NHL Pacific Division Midseason Odds Update
At The All-Star Break, The Vancouver Canucks Lead The Vegas Golden Knights by Seven Points
What a season it’s been to date in the Pacific Division with the Vancouver Canucks leading the way over the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Edmonton Oilers woke up after the firing of Jay Woodcroft and the Los Angeles Kings established themselves as road warriors but struggled to win at home.
The Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames have been a disappointment but neither are out of the playoff picture, while the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks are starting to book plans for next season. Let’s go through each team’s NHL Pacific Division midseason odds and our prediction for who will take the division crown.
Vancouver Canucks (33-11-5, 71 points)
Stanley Cup Odds: +2000
There is no doubt the Vancouver Canucks are among the teams to be reckoned with when the Stanley Cup playoffs start. We have them at seventh in our latest NHL power rankings but they’re not the highest-rated team in the division, we’ll talk about that later. The Canucks are led by a top-six that features top-line center Elias Pettersson (27 goals, 37 assists, 64 points) and second-line winger Brock Boeser (30 goals, 22 assists, 52 points). Goaltender Thatcher Demko is 26-8-1 with a 2.44 goals against average and a 92% save percentage.
Vancouver is the league’s second-highest-scoring team with 3.80 goals per game. As the trade deadline approaches you can bet that GM Patrik Allvin will look to add an impactful rental. For bettors, no team has been better than Vancouver who has produced 10.73 units of profit. If Vancouver finishes in the black it would break a 3-year losing run against the moneyline.
Vegas Golden Knights (29-15-6, 64 points)
Stanley Cup Odds: +1400
The Vegas Golden Knights are back in familiar territory after battling injuries to many of the starters that helped the franchise win their first Stanley Cup. Seven players are hurt and three are out indefinitely (Tobias Bjornfot, Ben Hutton, and William Carrier). The team is led by captain Mark Stone (15 goals, 34 assists, 409 points), who has spent plenty of time on the injured list, and second-line forward and original misfit, Jonathan Marchessault (25 goals, 15 assists, 40 points).
The strength of the Knights is in the crease where they’re one of the few teams who have a 1-2 combo that can lead the team to another run at the Cup. Adin Hill, who just came back from injury, is 12-2-2 with a 1.93 goals against and an incredible .936 save percentage. His goals against leads the NHL.
Their 1A is all-star Logan Thompson who is 16-10-4 (2.77 GA, .906). Bruce Cassidy’s team is in the Stanley Cup mix once again with a 9th place ranking in our power ratings. Vegas is 10th in money won this season with +0.83 units won. Over the last two seasons, the Golden Knights are 96-58 (+18.02 units), good for the number one team against the moneyline in that span.
Edmonton Oilers (29-15-1, 59 points)
Stanley Cup Odds: +850
The Edmonton Oilers are a tale of two seasons, the one under Jay Woodcroft when they started 3-9-1. Out went Woodcroft, in came Kris Knoblauch who is 26-6-0. Edmonton resurrected its season and is our second-rated team in our power rankings behind the Colorado Avalanche.
The Oilers still have questions that need to be answered with a 4-8 record against our top 10 teams in the power rankings and 9-11 against the upper half of the league. Edmonton is led by a top line that is as good as any team in the NHL with Connor McDavid at 67 points, Leon Draisitl (57 points), and Zach Hyman (47 points).
The Oilers flex their depth with second-line forward Evander Kane in the vicinity of another 30-goal season (15-14-29). Edmonton has crawled back from its early hole to produce a profit of 0.49 units. The Oilers are 12 points behind the Vancouver Canucks but Edmonton is still our pick to win the Pacific Division.
Los Angeles Kings (22-15-10, 54 points)
Stanley Cup Odds: +1700
The Los Angeles Kings are holding on to the last wild card spot but it has to be an uneasy feeling for head coach Todd McLellan who many consider lucky to still have the job after losses at home against the Buffalo Sabres and the San Jose Sharks. They washed that down with losses at Colorado and St. Louis to end the first half. Los Angeles has not won back-to-back games since December 27th. Since those wins, the Kings are 2-14 against the moneyline. Los Angeles is currently ranked 13th in our power ranking and falling fast.
Seattle Kraken (21-19-10, 52 points)
Stanley Cup Odds: +8500
This was supposed to be the season where the Seattle Kraken was supposed to move forward towards a deep run in the postseason after a 100-point 2022-23. Instead, Dave Hakstol’s team is struggling to keep its head above .500. Goaltender Joey Daccord (15-9-9, 2.32 goals against, .921 save percentage) has been a pleasant surprise after Philipp Grubauer (5-9-1, 3.25, .884) was so bad that his future in the league has to be questioned.
Grubauer was handed a 6-year, $35.4 million deal but has yet to produce what GM Ron Francis has hoped. Grubauer is back in the mix after an injury but wasn’t handed the keys to the car upon his return. The Kraken are ranked 23rd in our latest power rankings. Seattle is -9.75 units against the moneyline this season.
The Rest…
Not to dismiss the Calgary Flames (+8500), Anaheim Ducks (+50,000), and the San Jose Sharks (+50,000) but NHL betting lines moving forward will be filled with large plus-money opportunities for each. Calgary is -8.38 units this season and it appears that this will be the fifth straight season where the Flames have failed to turn a profit (-41.38 units).
The Anaheim Ducks will finish this season as their seventh straight losing season against the moneyline (-68.94 units) while the Sharks are the furthest away from respectability with 5.04 units lost this season and 68.15 units since 2018-19. That does it for our NHL Pacific Division midseason odds report, we wish you all the best with your second-half NHL picks and parlays.
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