Colorado Avalanche Still Betting Favorites To Win Stanley Cup

Through nine games, the Colorado Avalanche are still the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

Even after a slight slump to end October has them at 7-2-0.

There have been a few surprises around the league that could have shaken things up to unseat the pre-season favorites.

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights have the best record in the league at 10-0-1.

Vegas is one of two teams to not suffer a regulation loss after playing at least 10 games this year.

They are a good bet to make it all the way.

And the second is a bit of a surprise this year.

The Boston Bruins, coming off of the NHL’s best regular season ever, lost a slew of players to free-agency, trade and retirement — including captain and superstar Patrice Bergeron.

Still, powered by their elite goalie tandem and solid defensive structure, they remain one of the league’s best teams.

They also don’t lack in star power with David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand still providing that offensive punch.

Three more teams sit ahead of the Avalanche in the standings: the New York Rangers, Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks.

New York is no surprise.

Wielding one of the deepest forward groups in the league and arguably the best goaltender in the league in Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers were always going to be competitive.

They sit at 8-2-0.

Dallas is 7-1-1 thanks to its deep compliment of offensive talent and Jake Oettinger’s brilliance in net.

Oettinger is 5-0-1 with a .939 save percentage and a 1.95 goals-against average in six starts.

Vancouver has been more of a surprise.

Coming off of a season where they missed the playoffs, the Canucks have surged to a 7-2-1 record this year.

Elias Pettersson leads the way, putting up 19 points in 10 games so far this season.

He is one point shy of New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes, who leads the league in points with 20.

Quinn Hughes, brother of the aforementioned league-leading scorer, leads all NHL defensemen in points with 16.

JT Miller also has 16 points to start the year.

Even with all of this competition ahead of them, the Avalanche are still favorites to win the Stanley Cup at 7-2-0.

Vegas has Colorado with the shortest odds at +750 to take home the silver chalice.

A lot of that has to do with how the Avalanche have won its games.

Colorado has one of the deepest rosters in the league with a star nucleus that rivals any other in the league.

One that helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2022.

Alexandar Georgiev has also given them Vezina-quality goaltending when they needed it.

He is 6-2-0 with a shutout this season.

His splits dropped to a .915/2.40 after he allowed at least three goals in his last four starts.

Still, the Avalanche remain at the top of the mountain top.

The Carolina Hurricanes have the second-best odds at +950 even after a rough start for their usually sturdy defense.

Vegas is third at +10000 with Dallas and New Jersey rounding out the Top 5 at +11000.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are also in that pack of +11000 powered by a nucleus of star power of their own.