The ice hockey fans can’t wait for the start of hopefully another exciting NHL season. The Vegas Golden Knights are the defending champions, as they won their first-ever championship by beating the Florida Panthers in the finals last season. A lot of teams have improved either through trades or the draft, so it will be a fun year with no clear favorites.
The 2023–24 National Hockey League regular season starts on October 10 and ends on April 18, 2024. The playoffs start shortly after that, with the Stanley Cup finals starting in June 2024. The NHL consists of 32 teams split equally into the Eastern and Western Conferences.
The Vegas Golden Knights are the defending Stanley Cup winners, and they are one of the top favorites to win back-to-back titles as well. The Chicago Blackhawks drafted Connor Bedard as the top draft pick, and he was impressive in the NHL pre-season.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | National Hockey League (NHL) 2023-24 Season |
| 🏟️ Venues: | Ice-Hockey arenas across the United States and Canada |
| 🗓️ Dates: | 10 October 2023 – 18 April 2024 |
Here’s a look at the 2024 Stanley Cup winner odds from the best ice hockey betting odds sites:
As shown in the odds, the Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs are all at the top of the list of favorites to win the title. The Avalanche have been one of the most consistent teams in recent years, as they have won their division in three consecutive seasons. The Oilers have the best ice-hockey player in the world, Connor McDavid, in addition to some great players who are capable of winning the Stanley Cup. Try some sportsbooks that don’t limit for this.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the best offenses in the league. The partnership of Auston Matthews and Tyler Bertuzzi in the attack will be huge for the team, so their chances will be there to win the Stanley Cup. The New Jersey Devils are one of the most improved teams in the off-season. They are an exciting team to watch and will surely be in the title race.
The Vegas Golden Knights are the defending champions and will be hoping to win back-to-back titles. They have lost some key players this off-season and added new ones, so it will be a challenge for them, but they shouldn’t be ruled out of the title race.
The National Hockey League consists of 32 teams that are split equally into the Eastern and Western Conferences and Four Divisions in parallel. Each team plays a total of 82 games throughout the regular season. Eight teams qualify for the NHL playoffs from each conference: the top three teams from each division advance in addition to the next two teams with the highest points from each conference.
The 2023 NHL Entry Draft was held in late June, and it had some interesting prospects for the new season. There have been a lot of interesting trades in the off-season. The New Jersey Devils signing Tyler Toffoli is one to keep an eye on. The Chicago Blackhawks have improved a lot by trading for the former MVP, Taylor Hall, to play with the top draft pick, Connor Bedard.
That is what the list of Eastern Conference participants looks like and what are the expected places after the regular season end for each team:
| Eastern Conference Participants | Predicted Finish after Regular Season |
|---|---|
| Toronto Maple Leafs* | 1st |
| New Jersey Devils* | 2nd |
| Carolina Hurricanes* | 3rd |
| Boston Bruins* | 4th |
| New York Rangers* | 5th |
| Florida Panthers* | 6th |
| Pittsburgh Penguins* | 7th |
| Ottawa Senators* | 8th |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 9th |
| New York Islanders | 10th |
| Buffalo Sabres | 11th |
| Detroit Red Wings | 12th |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 13th |
| Washington Capitals | 14th |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 15th |
| Montreal Canadiens | 16th |
* Teams that will proceed to the playoffs.
Predicted places after the regular season for the Western Conference and who’ll participate in this race for playoffs:
| Western Conference Participants | Predicted Finish after Regular Season |
|---|---|
| Edmonton Oilers* | 1st |
| Colorado Avalanche* | 2nd |
| Dallas Stars* | 3rd |
| Los Angeles Kings* | 4th |
| Vegas Golden Knights* | 5th |
| Minnesota Wild* | 6th |
| Seattle Kraken* | 7th |
| Nashville Predators* | 8th |
| Vancouver Canucks | 9th |
| Calgary Flames | 10th |
| Winnipeg Jets | 11th |
| St. Louis Blues | 12th |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 13th |
| Arizona Coyotes | 14th |
| San Jose Sharks | 15th |
| Anaheim Ducks | 16th |
* Teams that will proceed to the playoffs.
