NHL ATLANTIC DIVISION Odds Update: Bruins, Panthers Top Contenders
Can Bruins Repeat As Division Champs or Can Florida Ruin Boston's Fun again?
NHL Atlantic Division Odds Update:
NHL Atlantic Division Odds Update: The Boston Bruins took the entire hockey world by storm last season, setting records for most wins (65) and most points (135) in National Hockey League regular season history.
However, they would meet their early demise in the playoffs, blowing a 3-1 series lead to their division rivals, the Florida Panthers, leading to a Game Seven Overtime victory by the “Cardiac Cats” who would then make an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final, winning the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference champions.
This season, the Bruins enter the NHL All-Star Break sitting in first place in the Atlantic with 71 points and trailing right behind them are the aforementioned Panthers, who rode a nine-game winning streak after Christmas to a second place spot with 66 points, currently riding another four-game winning streak as they come out of the break on February 6th against the Philadelphia Flyers, another club in a different division battling for a Wild Card berth in the Eastern Conference.
With clubs like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs in the mix for third place and the Detroit Red Wings looking to join the Wild Card party, it should be an interesting next eight weeks heading towards the end of the Regular Season and start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Let’s dive into the Atlantic Division this season as we take a look and recap the NHL First Half.
Boston Bruins (31-9-9, 71 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: -225 (opened +350)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +450 (opened +750)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: +800 (opened +1400)
⦁ Preseason Points Projection: 101.5
Continuing with our NHL Atlantic Division Odds Update: The Boston Bruins have done as close to as perfect of a job as a team could do coming off of a record-setting 65 wins and 131 points which unfortunately ended in blowing a 3-1 series lead en route to their season ending at the hands of the Florida Panthers, who look up at Boston and their six-point lead on the Atlantic entering the break.
The B’s are lead by their top offensive powers, forward David Pastrnak (33 goals, 72 points in 49 games played) and captain Brad Marchand (24 goals, 47 pts in 49 GP) along with centermen Charlie Coyle (18 goals, 42 pts in 49 GP) and Trent Frederic (14 goals, 29 pts in 49 GP) shoring up the middle, which was a position of concern heading into this year with the retirement of centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy (7 goals, 33 pts in 41 GP) leads the blueliners in scoring and along with Brandon Carlo, the two have combined for 163 blocked shots thus far in the season. In goal, the tandem of Linus Ullmark (15-6-2, 2.78 Goals-Against Average, .913% Save Percentage in 23 starts) and Jeremy Swayman (16-3-7, 2.30 G.A.A, .924 SV% in 26 starts) have continued their run as one of the best goaltending duos in the entire league.
Boston opens up off the break with a seven-game homestand at TD Garden from February 6th to the 19th. That will be a pivotal stretch for the B’s if they wish to pull away from the Panthers and and the rest of the pack in the Atlantic.
Florida Panthers (31-14-4, 66 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: +250 (opened +450)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +550 (opened +900)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: opened +1200 (opened +1600)
⦁ Preseason Point Total Projection: 98.5 Points
The Team of Destiny from last summer, the Florida Panthers shocked the entire hockey world with their run into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, grabbing the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference in the final week of the regular season, beating the record-setting Boston Bruins in one of the biggest playoff upsets in NHL History in the first round, before dispatching the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes en route to their second Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference champions and a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996. The “Cardiac Cats” would run out of lives in the Final, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in a six-game battle.
Heading into this season, it wasn’t clear if stars like forward Matthew Tkachuk and defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad would be available for most of the season after dealing with serious injuries sustained during the postseason. Tkachuk recovered well from his broken sternum, scoring 16 goals and 51 points and has played in all 49 contests for Florida thus far. Montour and Ekblad did return to the lineup before their initial return window of the Christmas season, and both have been sturdy on the blue line this year.
The biggest surprise for the Panthers this year has been the emergence of Sam Reinhart. The 28-year old centerman has been on fire all year, and with his first All-Star Game appearance on the horizon, Reinhart has already hit career highs in Goals with 37, and 20 of those tallies have come on the Power-Play, which puts him just 14 PPG’s away from Tim Kerr’s NHL record for most Power-Play goals in a single regular season.
Between the Pipes, 13-year veteran Sergei Bobrovsky has still been solid for the Cats, even after a shaky regular season last year that saw him get benched in favor of journeyman Alex Lyon, who won most of the games in Florida’s late push towards the playoffs. With a 23-10-2 record in 36 starts, a 2.51 goals-against average and a .910% save percentage with two shutouts, “Goalie Bob” will be carrying the bulk of the starts moving forward in the second half, with solid backup Anthony Stolarz grabbing some spot starts.
