Early Dark-Horse Picks for Stanley Cup: A Look Beyond The Bruins

Let’s take an early look at the Stanley Cup contenders not named the Boston Bruins. Our goal is to find an early 2022-23 NHL Stanley Cup picks that is a bit of a dark horse. Boston is +325 to win their seventh Stanley Cup and first, since 2011, which qualifies just about every other team to take on the label of a dark horse. We’ll consider NHL team stats and betting success this season to come up with a short list of teams to consider when considering early 2022-23 NHL Stanley Cup picks.

Vegas Must Be Considered to Win First Cup

It’s hard to call a 109-point team a dark horse, but they are just +1400 (T-5th choice) to win the Cup. The Knights still have one more game left against the Seattle Kraken, which will determine their playoff fate.

With a win n regulation or overtime, the Knights will win the Pacific Division for the third time in their six seasons as a franchise. A loss and an Oilers win against the San Jose Sharks will give the Oilers the division crown based on more regulation wins (44-37). This means a great deal to the overall playoff path for both teams.

If the Knights win the Pacific they’ll face the Winnipeg Jets, while the Oilers will have home ice against the Los Angeles Kings. VGK has had their injury issues again this season but was better prepared to overcome those losses than they were a year ago.

From a betting perspective, Vegas finished second behind the Boston Bruins in overall money won (+726 units). They were 15-11 as an underdog (+743 units) telling us that this is a team that can be trusted at home or on the road. To us, that is a sign that a team can be trusted with an early 2023 Stanley Cup wager even though goaltending is still a question mark.

Consistency is Why Kraken Are in First Playoff

Ask any bettor who has plenty of NHL picks and parlays under their belt, they’ll tell you that the Seattle Kraken is a team that no one wants to play in the first round. The Kraken is a healthy +5000 to win their first Stanley Cup.

Why should they be considered? Consider what the third-year franchise has done this season. If the Bruins are the easy favorite to hoist the hardware, remember back to January 12th when the Seattle Kraken handed Boston a 3-0 defeat at the Garden. A significant win because it was the first time the Bruins suffered a regulation loss in 22 games. It wasn’t just the win that was surprising, it was how easily they controlled all 60 minutes.

Seattle held the Bruins to just 27 shots on net, with 10 coming from Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. Even more impressive was a Kraken loss to the Bruins a few weeks later. The B’s went to Seattle with that revenge on their mind. Boston ultimately won 6-5 but trailed 1-0, 2-1, and 5-4 while outshot 41-33. If Boston is the standard, the Kraken can compete if they get through the Western Conference.

The Hottest Team in The League is Easily The Oilers

Notice that all of our dark horse selections have come from the West because we’re loading up on teams that won’t have to face the Presidents Trophy winners until the final. It’s better to take three shots will a team that could easily win the West rather than ripping up a contrarian wager on a team from the East.

We laid out the path for the Oilers while discussing the Golden Knights, but no matter what their playoff fate is, Jay Woodcroft’s Oilers are the hottest team in the NHL. Yes, the schedule has not been all that challenging over the last few weeks but look at what they have been able to do since February 27th after a 3-2 loss to Boston that left their record 32-21-8.

Since the Oilers are 17-2-1, including a 14-game where they collected 27 of 28 points. With one home game against the San Jose Sharks left, the Oilers have won eight straight games. Books have the five-time Stanley Cup at +900, making Edmonton our top early 2022-23 NHL Stanley Cup Dark Horse pick.

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