NHL Jack Adams Award Odds: Top Choices

With the NHL season starting up in just a few weeks, oddsmakers are looking ahead at candidates for the Jack Adams Award, presented every season to the coach judged to have contributed most to his team’s success.  

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Online sportsbook Bovada has listed last season’s runner-up in Jack Adams voting, Minnesota coach Dean Evason, as the -250 favorite in Jack Adams Award odds, tied with Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper.

Those two are followed by a four-way tie at +500 between Boston’s Bruce Cassidy, Florida’s Joel Quenneville, Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders, and last year’s winner, Rod Brind’Amour of Carolina.

For more hockey betting content, head over to our NHL page. Take a look at the book’s full list of odds:

NHL Jack Adams Award Odds

Odds as of September 2 at Bovada

NHL Jack Adams Award Odds: Top Choices

Betting Strategy

Picking a winner in NHL Jack Adams Award odds can be a bit tricky because the award tends not to go to the coach of the league’s best team. Since the 2004-05 lockout (16 seasons), only twice has the Jack Adams gone to the coach of the team with the league’s best record.

Instead, the award usually goes either to the coach of a team that “overachieved” in the eyes of voters (often because of a hot goalie), or a coach of a team that overcomes some sort of adversity (injuries, etc.) and ends up one of the league’s better teams.

A clear narrative must be crafted around why the winning coach deserves the award over the coach of a team that just dominates the league.

That’s likely why coaches such as Jared Bednar (+1600) and Peter DeBoer (+2500) are further down the list. Their respective teams are so good they likely won’t get the credit for any success the club has.

With that in mind, here are a couple of value options in NHL Jack Adams Award odds.

Jon Cooper (+250)

One of the best coaches in hockey, Jon Cooper has somehow never won a Jack Adams Award. That’s probably because his teams have been too good (see above), but it’s easy to see why this could be the year he finally bags one.

The Lightning lost a considerable amount of talent off their Stanley Cup roster, including their entire third line, and will ice a team with plenty of new faces and players in new roles.

If Cooper is able to pull the team together and win the Atlantic Division (or come close) once again, he should be one of the favorites to win the award at season’s end. It would really be quite the feat considering the shortened summer break following two Cup wins in eight months. The narratives write themselves.

Sheldon Keefe (+1800)

The Leafs fit the bill as a team that should be one of the league’s best, but probably won’t be right at the top of the overall standings.

And after yet another devastating playoff loss, it wouldn’t be too hard to craft a narrative around Keefe rallying his guys and bouncing back to finish as one of the league’s best teams. Finishing ahead of the Lightning in the Atlantic Division would help Keefe’s case a ton.

D.J. Smith (+10000)

It’s a long shot, but if the Ottawa Senators find a way to squeak into a playoff spot, D.J. Smith would have a great chance to win the Jack Adams. 

The Sens have a great group of young players, but too many holes across the roster (particularly on defense and in net) for them to be a realistic contender for a Cup.

But, all they would need is for a couple of teams to take a step or two back and to get a solid season from Matt Murray to complement the development of their young forwards and a playoff berth may not be that far-fetched. 

At +10000, there are far worse bets you can make. 

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Best Bet: Gerard Gallant (+2500)

Gallant won the Jack Adams Award after taking the expansion Vegas Golden Knights all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. He was a shoo-in for the award that season.

But this year presents an interesting challenge for Gallant. He takes over the New York Rangers, one of the league’s highest-profile teams, after a year of underachieving. However, the team is stacked from top to bottom with high-end talent, including recent top picks Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko plus reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox and an emerging star goalie in Igor Shesterkin.

All the elements are there for Gallant to galvanize a young group and lift them into contender status. There’s also rumors out there that the Rangers could be looking to acquire Jack Eichel at some point.

Gallant is a fantastic bet at +2500 if you think the Rangers can make a jump in the standings this season.