With wins in 13 of their last 17 games, Florida opens the second half portion of their schedule with six of their first eight games against teams looking to punch their own playoff ticket in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers don’t have any road trips longer than four games the rest of this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs (25-14-8, 58 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: +1200 (opened +200)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +650 (opened +650)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: +1400 (opened +1100)
⦁ Preseason Point Total Projection: 106.5
It’s another Big Drama Show in the “Six” as the Toronto Maple Leafs look to get things solidified in gear to make a deep playoff run, something the Blue and White faithful have been waiting on for decades. We saw the 19-year run of first round exits end last year as the Maple Leafs bounced the Tampa Bay Lighting out of the playoffs, only to have another Sunshine State squad dust them off in the conference semifinals with the Florida Panthers on their run of destiny towards the Eastern Conference crown.
Now, with the NHL’s Leading Scorer in goals, forward Auston Matthews (40 goals, 58 pts in 46 GP) getting hot along with William Nylander (23 goals, 61 pts in 47 GP) and Mitch Marner (20 goals, 53 pts in 47 GP), the offense will need to continue their pace because once again, this team has issues between the pipes. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov (8-3-6, 3.36 G.A.A) and veteran Martin Jones (9-6-1, 2.64 G.A.A) are not consistently dependable and with young netminder Joseph Woll still out, coach Sheldon Keefe will have to rely on these two unless General Manager Brad Treliving can make some calls before the Trade Deadline on March 8th
Tampa Bay Lightning (27-18-5, 59 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: +2500 (opened +450)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +1200 (opened +900)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: +2500 (opened +1400)
⦁ Preseason Point Total Projection: 98.5 Points
The most recent Dynasty in the National Hockey League, the Tampa Bay Lightning, seemed to be heading into this season as a franchise on a slight decline. With all-World goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy missing training camp and the first nine weeks of the season recovering from a back procedure, there was concern that below-average journeyman Jonas Johansson couldn’t carry the workload and keep this team competitive enough in the early frame of the year.
A lot of credit needs to be given to head coach Jon Cooper, for keeping this core group of veterans who have played many big games for several seasons, hungry for more and being fired up to play every single night. Forward Nikita Kucherov is having an MVP-caliber season, with 32 goals and 85 points in 49 games played, the 30-year old known as the “Russian Rifle” to Bolts fans, is well on his way to setting career highs in both categories, along with accomplishing 40+ goals for the third time in his career.
Two other forwards that have been playing well for Tampa Bay this NHL season and in previous years have been Brayden Point (29 goals, 54 pts in 50 GP) and captain Steven Stamkos (21 goals, 47 pts in 47 GP), who has spent his entire 16-year career with the Lightning, and despite both sides not coming to a term on a contract extension, it is believed that Stamkos will not be moved at the NHL Trade Deadline in six weeks, and will look to secure a new deal in the offseason, either with the Bolts or to test the open market for the first time.
Between the Pipes, Vasilevskiy has returned and while he showed some struggles early, which was to be expected coming off of back surgery, the 29-year old former Vezina trophy winner is 16-10 with a 2.85 goals-against and a save percentage just below 90% in 26 starts this year.
Tampa Bay’s next twenty games will see two east coast road trips sandwiched between a four-game homestand, followed by a five-game homestand and then a five game road trip out west. This will be the key stretch to prove if the Bolts can battle back to the postseason or possibly spend this Spring enjoying the sunshine early.
Here are the Odds for the remaining teams in the NHL Atlantic Division Odds Update:
Detroit Red Wings (26-18-5, 57 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: +8000 (opened +2000)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +4000 (opened +2800)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: +8000 (opened +15000)
⦁ Preseason Point Total Projection: 84.5 Points
Buffalo Sabres (22-23-4, 48 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: +25000 (opened +900)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +12500 (opened +1600)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: +25000 (opened +4000)
⦁ Preseason Point Total Projection: 104.5 Points
Ottawa Senators (19-25-2, 40 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: +25000 (opened +1000)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +12500 (opened +2000)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: +25000 (opened +4000)
⦁ Preseason Point Total Projection: 90.5 Points
Montreal Canadiens (20-21-8, 48 Points)
⦁ Current Division Odds: +25000 (opened +12500)
⦁ Current Conference Odds: +25000 (opened +10000)
⦁ Current Stanley Cup Odds: +50000 (opened +25000)
⦁ Preseason Point Total Projection: 72.5 Points
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