Top Five Stanley Cup Favorites

Offshore sportsbook sharps who wager on futures have to keep a close eye on the oddsmakers throughout each season of every sport. In the NHL, for example, the top-five Stanley Cup favorites get shuffled every week as teams get hot and cold. Here’s a look at the current top five at most books.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins (+500)

BOOM: They’re the defending champs, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know they have excellent hockey odds. Any team with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will compete every season; it also helps that Marc-Andre Fleury has established himself as a big-game goalie. And does any team get more from its checking forwards than Pittsburgh does?

BUST: It’s the Crosby/Malkin show but Pittsburgh’s offensive depth isn’t great. An injury to either of the Dynamic Duo would almost certainly derail the Pens’ Cup hopes, especially since they compete with some deep offensive teams in the East.

2. Detroit Red Wings (+500)

BOOM: I have to be honest – I think the oddsmakers are mistaken here. The Wings are the top favorites for the same reason the Patriots were in NFL betting at the start of the season: pedigree. Detroit wins or contends every season, so people expect them to be there come June.

BUST: Factoring in Johan Franzen’s serious knee injury, four of Detroit’s top six goal scorers from last season are gone, as Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson bolted for free agency. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg can’t do it all on their own, especially since they take on so much defensive responsibility.

3. San Jose Sharks (+600)

BOOM: If you’re the type who gets swayed by the flashing lights of slot machines in a casino, you’re probably all over the Sharks right now, as Dany Heatley’s early-season numbers are eye-popping. The Sharks will score a lot, prevent a lot of goals and win tons of regular-season games.

BUST: Come crunch time, the Sharks still don’t have many proven winners on their roster. Evgeni Nabokov became a sieve against the Ducks last April and Joe Thornton disappears more than David Copperfield come playoff time. Sadly for Sharks fans, Heatley has a similar track record. He did have 22 points in 20 games during the Sens’ Stanley Cup run in 2007 but he had just seven goals after topping 50 in the regular season.

4. Chicago Blackhawks (+700)

BOOM: The Hawks are young, fast and perhaps deeper than any team in the Western Conference. They’re far more than just Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Supporting forwards like Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglien are important parts of the offense and the Hawks have a phenomenal young blueline quartet in Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Cam Barker and Brian Campbell. Did I mention they still have Marian Hossa waiting in the wings?

BUST: It’s safe to say Chicago shed the “inexperience” tag last year after reaching the conference final, but goaltending is a question mark. Cristobal Huet may not be cut out for full-time duty.

5. Washington Capitals (+700)

BOOM: Goals, goals and more goals! I’m betting management giggles with glee when it sees its on-ice product, which may be the most exciting in the NHL. Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom are simply dazzling offensively. The Caps are still probably the NHL’s most explosive attackers.

BUST: Among the top contending sports picks, the Caps are easily the least balanced team. They lack depth on defense after Mike Green, and even Green functions more like a freelancing fourth forward than a D-man. The Caps also lack a clear-cut No. 1 goalie unless one of Jose Theodore and Sergei Varlamov asserts himself.

By: Bet Online

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