NHL Hockey Betting: Stanley Cup Futures Bets to Make Now (2019-2020)

We’re just a few weeks into the NHL hockey season and most teams have played 8 or 9 games.  Although it’s still the early going there’s never a bad time to check the futures betting odds and try to find some value.  Much of futures betting is timing—the general idea is to ‘buy on bad news’ and get an overlay price.  That’s not always possible and that’s the subject of today’s article.  In this update, we’ll look at some teams that you should bet now.  These teams are likely to not be available at such a favorable price again this season.  In other words, ‘get while the gettin’ is good’.  All lines are from BetOnline.ag and odds and statistics referenced are current as of Saturday, October 19, 2019:

STANLEY CUP FUTURES BETS TO MAKE NOW

EDMONTON OILERS +1600

The Edmonton Oilers sure don’t look like a team that has made the playoffs only once in the past thirteen seasons.  Connor McDavid is the best hockey player on the planet and he’s now got a competent general manager in Ken Holland and an experienced coach in Dave Tippett.  So what do you think is going to happen now that the best hockey player on the planet has some help on and off the ice?  If you said ‘win a lot of hockey games’ go to the head of the class.  As of this writing, the Oilers have the second best record in the NHL at 7-1-0 and are just 1 point behind the two teams tied for the best record, Buffalo and Colorado.

No surprise that the Oilers have been scoring goals but what is something that wasn’t anticipated is how well they’re performing in every phase of the game.  They’ve got the best power play in hockey thanks in large part to the rebirth of James Neal (more about him in a moment) and are scoring on 41.7% of man advantage situations.  They’re also #5-T on the penalty kill hit parade.  They’re ranked #5 in team offense scoring 3.75 goals per game and have the #6-T team defense in the NHL allowing just 2.5 goals per game.

GM Holland might be brought up on robbery charges for the deal he made with Calgary over the Summer.  He sent Milan Lucic and the team’s most burdensome contract to Calgary in return for the high priced contract of James Neal.  Lucic has 1 assist and 27 penalty minutes.  Neal is leading the NHL in goals with 9 in 8 games including 6 power play goals.  He’s on a pace to score 92 goals this season.  Leon Draisaitl has 6 goals and McDavid is now the second Oilers player in franchise history to  produce 17 points in 7 games (the other guy who did it wore #99).  Most significantly, the Oilers look like a highly confident squad with excellent team chemistry.  By mid-season they’ll be a single digit choice to win the Stanley Cup.

BUFFALO SABRES +2000

Buffalo won 4-3 at San Jose on Saturday night to improve to 7-1-1 on the season and tie the Colorado Avalanche for the best record in the league.  Statistically, Buffalo has a lot in common with Edmonton and are clicking on offense, defense and the power play.  Their penalty kill is middle of the table right now (#17 at 79.2%) but otherwise the Sabres are playing excellent hockey in all phases of the game.  The biggest boost for Buffalo has been the emergence of former Nashville Predators’ backup Carter Hutton as the best goalie in hockey so far this season.  Hutton was highly regarded while he was Pekka Rinne’s backup and after two years in St. Louis he was picked up by Buffalo.  He had a serviceable season last year but so far this season he’s put up Vezina Trophy worthy numbers:  5-0-0 with a 1.39 goals against average and a .953 save percentage with two shutouts.  He’s #1 or tied for the lead in wins, GAA and save percentage.  If Buffalo can get better play out of backup Linus Ulmark they’re going to be downright nasty.

Ralph Kruger is the new head coach and he’s an early favorite for the Jack Adams Trophy.  Under Kruger, Jack Eichel is transitioning from an elite goal scorer to an all around player and team leader.  Rasmus Dahlin has 8 assists and is playing significantly better in his own end.  Victor Olofsson is leading the team in goals.  Hutton is the real deal and he can keep the team in games no matter how they’re playing.  If the rest of the team continues to develop the Sabres are a legit contender.