Stanley Cup

The defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks have the best odds at +450 at and they have already had a busy off-season. They have already dealt away a few players from their title winning team in order to be under the salary cap next season. However, they will still have most of their big guns and should be solid on both sides of the ice like they were last season.

has the Capitals at +600 and while they had the best record in the league last season they flamed out in the first round of the playoffs. They signed a couple of free agents and their offense, led by superstar Alex Ovechkin, should have no problems scoring again, but their goalie situation is an issue. They did resign defenseman Jeff Schultz, who led Washington last season plus-50 rating and had a team-high 129 blocked shots.

The Penguins are at +600 at and, much like, the Capitals their offense should be ok led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but their defense is a concern. They addressed that issue by spending $45 million to sign defensemen Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek.

has the Red Wings at +800 and they have not made many off-season moves yet. They have been trying to talk Mike Modano out of retiring and have him come to Detroit. The Red Wings were killed by injuries last season and if they are healthy they have a good chance to get back to the elite team that have been the last several seasons.

The Sharks are at +900 at and the big news for the Sharks in the off-season is that longtime G Evgeni Nabokov will be replaced by free agent Antero Niittymaki. The San Jose offense was solid last season, but struggled in losing to Chicago in the Western Conference finals. They should be solid again scoring, but have to do so when it counts, in the playoffs.

has the Kings at +1500 and the young team on the upstart has made a few deals and are really courting star Ilya Kovalchuk.

The Canucks are at +1500 and they have made a few good moves including signing defenseman Dan Hamhuis and centers Manny Malhotra and Joel Perrault. The Sedin twins are the key guys up front, but the defense has to play better than they did last season for Vancouver to hoist the cup.

Here are the odds at to win the Stanley Cup as of July 8th.

Chicago Blackhawks +450
Washington Capitals +600
Pittsburgh Penguins +600
Detroit Red Wings +800
San Jose Sharks +900
Los Angeles Kings +1500
Vancouver Canucks +1500
Philadelphia Flyers +1500
New Jersey Devils +1500
Boston Bruins +2000
Montreal Canadiens +3000
Calgary Flames +3000
Tampa Bay Lightning +3000
Anaheim Ducks +3000
Carolina Hurricanes +3000
Buffalo Sabres +3000
New York Rangers +4000
Ottawa Senators +4000
Phoenix Coyotes +4000
Nashville Predators +4000
St Louis Blues +4000
Colorado Avalanche +5000
Toronto Maple Leafs +6000
Dallas Stars +6000
Atlanta Thrashers +10000
Columbus Blue Jackets +10000
Minnesota Wild +10000
Florida Panthers +10000
Edmonton Oilers +10000
New York Islanders +10000