Why am I taking them to miss the playoffs?

Think about those players a bit more. Mangiapane hasn't been that 35-goal player since playing with peak Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau. Pierre-Luc Dubois hasn't lived up to his potential in Columbus, Winnipeg, or LA. And while Chychrun puts up a lot of points he also can't defend.

The Caps made a big splash to make sure Ovie breaks Gretzky's record (which he will) but that big splash won push Washington into the playoffs.

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Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks - Connor Bedard O32.5 Goals (-110)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

This one seems almost too easy, it very well may be one of the most bet season-long player futures on the board, but I think Bedard takes another big step this season.

Connor Bedard had an excellent rookie season putting up 61 points in 68 games with 22 goals and 29 assists.

That ranks Bedard eighth among rookie seasons of currently active players in terms of points-per-game. Let me remind you that Bedard had arguably one of the worst supporting casts last season of any other player on the list.

That has changed this season, Chicago added 25-goal scorer Teuvo Teravainen and 20-goal scorer Tyler Bertuzzi along with other depth acquisitions.

Now that Bedard has less AHL-caliber talent around him, I expect his game to take another step and see him easily surpassing this 32.5-goal total.

Another Dynasty may be brewing in Chicago.

Colorado Avalanche - Justus Annunen Calder Trophy (+7500)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

The young Finnish goalie was a breath of fresh air in the Colorado crease. In 18 games, he averaged a 2.60GAA and 0.914SV%. A big difference from starter Alexandar Georgiev and his truly abysmal 3.02GAA and 0.897SV% averages.

With all due respect to Macklin Celebrini and this year's rookie class, it's pretty weak. If Annunen puts up similar numbers in 24-25 as Colorado's main goalie, he'll easily win the Calder.

Dallas Stars - Jason Robertson U87.5 points (-110)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

Jason Robertson had foot surgery on July 31st and will missed the majority of the Stars camp.

This injury really concerns me considering Robertson is already one of the slowest skaters in the NHL. He’s bottom half percentile in skating speed and bottom half in speed bursts.

He has only eclipsed this number once in his career – during the 22-23 season where he had 109 points. I don’t think he will replicate that again, even playing all 82 games last season on one of the best offensive teams in the NHL, he put up just 80 points.

Now, you come into the year with guys like Stankoven and Johnston looking to elevate their games and potentially spread the scoring around more throughout the lineup.

When Robertson put up 109 points, they basically were a 1-line team, and I don't think that is the case anymore.

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Minnesota Wild - Brock Faber o53.5 Points (-110)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

With 47 points last year, as a 21-year-old, he only needs to add seven points to his production to hit the OVER for the Wild this year.

In Faber's final 41 games of 23-24, he put up 27 in 41 games, a 54-point pace. Also, remember that Kaprizov missed seven games last season and that the Russian has scored at 1.25 points per game pace over three years. Faber, who plays an average of 25 minutes a night, will easily get on the end of most of the expected 103 points Kirill scores this year.

He will hit the OVER on his points total.

Nashville Predators - Over 82.5 Points (-114)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

I love this bet. Josi scored 85 points last year. Easily clearing this bet. And then Nashville added Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. Stammer has been a point-per-game player since 09-10 and Marchessault is easily a 60-70 point player. Getting both is a massive addition to the Preds' top six and offensive output.

Josi can hit this line in his sleep let alone factoring in the players Barry Trotz brought in during the summer.

St Louis Blues - Over 86.5 Points (-110)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

This line is way too low. The Blues had  92 points last year and lost no one in the offseason. In fact, they added more depth with Dylan Holloway and Phillip Broberg with those offer sheets.

Joel Hofer is a legit NHL goalie who could take some pressure off Jordan Binnington. He gave the Blues consistent goalkeeping throughout the season with a 0.913SV% and 2.65GAA. Pavel Buchnevich also had a slower-than-usual year with only 63 points. With both Hofer carrying some of the load, Buch bouncing back, and that extra depth they picked up in the offseason, the St. Louis Blues easily cover the OVER this year.

Utah Hockey Club - Over 87.5 Points (-102)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

Sorry Arizona Coyotes fans, your years of suffering don't go unnoticed.

The Utah Hockey Club is my dark horse team for the 2024-25 NHL season. I love a lot of things about this team.

To start, they're in a new city, they’re considered an entirely new franchise. I think this is going to energize them. The players must feel like they are ACTUALLY in the NHL now, considering they spent the last two seasons playing at Arizona State’s 5,000-seat Mullett Arena.

Now, location aside, this team has a lot of young pieces in their core that I think are due for breakout seasons.

Logan Cooley scored 44 points in 82 games last season, sportsbooks are projecting his season-long point total at 54.5.

Dylan Guenther is also expected to take a big jump according to sportsbooks, he scored 35 points in 45 games last season and now has a projected point total of 55.5.

Other young players to keep an eye on are Matias Maccelli, Barrett Hayton and Josh Doan.

Finally, the Utah Hockey Club made some of my favorite moves in the off-season adding Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino, which should be the new top D-pairing in Utah.

I can see this team finishing top three in the Central Division with 95-97 points, which easily exceeds their season-long point total.