The NHL playoffs run from late April to the beginning of June every season. Their format is a best-of-seven elimination series played between the 16 teams to determine the Stanley Cup winners.
This will be the 107th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Hockey Club won the first Challenge Cup in 1894, while the Vancouver Millionaires won the first official Stanley Cup in 1915. The Montreal Canadiens have won 24 championships, which is the most by any NHL team, followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs with 13 titles and the Detroit Red Wings with 11 Stanley Cups.
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According to the latest NHL odds, the Edmonton Oilers are one of the top contenders to win the title. The team is stacked with talented players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and they have improved the forward depth a lot this season. The only problem for the Oilers this year will be the goalies, but with so many elite offensive weapons, they should be fine.
The Edmonton Oilers finished last season in second place in the Western Conference. They were close to getting to the Stanley Cup finals once again, but the Vegas Golden Knights upset them in the quarterfinals. The Oilers scored the most goals of any NHL team by a big margin last regular season, and they have kept their best offensive players, hoping to win the championship again.
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The Dallas Stars are coming off a surprising season, to say the least. They have beaten the Minnesota Wild and Seattle Kraken in the playoffs on their way to the Western Conference finals, but then they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. The Stars have one of the deepest offenses in the league after signing Matt Duchene. Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz, and Jason Robertson were all outstanding last season. The odds are enticing for a team like the Stars with such depth in their roster.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs finished second in the Atlantic Division in the last two seasons. Their offensive line in the face of Auston Matthews, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Mitch Marner is the best in the division. It took the Boston Bruins an exceptional performance to win it last season, but they are expected to regress a lot after losing in the first round of the playoffs, while the Maple Leafs should improve with such a good roster.
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The New Jersey Devils will be one of the most exciting teams to watch after adding Tyler Toffoli to the mix. The team has some great players like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton. The Devils finished second in the Metropolitan Division last season, despite having the best offense by far, but they have improved their defense as well and are finally ready to start winning again.
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The Dallas Stars were one point short of winning the Central Division last season. They will be looking to build on this successful year for the team, as they looked so good in the pre-season games. The Stars had the best offense and the best defense in the division last season. Jake Oettinger is one of the best goalies in the West, and he should help Dallas win the division this time.
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The Los Angeles Kings will be up there with the Edmonton Oilers this season in the Pacific Division. They are looking better every season, and they have one of the best rosters, which is a mix of veterans and young stars. The Kings signing of Pierre-Luc Dubois will improve the team a lot, so there’s good value in Los Angeles winning the division this year with such odds.
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Connor McDavid is the best ice hockey player in the world right now. He is a generational talent, and he has won the MVP in three of the last seven years. Connor is coming off his best NHL season, in which he has broken both of his goals and points career records. The Edmonton Oilers are expected to do well with McDavid, so his chances are high to win his back-to-back Hart Memorial Trophy.
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Auston Matthews is known for his great shooting skills. He has won the Rocket Richard Trophy twice in the last three years. Auston is coming off his worst scoring season, so he will be looking to bounce back with a strong performance. Matthews is playing for an attacking team, the Toronto Maple Leafs and he will have a great player like Tyler Bertuzzi assisting him all season.
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The Ottawa Senators weren’t any good last season, but they are looking like a team that can compete for a playoff spot right now. They were bad at stop shots last year, but they have signed the goalie, Joonas Korpisalo, to solve this issue. The Senators are at the top of the Atlantic Division pre-season, so that’s promising for them to have a good start to this year.
There are a lot of good teams in the National Hockey League that will compete until the end, giving plenty maneuvers for punters that use the latest NHL odds in their favor. Still, we will be going with the Edmonton Oilers to win it all this season. Make sure to use our 2023-24 NHL season predictions and bet them at the best ice hockey sportsbooks to have more fun watching the event. BetZillion is mastering the betting game.
