The NHL season is approaching its midway point. The all-star game is a week and a half away. There will no longer be an Olympic break as the NHL isn’t sending its players due to the pandemic. Teams have played between 35 and 44 games of the 82-game regular season.
If you’re new to betting on hockey, it might be a bit confusing. The Los Angeles Kings, who are 21-22 on the season, have been a more profitable bet this season than the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are 25-13. The best team in the league has won its bettors less than three units if you backed them every game of the season.
Which NHL teams have been most and least profitable to bettors this season? The following standings are based on the assumption of risking one unit on an underdog and betting to win one unit on a favorite. In parenthesis is the team’s current position in the actual league standings based on points percentage.
Despite losing all three goalies from last season, the Hurricanes are once again one of the league’s best teams. They are the favorites to win the Metropolitan Division at +105.
Nobody expected the Rangers to be this good and their underlying metrics suggest they might not be this good. Igor Shesterkin has carried this team and is the current Vezina favorite at +325.
It was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year for the Predators. Nobody told the players that.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 17-2 in their last 19 games.
In case you thought the Wild were a fluke last season, think again. Kirill Kaprizov is an intriguing long-shot to win the Hart Trophy at 35-to-1.
At 29-8-3, the Avalanche have the best record in hockey. The Avs are the current Stanley Cup favorites at +500. Unfortunately, they’re huge favorites almost every night, which makes them a tough bet.
7. Florida Panthers +2.6 units (3)
Florida is one of the league’s better teams, and the oddsmakers have finally figured that out after 1 1/2 seasons of pure profit for their backers.
8. St. Louis Blues +2.5 units (9)
Advanced metrics don’t love the Blues, but they’ve been getting the job done on the ice.
Much like Colorado, the back-to-back champions remain an elite team but they’re significant favorites in almost every game they play which makes it hard to back them consistently. Tampa Bay is +700 to complete the three-peat.
San Jose isn’t a very good team, but it isn’t as bad as many expected, which has made them a profitable team to bet through the first half of the season.
Vegas hasn’t been as dominant as we’ve been used to based on its first four seasons in the league. Part of the reason has been a bunch of key injuries.
12. Los Angeles Kings +1.0 units (16)
Los Angeles sits squarely in the middle of the NHL standings, which is about 10 spots higher than anyone projected prior to the season.
13. Toronto Maple Leafs +0.9 units (7)
The Leafs are one of the league’s better teams, and the market prices them as such on a nightly basis. That’s why they’re barely profitable despite winning nearly two-thirds of their games.
Much like the other California teams, the Ducks have surpassed expectations. People expected bad but they’re average. This makes them a profitable bet, for now.
15. Boston Bruins -0.4 units (11)
Boston has been one of the league’s best teams over the past decade. The Bruins are still very good, but not elite.
16. Dallas Stars -1.1 units (15)
In 2020, the Dallas Stars won the West. In 2022, they’re painfully average. Goaltending once carried this team, but now the position is average at best.
17. Ottawa Senators -1.5 units (27)
Ottawa remains one of the worst teams in the league, but the Senators sprung some upsets as big underdogs to save their backers.
18. Columbus Blue Jackets -1.5 units (24)
It was a surprising start for the Blue Jackets, but they’ve regressed to what we expected entering the year. and are in a free fall. They’ve lost 15 of their last 21 games.
19. Calgary Flames -2.6 units (14)
Calgary was one of the league’s best teams at the beginning of the year, but it hasn’t been able to find their groove since the team’s COVID-shutdown.
20. Washington Capitals -3.6 units (12)
In the NHL, teams get a point in the standings for losing in overtime. In betting, bettors get a loss when their team loses in overtime. Washington has lost nine games after regulation, the most in the league.
21. Edmonton Oilers -4.2 units (18)
Edmonton started the season as one of the league’s best teams, but it’s all unravelled in recent weeks. The team has won two straight games, so maybe the eye of the storm is behind them. Connor McDavid remains the favorite to win the Hart Trophy at +200.
22. Detroit Red Wings -6 units (22)
Detroit has been more competitive this season, but it’s starting to slide down the standings. The Red Wings have lost eight of 11.
23. Vancouver Canucks -6.1 units (23)
Vancouver was 8-15-2 to start the year, then fired their coach. Bruce Boudreau is 10-4-3 since taking over.
24. Buffalo Sabres -7.8 units (29)
It’s yet another bad season for the Buffalo Sabres.
25. Winnipeg Jets -8.5 units (19)
Winnipeg has been maddeningly inconsistent this season. Connor Hellebuyck has had a pedestrian season by his standards. He’s 25-to-1 to win the Vezina after opening at 10-1.
26. New Jersey Devils -10.0 units (26)
Between injuries and COVID, goaltending has been a mess for the Devils this season, which is not a recipe for success.
27. New York Islanders -10.3 units (21)
The Islanders entered the season as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, but then opened the season with just 5 wins in their first 20 games. However, they have 10 wins in their last 15. Things are turning around, but is it too late?
28. Chicago Blackhawks -11.0 units (25)
The Blackhawks acquired big names like Marc-Andre Fleury and Seth Jones in the offseason. Safe to say it hasn’t worked.
29. Arizona Coyotes -11.9 units (31)
Arizona has 10 wins in 41 games. Most nights, you can get the Coyotes at near 3-1 on the moneyline if you like pain.
30. Seattle Kraken -14.7 units (30)
The Vegas Golden Knights tricked us into forgetting that expansion teams are supposed to be very, very bad.
31. Philadelphia Flyers -15.1 units (28)
Having two separate losing streaks of at least 10 games in the first half of the season is not a good thing.
32. Montreal Canadiens -22.1 units (32)
Going from the Stanley Cup final to the worst team in the league in three months is an impressive turnaround.
