Heading into the 2022-23 season, the Vegas Golden Knights had the seventh-best odds to win the Stanley Cup. As everyone witnessed last year, and as fans likely already knew, anything can happen throughout the course of a season in the NHL. We still have a ways to go until the puck drops to start the 2023-24 season, but it is never too early to start thinking about which underdogs are well-positioned to make a run.
The sportsbooks have released odds to hoist next year’s Stanley Cup, and Fanduel’s top five favorites are as follows: Colorado Avalanche (+800), Carolina Hurricanes (+900), New Jersey Devils (+1,100), Edmonton Oilers (+1,100), and the Toronto Maple Leafs (+1,200). Outside of these five, however, there are a few teams to keep an eye on that seem to have the potential to make a run for the Cup: the Boston Bruins (eighth-best odds, +1,500), Dallas Stars (ninth-best odds, +1,600), and Florida Panthers (10th-best odds +2,000).
Boston Bruins
The Bruins are coming off a record-breaking season that ended in devastating disappointment, with a first-round loss to the Panthers in seven games. This offseason, they lost several key pieces: Connor Clifton and deadline-acquisition Tyler Bertuzzi both left in free agency, and they traded Taylor Hall to the Chicago Blackhawks in a move that was designed to create cap space.
With that being said, the Bruins spent the first half of their record-breaking season last year without Bertuzzi, and Hall was just 10th on the team in points. While they will miss Clifton’s physicality, their top pairing of Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy remains intact, as should their dynamic goaltending duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark (Swayman is a pending restricted free agent). All this is not to say that the players who left will not be missed, but rather that the Bruins still are a force to be reckoned with regardless, particularly if centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci return for another season.
Dallas Stars
The Stars were just two wins away from a Stanley Cup Final appearance this past year and they have had a productive offseason. They signed defenseman Matt Duchene to a reasonably priced one-year deal and re-signed Evgenii Dadonov on a two-year contract carrying an average annual value of $2.25 million. They added depth at forward with the additions of Craig Smith and Sam Steel.
On top of these signings, the Stars have several young players at varying stages of their development that likely benefitted from the experience of making a deep playoff run this past season. Jason Robertson, who led the team in points last season, is just 23 years old. Their star defenseman Miro Heiskanen is the same age, and Wyatt Johnston, who played in every game for the Stars in 2022-23, is 19. Rounding out this group of youngsters is Jake Oettinger, who more than tripled his playoff experience in goal this postseason. The Stars will likely look to add an additional top-six forward at some point before or during the coming season, but they are certainly a threat in a Western Conference that is relatively open.
Florida Panthers
Rounding out this list are the Panthers, who just went on an odds-defying run to the Stanley Cup Final. They have a few notable losses this offseason, as Radko Gudas signed with the Anaheim Ducks and they traded Anthony Duclair to the San Jose Sharks. This team will still be tough to beat if and when they make the playoffs. The Panthers’ top-10 points-getters from last season are returning for 2023-24–and all are below the age of 30.
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Matthew Tkachuk is entering his second year in South Florida and is one of the favorites to win the Hart Trophy heading into the season. Come playoffs, there may not be another team in the Eastern Conference that can match their tenacity and physicality. If this team can stay healthy and Sergei Bobrovsky remains a reliable solution in net, they could be just as dangerous as they were in 2022-23, so watch out.
Teams to Look Out For
One thing that many of us love about hockey is that the team who ends up on top is often not the favorite, and sometimes they are a long-shot. Though these three are all outside the top-five favorites for next season, each of them has the capability of making a run at the Stanley Cup.