We’re still a ways away from the Stanley Cup final, which goes down in the middle of June. But enough of the regular season has elapsed to know who’s a championship contender and who's a pretender. Speaking of which, the best online sportsbooks have pegged these six teams as all-out contenders cause they currently have the shortest betting lines to win the 2022 Stanley Cup:
| Team |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado Avalanche | +500 | +500 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +750 | +750 |
| Florida Panthers | +750 | +750 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | +900 | +900 |
| Las Vegas Golden Knights | +900 | +900 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | +1000 | +1000 |
Best Bet To Win 2022 NHL Stanley Cup
As you saw above, the current Stanley Cup odds are rather long for most teams. That speaks to not only the parity across the NHL, but also the unpredictable nature of the postseason. NHL has a reputation for providing the most fireworks come playoff time and that’s reflected in the championship odds set by top NHL betting sites.
Thanks to these long futures lines, you have the option of betting on multiple teams to win the Stanley Cup Finals. The payouts are large enough that you just need to hit on one of your bets to make up for the other losers. That’s our approach right now as we’re making two different bets to win the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup. Here are the teams we’re most confident in this stage of the season:
Eastern Conference Pick
In the words of the immortal Ric Flair, “to be the man, you have to beat the man.” That phrase has to apply to the Lightning, who’ve won back-to-back championships. Though, no team has three-peated titles since the Islanders won four in a row between 1980-83. But Tampa Bay’s core roster remains intact and they’re playing as well as they have during this entire “reign of terror.”
They’re 30-10-6 with 66 points this season — both are the third-most in the NHL. But here’s the thing: Tampa Bay hasn’t even come close to reaching their ceiling due to injuries. The championship roster has missed significant playing time from key contributors like Zach Bogosian, Erik Cernak, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point. Imagine if Tampa can get them on the ice together for once? It would be a scary sight for the whole league.
Of course, a hypothesis behind the litany of injuries is the Lightning are flat-out tired from the two title wins, and the deep postseasons runs that come with them. We certainly think that’s a fair guess, but those same experiences have ingrained them to be resilient in any situation. That’s a quality that could pay dividends in the 2022 playoffs — and for futures bettors too. We strongly urge you to bet Tampa here — a proven commodity in a league filled with uncertainty.
Western Conference Pick
Colorado is (and have been) playing a notch above the rest of the Western Conference. Currently, they have four more wins and eight points over the next-best team in the conference. There’s a reason why the Avalanche are the odds-on favorites to take the Stanley Cup this year.
Of course, the question is: can the Avs finally deliver in the postseason? Regular-season success has been the norm for them, but so has mid-playoff exits — they’ve been eliminated three straight years in the second round (two of which in Game 7). Our answer to the previous question is, yes, this is finally the season they “get over the hump.”
Why? Because quite simply, they need to. The window of opportunity is closing for Colorado as their young players reach the end of their team-friendly contracts. Nine players on the roster will be free agents at the season’s end. There’s pressure on this roster to deliver, but they’ve been through enough playoff heartbreak the past three seasons that we sense they’ll rise to the occasion, not crumble under that pressure. We're banking on this finally being the year for the Avalanche and its immensely talented roster.
How To Bet On 2022 NHL Stanley Cup?
So what do you say, take our betting advice or have a different pick in mind? Whatever your choice is, you can "put your money where your mouth is" by betting on the NHL Stanley Cup at one of the bookmakers listed underneath. These sites have up-to-date lines for every NHL team, and the odds will change as the season wears on.
One last word of advice before we let you go: look into the lucrative sign-up bonuses offered by then underneath sites. These deals can score you hundreds to thousands of dollars in free play by just creating an account — that's about it and the money is yours to wager with freely! Reference the table below to see what deals are available.
