Buy-low on Kings, Panthers Stanley Cup

We’re into the second quarter of the 2023-24 NHL regular season and it’s fair to say we have more questions than answers as we hurtle toward the holidays.

We’ve had a handful of preseason favorites (Devils, Oilers and Maple Leafs, in particular) stumble out of the gates.

While that should have opened the doors for some gatecrashers, the preordained upstarts (Senators and Sabres) also sputtered through the first two months of the campaign.

And while we’ve had a few teams, like the Rangers, Bruins and Golden Knights, separate themselves from the pack in the early going, there’s very little (if anything) we can feel certain about this season. 

The NHL has always leaned into parity, but this is crazy even for this league’s standards.

Just think back to last season when the top three teams in the Metropolitan and Atlantic divisions were basically sewn up by this point in the calendar and there were only three or four playoff spots truly left up for grabs in the entire league by the time Santa finished making his rounds. 

This kind of chaos always leads to great betting opportunities, so let’s take a look at two teams to put in your pocket before it’s too late.

Kings to win Stanley Cup (16/1, BetMGM)

I don’t think it’s too bold to suggest that the Kings are the best team in the NHL right now.

The Kings are the deepest team in the league at center, their blue line is stacked and their structure is so sound that it’s allowed a nondescript goaltending tandem to excel.

Pretty much everyone was on board with the Kings being a playoff team in the preseason, but everybody also agreed that Los Angeles would need to upgrade its goaltending before the trade deadline.

There was no way that a team with Stanley Cup aspirations would go into the playoffs with Cam Talbot as its starting goaltender and Pheonix Copley as his deputy. Not so fast.

Betting on the NHL?

While Copley has struggled in a backup role, Talbot has been the goods as the No. 1 netminder in Hollywood.

The 36-year-old journeyman has posted an 11-4-1 record with a .930 save percentage and +8.8 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) in 16 appearances. 

With the goaltending in good shape and the Kings posting the best five-on-five numbers in the league, there’s a strong argument to be made that Los Angeles should be the favorite in the Western Conference.

And yet, this team is sitting as the ninth-favorite at BetMGM at the time of writing.

Run — don’t walk — to the window because this number won’t be around much longer.

Panthers to win Eastern Conference (10/1, FanDuel)

There were plenty of skeptics around the Panthers before opening night.

Faced with a shortened offseason and plenty of injuries after losing in the Stanley Cup Final, a lot of pundits thought the Cats would struggle in the early part of the campaign and dig themselves too deep a hole to contend again in 2023-24.

Well, the Panthers have once again proven that we should count them out at our own risk.

Not only did Florida survive without Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour and Sam Bennett, but the Cats excelled.

Florida is currently second in the Atlantic Division and, perhaps most importantly, is putting up the same kind of impressive five-on-five numbers that we saw from it down the stretch and into the postseason last spring.

Florida ranks eighth in five-on-five goal difference, fifth in shot attempt percentage, eighth in expected goal rate and sixth in high-danger scoring chance share despite playing with a depleted roster for the majority of the season.

The Panthers should continue to trend up and with the Atlantic Division looking top-heavy, the Cats have every chance to make another deep run as long as they stay healthy.