We are just days away from October, which means we’re just days away from the NHL season! After previewing the Pacific, Central, and Atlantic, let’s finish things out with the Metropolitan Division.
The Metro has a few teams at the bottom, one or two in purgatory, and a handful that could make legitimate runs at the Stanley Cup. Let’s get into it. Here is my Metropolitan Division betting preview!
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NHL Metropolitan Division Betting Preview: One Best Bet For Each Team
Carolina Hurricanes
To Win The Stanley Cup (+1100)
The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the model franchises in today’s NHL. They’ve built a perennial contender that has won at least one playoff round in each of the past five seasons.
Carolina’s downside, however, is that its offense lacks much firepower. While some teams are built to run the gauntlet of the regular season, the Hurricanes go beyond that. They’ll be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but their odds are too short for the division title.
New Jersey Devils
To Win The Metropolitan Division (+240)
The New Jersey Devils are one of the best up-and-coming teams in the league. Jack Hughes has emerged on the scene as a legitimate superstar, and the Devils’ depth is insane.
Former first-overall pick Nico Hischier put up 80 points last season and was a finalist for the Selke Trophy. They added Timo Meier at the trade deadline and then Tyler Toffoli this offseason.
The Devils are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season, and I wouldn’t hate taking them to win the Presidents’ Trophy at 9/1, either.
New York Rangers
To Win The Stanley Cup (+2000)
The New York Rangers should easily make the playoffs (-600), but there’s not much value on that or their point total — although I do like the over.
The Blueshirts have the components of a potential Stanley Cup champion if they can put it all together. Igor Shesterkin is a Vezina-caliber goalie in net. Adam Fox has won a Norris Trophy. It’s up to the young guns like Alexis Lafreniere to take a step forward to help out the star veterans up front.
Odds of +2000 imply a 4.76% probability of winning the Stanley Cup. The Rangers have better than a one-in-twenty chance.
New York Islanders
To Win The Stanley Cup (+5500)
The New York Islanders are another interesting team. While the odds slightly favor them to miss the playoffs, if they make it, they have what it takes to make a run.
Ilya Sorokin is one of the best goalies in the league. They added Bo Horvat to help out Mat Barzal up front. Their defense is still very strong.
If they make the playoffs, you’re going to be happy you have a 55/1 ticket for them to win it all.
Pittsburgh Penguins
To Miss The Playoffs (+172)
The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs last year, and these are good odds for them to do it again.
Yes, they did add Erik Karlsson, but can he repeat last year’s Norris Trophy-winning season? They’re already missing Jake Guentzel up front, and there are a lot of miles on the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.
The Penguins might be able to put it together, but there is value here for them to miss the playoffs.
Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin Over 40.5 Goals (-115) / 50+ Goals (+800)
It’s officially the Alex Ovechkin show in Washington.
Ovi will enter the season 72 goals shy of Wayne Gretzky’s 894 career goals. It’s very likely that he will get there next season if he can stay healthy.
Ovechkin scored 42 goals in 73 games last year and 50 in 77 games the year prior. While the 38-year-old sniper is getting up there in age, he still has what it takes to put the biscuit in the basket — and that seems to be the Capitals’ main goal at this point.
Philadelphia Flyers
To Have Worst Record in NHL (+1000)
The Philadelphia Flyers entered a New Era of Orange this offseason and are officially rebuilding. They traded away Kevin Hayes and Ivan Provorov. They bought out Tony DeAngelo. Philly didn’t really bring in any quality pieces to replace them.
While John Tortorella may be able to drag the Flyers to relevance, the Flyers’ blueline is going to be a “horror show” on some nights, as the head coach called it.
Columbus Blue Jackets
To Have Worst Record in NHL (+800)
The Columbus Blue Jackets are another team with a very low floor this season, and they round out my Metropolitan Division betting preview. The Mike Babcock situation already has a dark cloud over a questionable Columbus team.
Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine are talented up front. The additions of Provorov and Damon Severson will help Zach Werenski on the back end. But Elvis Merzlikins is still Swiss cheese in net.
