Stanley Cup odds, line movement after the trade deadline

While this year’s NHL trade deadline didn’t see any massive stars moved like the Mikko Rantanen saga which took place last season, there was still a flurry of movement over the last couple of days which will undoubtedly impact the pursuit of the Stanley Cup. The playoff picture is becoming clearer by the day, so we’re taking a look at the league landscape following all of Friday’s roster shuffling.

Let’s dive into the updated Stanley Cup odds as well as some other NHL futures markets, courtesy of the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

NHL team futures, trade deadline impact

Stanley Cup

What better place to begin than with DraftKings Sportsbook’s market for the big one? The landscape of contending teams at the top of the odds leaderboard to win the Stanley Cup remains largely intact compared to how it looked coming out of the Olympic break last month, albeit with some slight shifts. The eight favorites in order are still as follows.

• Colorado Avalance (+330)
• Tampa Bay Lightning (+350)
• Carolina Hurricanes (+450)
• Vegas Golden Knights (+800)
• Edmonton Oilers (+1300)
• Dallas Stars (+1500)
• Minnesota Wild (+1800)
• Buffalo Sabres (+2200)

The roster everyone will be talking about is the Avalanche, who spent multiple first-round picks, a second-rounder and a pair of fifths along with Victor Olofsson to add talent. The least-exciting move was the addition of defenseman Nick Blankenburg, but the Avs also tacked on forward talent in Toronto’s Nicolas Roy and Calgary’s Nazem Kadri. In particular, reuniting with Kadri at the deadline’s buzzer brings in a reliable offensive driver who played a key role in Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup run. It’s almost surprising that the team’s odds only shifted up ever so slightly from +350 to +330.

The Lightning moved from +400 to +350 but had a relatively quiet deadline with the acquisition of Corey Perry as the lone move. The Wild, meanwhile, were much more active by bringing in wingers Bobby Brink, Jeff Petry and Michael McCarron. Jeff Petry was the lone add on the blue line, but the front office notably struck out on bolstering the center group — a pretty glaring weakness. Minnesota only moved from +1900 to +1800 odds of a Stanley Cup, though the path of a postseason run that would likely require matchups against the Central Division’s Dallas Stars and Avalanche in the first two rounds likely plays a part in how long this listing is. Speaking of the Stars, it’s a little surprising their odds fell from +1400 to +1500 despite adding an excellent middle-six winger in Michael Bunting and defensive depth with Tyler Myers. Much like the case for the Wild, though, the playoff path likely holds them back some.

The biggest winner of the trade deadline in terms of odds is the Sabres. Buffalo is currently the owner of the NHL’s longest playoff drought at 14 seasons without so much as an appearance in the postseason, but the franchise appears poised to make it in amidst a resurgent campaign. The Sabres are capitalizing on this window and were very active at the deadline, securing defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn via way of Winnipeg in a blockbuster. With the dust settled, they moved up in Stanley Cup odds from +4000 odds to +2200 and now sit eighth among all teams.

Conference Winners

Looking toward the conference winners on DraftKings Sportsbook, there’s been a little bit of movement as well. In the Eastern Conference picture, the favorites to win the conference still start with the Lightning and Hurricanes as clear favorites,

• Tampa Bay Lightning (+175)
• Carolina Hurricanes (+210)
• Buffalo Sabres (+800)
• Montreal Canadiens (+1200)
• Pittsburgh Penguins (+2000)
• NY Islanders (+2000)
• Detroit Red Wings (+2200)
• Ottawa Senators (+2200)

Of course, it seems like a foregone conclusion that either of the Bolts or the Canes will win the Eastern Conference with +175 and +210 odds, respectively. However, the Sabres loom following their moves and a hot stretch of play as of late and now sit third in odds to make it out of the conference after moving from +1500 to +800. The Canadiens also saw a slight move back from +1100 to +1200, but the remainder of the conference remain even longer shots to win the East despite some roster shuffling for most. One extreme dark horse? The Islanders, who are still listed at +2000 but just added former St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn in a massive blockbuster of a deal.

Looking toward the Western Conference, there are few surprises here.

• Colorado Avalanche (+180)
• Vegas Golden Knights (+400)
• Edmonton Oilers (+600)
• Dallas Stars (+650)
• Minnesota Wild (+750)
• Utah Mammoth (+1000)
• Anaheim Ducks (+1800)
• Los Angeles Kings (+2200)

To nobody’s shock, the Avalanche are still favorites by a decent margin to win the West. Following the deadline, the Golden Knights have slipped slightly from +370 to +400 after essentially adding just depth in forwards Nic Dowd and Cole Smith, though Marc Stone recently went on IR in what seems like an annual tradition and will likely be back at some point. Still, Vegas’ goaltending is a real problem, so this roster should probably be situated a bit lower on the leaderboard. The Oilers and Stars didn’t experience odds shifts, though some teams lower on the board did move up with the Anaheim Ducks going from +3000 to +1800 as a dark horse option after trading for star Washington defenseman John Carlson as well as center Ryan Strome.