Odds To Win 2024 Stanley Cup: 30-to-1 Sleeper at the All-Star Break

Odds To Win 2024 Stanley Cup: 30-to-1 Sleeper

We have played several months of the NHL season, which has shown us who is legit and who is a fraud. Some teams have been exceeding expectations and maybe have some regression coming their way, while others have been playing well but can't buy wins.

Regression is one of the biggest factors you have to take into account when buying into a team, as a team that is getting outplayed most nights but keeps winning probably is getting lucky. With that, there are a couple of teams to be looking at right now at some large numbers on the futures market that could pay off big at the end of the season.

Let's take a look at one of my favorite NHL future bets on the board right now.

Pittsburgh Penguins To Win The Stanley Cup (+3000, DraftKings)

First off, I want to express how important it is not to go crazy on future bets. There is a reason this is 30/1 odds right now, and that is because the Penguins are not likely to win the Stanley Cup as everything sits. However, I feel that there is reason to believe that they can turn things around in the second half of the season, enough to where I think it is worth a small wager on this bet.

Pittsburgh started the season looking like they were done, that this aging core of players had finally gotten to the point where they could no longer win games. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang have made up the core of the Penguins for many years and all of them are at least 36 years old. At this point, the gas tank is starting to run on empty of these guys, but they are still holding their heads above water as it stands.

The Penguins are 22-17-7 at the All-Star break, which means they have been pretty painfully average at the halfway point. Taking a look at the Metropolitan Division, they are five spots behind the leader, the New York Rangers. Now, I think the Rangers are a very good hockey team. However, the team that is sitting above them right now is a total fraud that I think drops in the standings over the second half.

The New York Islanders have one of the worst defenses in the NHL, allowing a whopping 34 shots on their net per game. They are here because of the insane amount of times they have made it to overtime, with a 20-17-12 record. If you count those OT losses to their total losses, this team is 20-29 overall. I just think they are a bad team that has gotten very lucky, and Pittsburgh is superior to them. The books think so as well, with the Islanders' Stanley Cup odds at 70-to-1.

The sportsbooks hate the Flyers, who are in third right now in the Metro. They are also getting 70-to-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, so the books think the Penguins are better than them too. I like the Flyers, but with their goaltender Carter Hart facing criminal charges, the lack of a good goaltender could really hurt them.

Speaking of netminders, one of Pittsburgh's biggest weaknesses since Marc-Andre Fleury left has been goaltending. That's even what kept them out of the playoffs last season. This season, however, they have gotten some really good play in the net. Tristan Jarry has stepped up and owns a 2.53 GA/G and .913 SV%.

This season's weakness has been the offense, but it isn't for lack of trying. They are getting 33 shots on goal per game, which is one of the highest numbers in the NHL. They are peppering opposing nets, but they haven't been able to convert those shots into enough goals. I think their luck is bound to change in the second half, and more goals are on the way.

With so many veterans still on this roster, guys that have been through the gauntlet of the Stanley Cup playoffs before, I think the Penguins can make a playoff push. That kind of experience and leadership is needed when any team makes a run at a championship. If they can squeak into the postseason, I think +3000 is a generous price right now.

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