2021-22 Stanley Cup Odds: Avs Still The Betting Favorites

With the NHL’s regular season well underway, it’s time to take a look at who the favorites are in 2022 Stanley Cup odds.

The Colorado Avalanche (+600) lead the way in Stanley Cup odds, followed by the Florida Panthers (+700), Tampa Bay Lightning (+800) and Vegas Golden Knights (+950) to round out the top four.

Online sportsbook Bovada has the latest 2022 Stanley Cup odds, which will be updated regularly during the 2021-22 season.

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New to betting on hockey? We have a great NHL betting tutorial to assist you in placing a wager on Stanley Cup futures. To find the sportsbook that’s right for you to get some money down on the ice, head over to our Sportsbook Review page.

Here’s a look at the Stanley Cup odds for all 32 teams that are vying to win it all in the 2022 campaign.

Colorado Avalanche Lead Latest Stanley Cup Odds

Odds as of November 29 at Bovada

Stanley Cup Odds: Value Bets

New York Islanders (+2500)

The New York Islanders took the eventual champion Lightning to Game 7 in the playoff semifinals last season, a game they lost 1-0. They have a locked-in core of forwards, an elite head coach, a promising young goaltender and a front office that understands how to build a team within a structure with proven playoff success.

The Islanders also played the entire playoffs without Anders Lee, their captain and best pure goal scorer.

At 5-10-2, though, it’s getting harder and harder to push the button on this team as they fall further behind the top teams in their division. After a while, it becomes a matter of math.

But for now, with 60-plus games to play, we still have faith this team can turn things around and are hoping this early-season skid has simply created immense value for bettors.

That being said, if things don’t turn around soon, bettors will be better off looking for value elsewhere. 

Florida Panthers (+700)

Oddsmakers obviously believe the Panthers, second in Stanley Cup odds, should be respected as a legitimate contender. 

Florida had a stacked roster last year and finished on a 115-point pace without their top defenceman, Aaron Ekblad, for much of the season. 

This year, they got Ekblad back and added forward Sam Reinhart from Buffalo. Reinhart has scored 20 or more goals in five of his six NHL seasons and was a great under-the-radar addition to a top-six forward group that already featured Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Carter Verhaeghe.

The goaltending is a bit of a question mark as you never know what you might get out of Sergei Bobrovsky. But Florida does have recent first-round pick Spencer Knight seemingly ready to break through if Bobrovsky falters. 

So far, Bob has been excellent. He is 9-1-2 with a .936 save percentage.

Florida also plays in a tough division and it would not be surprising to see the Panthers end up in a wild-card spot, but this is one of the best rosters in the league with much more attractive odds than the other top teams in the Atlantic.

The Panthers were at +1600 just a few weeks ago, so the value on this bet is evaporating quickly.

Winnipeg Jets (+2500)

The Jets are a solid long-shot bet as one of the few teams in the NHL with both elite scoring talent up front and top-notch goaltending. 

With a foursome of Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois carrying the load offensively, there are not many teams in the league that can match the star power the Jets possess. And with former Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck in net, the Jets have the makings of a winning formula.

The problem for the Jets the last few seasons has been their inability to defend in front of their goalie. The Jets were swept by the Canadiens in the playoffs last season largely because their defense did not hold up against the Habs’ ferocious forecheck.

But the Jets added Nate Schmidt from Vancouver and Brenden Dillon from Washington to their back end in the offseason. With those two, Dylan DeMelo, Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk making up five of the six starters, the Jets roster suddenly looks far more complete than it did at the end of last year.

The Jets have had a tough time scoring goals at times this season, but are still in the thick of things at 10-7-4 in third place in the Central.  

Vegas Golden Knights (+950)

The Vegas Golden Knights fell out of the top five on the Stanley Cup odds list briefly because of their early-season struggles.

However, the team was without several key pieces for a long stretch (Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, among others) and is still sitting fourth in the Pacific at 12-9-0 through 21 games.

We believe the Knights are legitimate contenders and one of the best teams in the league when healthy. They also might get star acquisition Jack Eichel back from injury at some point late in the year. 

Don’t let the record fool you. This is a top-tier team with a record creating value in Stanley Cup odds for bettors – +950 is a solid bet.

Stanley Cup Odds: Best Bet

Minnesota Wild (+2000)

The Minnesota Wild were one of the surprise teams in the league last season, finishing on a 110-point pace. A middling team for so long, the Wild finally got good goaltending last season from the tandem of Cam Talbot and rookie Kaapo Kahkonen along with a breakthrough performance from winger Kirill Kaprizov in his long-awaited NHL debut season.

Minnesota lost Carson Soucy to expansion and bought out the contracts of veterans Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. But the team still looks poised to be the best in the Central outside of Colorado and it would be surprising if they didn’t make the playoffs.

With one of the better defense corps in the league and emerging talents up front, the Wild are a great value with nine teams ahead of them on the Stanley Cup odds list.

Through 21 games, the Wild sit atop the Central with a 14-6-1 record – ahead of Colorado, Winnipeg and St. Louis. They’re a great value at +2000.

What Is A Futures Bet On Stanley Cup Odds?

Before hockey season starts, oddsmakers release their lines on each team’s chance of winning the shiny championship trophy. If you were to place a wager at any point before the Stanley Cup Final, you would be making a futures bet. This is a bet that deals with events that will happen in time. For instance, you could bet on the Detroit Red Wings to win the Cup in September, but you would not see the results of your bet until the postseason.

How To Read NHL Stanley Cup Odds

At your sportsbook of choice, you’ll see Stanley Cup odds listed like this:

Tampa Bay Lightning +300

Toronto Maple Leafs +450

Vegas Golden Knights +500

Boston Bruins +800

Unlike a moneyline bet where there is a clear favorite and underdog, for an NHL futures bet, you would consider the team with the lowest odds as the fave. In this case, it’s Tampa. The team with the highest odds would be the dog. For this example, it’s Boston.

Let’s say hockey season is about to start and you’ve done your research. You believe that it’s Toronto’s year, so you lay down $40 on the Leafs to win the Cup. If they do win it all, you’d see a payout of $220 – your original $40 is returned along with your winnings of $180.

You can use our Odds Calculator to figure out what you’d win based on the amount you bet and the odds.

When it comes to futures, get in on the action early. The closer it gets to the NHL playoffs, the more the odds will shift. Oddsmakers update the lines for these bets frequently as teams slip and fall in the standings. Injuries, trades and coaching changes will affect a team’s odds of making it to the Cup Final, and those who set the lines take that into consideration when updating the odds.

As mentioned above, it’s important to keep in mind that when you make your NHL futures picks, you won’t see a return until Lord Stanley’s Cup is awarded to the winner.