2021 NHL Division Odds and Stanley Cup Futures Update: Can Anyone Stop the Lightning?


SI Gambling insider Frankie Taddeo breaks down the NHL futures market for every division, as well as the Stanley Cup.

As our colleague Roy Larking highlighted last month, the NHL is playing an abbreviated schedule consisting of 56 regular season games as well as a vastly different structure of the league

“The structure of the league has changed dramatically as the Eastern and Western Conference setup has been eliminated for the 2021 season. In its place, the league is set up with four divisions based largely on the team's geographic locations. The eight teams in the East, Central and West divisions will play each other eight times during the regular season. The seven Canadian teams have been placed in the North Division and will play each other either nine or 10 times. 

Barring any COVID-19 related complications; the schedule consists of 868 games that will be played over 116 days. The Stanley Cup playoffs are scheduled to begin on May 11 and the top four teams in each division will advance to the postseason.”

Let’s dive in and take a deeper look at the NHL betting odds changes after a month of games for each division along with Stanley Cup futures at DraftKings Sportsbook.

2021 NHL CENTRAL DIVISION ODDS

Tampa Bay -118

Carolina +250

Dallas +650

Florida +800

Chicago +2000

Nashville +2500

Columbus +3000

Detroit +25000

Vegas Whispers Breakdown: The defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning sit atop the Central Division on a six-game winning streak. Tampa Bay is 9-1-1 (19 points) - holding an edge over Florida, Columbus and Chicago. The Lightning possess an impressive +17 goal differential over their first 10 games thanks to netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy. He holds an 8-1-1 record with an impressive 1.80 GAA and a .936 save percentage.

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2021 NHL EAST DIVISION ODDS

Boston +110

Philadelphia +325

Washington +500

Pittsburgh +750

NY Islanders +1400

NY Rangers +1600

Buffalo +2200

NJ Devils +2500

Vegas Whispers Breakdown: Not much has changed from the opening odds as the Boston Bruins (9-1-2, 20 points) and the Philadelphia Flyers (8-3-2, 18 points) are the early leaders atop the Eastern Division. The Bruins, on a four-game winning streak, are the only team to hold a positive double-digit goal differential +13 in the division due to the efforts of forwards Brad Marchand (8 goals; 8 assists) and Patrice Bergeron (6 goals; 10 assists).

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2021 NHL NORTH DIVISION ODDS

Toronto +105

Montreal +120

Winnipeg +900

Calgary +1100

Edmonton +1300

Vancouver +2500

Ottawa +40000

Vegas Whispers Breakdown: The Toronto Maple Leafs, (11-2-1, 23 points) are once again the betting favorite in the North thanks to the strong play of the league's top goalscorer in Austin Matthews (11 goals). The oddsmakers at DraftKings Sportsbook, after opening the Montreal Canadiens (8-3-2, 18 points) at odds of 4/1  have dropped their odds to +120 thanks to the play of goalie Jake Allen who sports a 4-1 record and a stellar 1.81 GAA as well as center Tyler Toffoli who is tied for second in the NHL in goals scored (9). Although the Oilers lead the league in goals scored as a team (52) they have struggled to translate that into wins ranking second-worst in goals allowed (52).

2021 NHL WEST DIVISION ODDS

Colorado +150

Vegas +150

St. Louis +300

Minnesota +1500

Arizona +3000

Anaheim +5000

San Jose +5500

LA Kings +6000

Vegas Whispers Breakdown: The Colorado Avalanche (7-3-1, 15 points) and the Vegas Golden Knights (8-1-1, 17 points) are not only regarded as the best teams in the West Division but in the entire NHL. The odds at DraftKings Sportsbook prominently reflect that notion. Colorado has one the league’s best goalies in Phillip Grubauer who is 7-2 with a 1.67 GAA in his first nine games of the season. In Las Vegas, the Golden Knights are once again being led by star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury who is a perfect 5-0 with a stellar 1.81 GAA in five games.

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2021 STANLEY CUP ODDS

Colorado +750

Vegas +750

Tampa Bay +800

Toronto +900

Boston +1000

Montreal +1150

Carolina +1700

Philadelphia +1700

St. Louis +1700

Dallas +2000

Washington +2100

Pittsburgh +2400

Florida +2700

Edmonton +2800

Calgary +2900

Winnipeg +3000

Minnesota +3300

NY Islanders +3300

Nashville +4000

NY Rangers +4000

Columbus +5500

Arizona +6000

Vancouver +6000

Buffalo +7000

NJ Devils +7500

Anaheim +8000

San Jose +9000

Chicago +10000

LA Kings +10000

Detroit +50000

Ottawa +60000