NHL Best Bets: Eastern Conference Winner (2020-21)
Now that the Tampa Bay Lightning reign supreme and the dust from free agency has settled, we can begin to shift our focus towards the 2020-21 regular season. While start date, division structure, and schedule length have yet to be decided; we have a solid understanding of roster construction for nearly all teams as only a few notable free agents remain on the market. With that, let’s analyze our best bets to win the Eastern Conference.
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Tampa Bay Lightning (+350)
The reigning Stanley Cup champions are the obvious favorite. They return their core group of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Between having one of the strongest core groups and best goalie in the league – no need to overthink this one.
Toronto Maple Leafs (+750)
The Leafs once again underachieved after being ousted from the playoffs by Columbus. This squad simply couldn’t match the determination and grit the Blue Jackets put on display. While Toronto was uber-talented offensively, they lacked any semblance of defensive responsibility – not to mention a physical game that looked to be inspired by Disney on Ice.
Offensively, the team is very gifted. Led by perennial Maurice Richard contender – Auston Matthews, along with Mitch Marner and Captain John Tavares. However, the X-factors upfront this upcoming season will be new additions Wayne Simmonds and ageless wonder, Joe Thornton. Simmonds brings an element of both physical and mental toughness that will solidify the bottom-six forward group; along with a net-front presence on the power play.
The signing of Thornton brings much-needed leadership to a young locker room. The future Hall of Famer saw his points per game drop to 0.44 last season but some of that can be attributed to a poor supporting cast – not to mention the fact that he’s a card-carrying AARP member. He will contribute greatly on the power play, as he is eighth all-time in PP assists (397) and will steady the center position within the bottom-six. Most of all, the intangibles he brings will be invaluable to a team that desperately lacks them.
Other key offseason additions: T.J. Brodie – Zach Bogosian – Travis Boyd.
Montreal Canadiens (+3000)
Fresh off a fantastic playoff run that saw them defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins as huge underdogs, the Canadiens have been very busy this offseason. First, they traded Max Domi and a third-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Josh Anderson. Additionally, they signed Joel Edmundson and Jake Allen to shore up their defense and backup goalie situation. Perhaps their biggest move, however, was the signing of winger Tyler Toffoli. The Canadiens sorely lacked primary and secondary scoring last season, which became quite evident in the playoffs. They only had two players break the 20-goal plateau in the 2019-2020 season. Toffoli has once broken the 30-goal mark and perennially scores 25-plus. He will immediately improve their power play that executed a paltry 15.2% of the time last season, along with bringing a veteran presence, as he won the Stanley Cup in 2014 with the LA Kings.
The aforementioned Anderson is a tremendous power forward that fills a void this team lacked. Pairing him with Brendan Gallagher would form quite the dynamic duo that teams would hate playing against.
If hotshot rookies Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi continue their development, along with a bounce-back campaign from Jonathan Drouin, this team now possesses the overall depth to pair with their stellar goaltender, Carey Price, to make a serious run.
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Jordan Anderson is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Jordan, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @Jordan_A03.