Devils Stanley Cup Odds: Can We Trust the Devils With Our Money?

Devils Stanley Cup Odds Ticked Up to +1400 after Jack Hughes Injury

Are the Devils Still One of the Beasts from the East?

Before we get crazy because the Devils Stanley Cup Odds went up a bit, let’s keep our composure on a team that will likely have Jack Hughes out of the line-up for just a short time. Hughes, who officially has an upper-body injury, was labeled as an extra at practice, Tuesday.

That’s the best news because any major injury would have kept him off his skates for quite some time. He did not play in the Devils’ 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tuesday, and will need to get cleared before returning to practice, but it does sound like Hughes will be back in the lineup sooner than his week-to-week status would suggest.

Jersey has now won four of their last five games and is 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. Talk of the Devils sliding back to the pack is a little head scratching with three points separating them from the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

We’ve gone on record saying that the Devils will win the division despite the Carolina Hurricanes owning the easier upcoming schedule. Barring an unforeseen disaster, we still feel that the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils will face each other in the Eastern Conference Final.

Defense Still Wins Stanely Cups

You can take 67 points out of a line-up and still win because the Devils aren’t built on offensive production to cover up a suspect defense. Even if Hughes is out for a week or two, New Jersey has allowed just 2.6 goals per game (5th) and 28.5 shots per game (4th).

They own one of the best penalty kills in the league (81.1%). These are three major arteries to success when a superstar is out of the line-up and Jersey is well-rounded at each. We are watching the growth of a franchise when comparing what they were just a year ago. In 2021-22, the Devils were an automatic go-against for most bettors losing 2248 units over the course of the season.

Only the Montreal Canadiens (-2326), Philadelphia Flyers (-2391) and Chicago Blackhawks (-2392) were worse. They were one of four teams to allow over 300 goals (307), finishing 26th in our power rankings. Jesper Bratt led the team in scoring with 73 points in 76 games, but Bratt has become a more complete player this season with a +20 +/- and a Corsi for that sits just under 60% (59.7%), an 7.8% jump from his career average.

Top-line center, Nico Hischier started the season with a -16 +/- but is +22 to put his career number in the black. Many will say, yes, that happens when you score more, but we would like to point out that a major part of playing well defensively is how much you carry the puck offensively. The Devils Stanley Cup odds have very little bearing on how the betting public should view them on an individual bet basis.

5 on 5 Hockey Final Piece to Devils 2023 Stanley Cup Odds Hopes

If there is one concern for New Jersey, and one a bettor should closely monitor, is their ability to create scoring chances against the better teams in the league. In fact, they’ve struggled in that area for quite some time. Last night they dominated the Blue Jackets from the second period on, outshooting them 23-10 in the second period.

In mid-march, there is a defining three-game stretch of games that start with the Hurricanes (3/12) preceding two straight at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning (3/14, 16). You will know exactly who this team is heading toward the postseason. As confident as we are in Lindy Ruff’s team, we want to see them win the XG% and Corsi battle in these games, and in order to do that they must find a way to be consistently good even strength.

Their 71 shot attempts against Columbus were impressive, but they still needed more pucks behind Elvis Merzlikins (29 saves) for their effort. Of the 72 shots, 32 found their way on net.

Ways Bettors Can Protect Themselves From Downturn

You do this long enough and you start to develop ways to avoid roadblocks in betting patterns. If you’re just jumping into NHL betting now, most will look at the money won for each team and know that only the Boston Bruins (+1047 units) have been better than the New Jersey Devils on the moneyline (+857 units) this season.

They clearly look like the teams to bet on throughout the rest of the season, but if bettors apply a recent form filter to their wagers they would know if their present still represents who they’ve been all season.

Let’s take the Seattle Kraken as an example. Seattle has won 751 units (4th) for players this season and has clearly been one of the best stories this season. The question is, are they still a team to tail? Every sport is different but we like to use results from the last three weeks.

Since the 25th of January, the Kraken are just 3-5 with 343 units lost, the worst in the NHL. This clearly shows us that the Kraken have been terrific all season to moneyline bettors but they are giving it back, which should allow us to lay off Seattle until they can gain our trust again. As for the Devils, they are a profitable 4-2 with 97 units won.

Don’t forget we have the all-star and mandatory team breaks factored in, leading to the limited amount of games. If we take it back one more week, we still have the Kraken at 4-6 (-329 units) unprofitable, while the Devils sit at 6-3 (120 units). New Jersey continues to grind out wins, so make sure to stay focused during the Hughes injury because injuries can cloud your judgment

Current Form Shows Some Surprise Teams at The Top

Moving forward, it’s important to have a grasp of what teams are best to bet on as we head toward the trade deadline on March 3rd. We’re going to use the last month of games for reference because of the delays in the schedule. This recent form technique is a little more than identifying teams that are playing well.

Over the last 30 days, Montreal has earned 669 units of profit behind a 6-6 record, but that’s not a team we’re going to back every night because we want to go into games with confidence that the team on our ticket will win rather than crossing our fingers that they’ll upset a better team. Let’s add one more filter that figures in what a team’s record is when the moneyline is -150 or better.

Teams may have a terrific record but we’re not in the business of laying -300 on Bruins games. The Carolina Hurricanes are 9-2 (+337 units) over the last month but you can see how much just two losses have cut into profits. Let’s narrow it down with our -150 filter and we find that Hurricanes are 3-0 (+236 units) involving games with bankroll-friendly numbers.

The Colorado Avalanche are 5-3 when lines are -150 or less and 8-4 (+235 units) over the last month. The Lightning are 9-4 (+226 units) over the last month and 5-3 when laying less than -150. Along with the Devils, we recommend tailing the Canes, Avalanche, and Lightning as long as the numbers fit our parameters.

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