Winnipeg Jets - Kyle Connor Over 35.5 Goals (-110)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

Connor had 34 goals last year...in 65 games played. That's a pace of 43 goals over a full 82-game season. In four of his last five seasons, the Jets' forward has paced out or exceeded 35.5 goals. 

We're talking about a shooter who's averaging a 14.6% shooting percentage in his career. With that conversion rate, all he needs is 245 shots on net to hit the prop. Last year, again, in 65 games, Connor put 221 shots on net. A pace of 279.

There's no reason to think he won't see as much of the puck this year. To me, this is a winning bet.

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Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks - Under 70.5 Points (-120)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

Can the Ducks be at least 12 points better than they were last year? It's possible. Specifically, if their core of young studs like Leo Carlsson, Mason MacTavish, Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov step up. But that's asking a lot from a group of players who still aren't old enough to buy a beer in the US.

Predicting how that youth grows is impossible. So I'm sticking with the UNDER here.

Calgary Flames - Under 81.5 Points (-125)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

It’s rebuilding time in Calgary.

Surprisingly, this point total is set right where the Flames finished last season, with 81 points. In my opinion, this team isn’t even comparable to the burnt-out Flames we saw last year.

Over the past two seasons, the Flames have parted ways with many key players: Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Elias Lindholm, Jacob Markstrom, Andrew Mangiapane, Matthew Tkachuk, Nikita Zadorov and Noah Hanifin.

Despite the cliches you might hear in training camp, “We want to be competitive” or “We want to win”, it’s all smoke and mirrors. This team will likely look to continue offloading their remaining pieces in order to secure a top draft pick in the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft, which is considered to be a deep draft.

I also don’t think other teams got worse in the Pacific Division and can see teams like the Ducks, Sharks and Kraken taking a step this year, leaving fewer points on the board for the Flames.

On the bright side, the Flames are set to move into a brand new arena for the 2027-28 season, where they hope they can ice a playoff-contending team

Edmonton Oilers - Stanley Cup Champions (+800)

Pick From: Michel Anderson

The Oilers are favored to win the Stanley Cup for a reason. They've got the best player in the game with McDavid. Arguably the next-best player in Leon Draisaitl. A 50-goal scorer in Zach Hyman. And they've got an elite top defensive pair in Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm. Getting Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner for cheap in the offseason was a great move to bolster what was a weak middle-six situation offensively.

The Oilers were only a game short of winning the Cup last year and got better in the offseason. They will win it this year.

Los Angeles Kings - Quinton Byfield o24.5 Goals (-110)

Pick from: Gavin Keel

It’s time for the 2020 2nd-overall pick to take another big step.

Byfield had a career-best 55 points in 80 GP last season with 20 goals and 35 assists, good for fifth on the Kings in scoring. I still believe we are just scratching the surface surrounding Quinton Byfields’ true potential.

The Kings' upper management clearly agrees with this sentiment as they moved on from their 2C Pierre-Luc Dubois this offseason to transition Byfield from a winger to the position he was drafted and destined to play according to Kings HC Jim Hiller.

Even though Byfield has yet to cover this number in his career, I see him being a consistent 30+ goal scorer for the remaining years of his career. Thus making the o24.5 an easy bet to make.

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San Jose Sharks - Under 67.5 Points

Pick From: Michel Anderson

A 67.5 points total might seem disrespectfully low, but let's remember that four teams fell below 67.5 points last year. The Sharks had 47 points with NHL vets like Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair. Both were traded and their positions were backfilled by younger and obviously unproven talent.

San Jose might be "better" by accident this year, but I doubt it will result in an additional 12 points in the standings.

Seattle Kraken - Matty Beniers o51.5 Pts (-110)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

After putting up 57 points in 80 games during his rookie season, Matty Beniers found himself a victim to the infamous “sophomore slump” in 23-24, recording just 37 points in 77 games.

I’m not overreacting to this, the entire 22-23 Kraken roster faced regression during the 23-24 season.

In 22-23, the Kraken had the second highest team shooting percentage at 11.57% - which fell to 29th in the league at 9.11 percent last season. The team's management clearly doesn’t believe that decline is true of the team, doubling down on this core by signing Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson to 7-year deals.

I’m aligned with them, I think we see an even better version of Matty Beniers and the Kraken in the 2024-25 season, with Beniers eclipsing his career-high point total.

Vancouver Canucks - Under 97.5 Points

Pick From: Michel Anderson

I've gone on the record stating that the Vancouver Canucks will regress in 24-25. Their PDO was way too high last year at 1.028. Since 07-08, every team with a PDO of 1.028 or higher faced a double-digit point regression the next year.

That should bring them down to just below this line. Vancouver will still be a playoff team but they won't reach the same heights we saw in the last regular season.

Vegas Golden Knights - Jack Eichel u74.5 Pts (-115)

Pick From: Gavin Keel

Health has always been an issue for Jack Eichel, who has never played an entire 82-game season in his career. The most games he played in a season was 81 during his rookie season for the Buffalo Sabres. He averages just 59.8 games played per season.

You might think I’m crazy for taking the Vegas superstars's point total under, but I can’t confidently bet against the trend of him not staying healthy. There’s no doubt in my mind that Eichel could cover this number if he stays healthy, but Vegas got worse, and Eichel’s workload will be more demanding.

This isn’t a bet I would be mad about losing, stay healthy, Jack.

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