NHL betting: Updated odds for Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs
With the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs officially underway, it's time to look back at how the Canadian teams still in the hunt are fairing. Have oddsmakers changed their minds about whether a team from the Great White North will hoist the Stanley Cup?
Hopefully, you checked out Yardbarker's first look at the four Canadian teams that made it to the second season. If the long odds for the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs gave you pause then your intuition is firing on all cylinders because both of those teams are out.
Now just the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks remain, and they will play each other for a bid to make it to the Western Conference Final.
DraftKings hasn't wavered too much on its original stance, however, with the odds of a Canadian team winning a title going from +320 during the last round to +300 now.
If you waited through the first round to bet on a Canadian team and are still considering it, here's what you should know.
These Pacific Division rivals are still very well-acquainted and finished first and second in the regular-season division standings in 2024. However, they haven't played each other in the postseason since 1992 since both sides have gone through some considerable playoff droughts.
Fast forward to the 2024 campaign and Canucks swept the four-game regular-season series and outscored the Oilers 21-7 over that span. However, DK lists the Oilers as +180 favorites to win the Western Conference while Vancouver is at the back of the pack at +650 odds.
Additionally, Edmonton is priced at 9-2 (+450) to win the Stanley Cup while Vancouver has the longest odds of any team in the second round at 18-1.
This could be due to how each team played in the first round of the playoffs. Edmonton defeated the LA Kings in five games, only dropping Game 2 in overtime. Meanwhile, the Canucks had to grind to beat a very physical Nashville Predators team in six games, and only outscored the opposition 13-11 as each of the last four games of the series was decided by one goal.
Which brings us to one of the most important comparisons in the Edmonton-Vancouver matchup: The firepower. The Canucks were able to win a lot of games this season thanks in part to captain Quinn Hughes, who is a favorite to win the Norris Trophy after leading all defensemen with 92 points and making Vancouver a defensively-sound unit. However, the Oilers arguably have more depth scoring behind Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid and are experiencing an uptick in offense that was difficult for the Kings to contain.
"The Canucks struggled to score in Round 1, and that’s going to have to change to match up against the Oilers," The Athletic said. "A strong defense and penalty kill, which Vancouver has, will help, but the Canucks need some scoring pop to match."
McDavid, by the way, is the +550 favorite at DK to win the Conn Smythe, while Hughes is a 50-1 long shot. Of course, those numbers will drastically change depending on which team advances to the next round.
So should you back McDavid and the Oilers to continue their strong playoff run and make it back to the Western Conference Final, or will Hughes and the Canucks end Edmonton's Stanley Cup bid at long odds?
Game 1 of this all-Canada series is set for Wednesday.
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