Oddsmakers rank 2 NHL teams as the frontrunners to win the Stanley Cup in 2021.

Two favorites but there are some teams hot on their heels.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Oddsmakers rank 2 NHL teams as the frontrunners to win the Stanley Cup in 2021.
Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma

Although there has been no official announcement from the National Hockey League regarding the start date for the 2020 - 2021 regular season, there have been some pretty loud rumors suggesting that January 1st will indeed be the day the season gets underway. Although no one can possibly predict how the season will play out, that is exactly what the Las Vegas oddsmakers try and do each and every season when they pick their favorites to win it all prior to the start of the season.

Now this of course means nothing in the grand scheme of things, it's more about the fun conversations we can have on the topic, but I will say that Vegas oddsmakers are not in the habit of losing money so there's no doubt that a ton of thought went into these predictions. This time around we've got a pretty interesting development given that two teams have been picked as the frontrunners to win it all with a tie for the best odds among NHL teams. Surprisingly the Las Vegas Golden Knights who made the biggest move of the offseason by signing Alex Pietrangelo are not one of the favorites, with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche claiming a share of the top spot.

Here's a look at the rankings as per the oddsmakers.

Colorado Avalanche 7.5 : 1 

Tampa Bay Lightning 7.5 : 1 

Vegas Golden Knights 8 : 1 

As soon as we exit the top 3 we can see the odds start to take a drastic jump, indicating thatt he oddsmakers feel the first 3 are head and shoulders above the rest.

Boston Bruins 14 : 1

Pittsburgh Penguins 18 : 1 

Toronto Maple Leafs 20 : 1 

Dallas Stars 20 : 1 

Philadelphia Flyers 20 : 1 

Washington Capitals 20 : 1 

Edmonton Oilers 22 : 1 

New York Islanders 22 : 1 

St. Louis Blues 22 : 1 

Vancouver Canucks 25 : 1 

Carolina Hurricanes 28 : 1 

New York Rangers 28 : 1

Montreal Canadiens 33 : 1 

Nashville Predators 33 : 1 

Winnipeg Jets 33 : 1 

Some of these are already pretty long odds, but the odds for the remaining teams indicate that the oddsmakers have very little faith in these teams at all.

Arizona Coyotes 40 : 1 

Calgary Flames 40 : 1 

Columbus Blue Jackets 50 : 1 

Florida Panthers 50 : 1 

Minnesota Wild 50 : 1 

San Jose sharks 50 : 1 

New Jersey Devils 60 : 1 

Buffalo Sabres 66 : 1

 Los Angeles Kings 66 : 1 

Anaheim Ducks 80 : 1 

Chicago Blackhawks 80 : 1

As bad as some of these teams have been ranked by the oddsmakers, it is nothing compared to the lack of respect the final two teams are getting. 

Ottawa Senators 100 : 1 

Detroit Red Wings 150 : 1 

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