The Oilers are still the Stanley Cup favorites

This NHL season goes by really quickly as most teams are already about 28 games into their year. At this point, we have some idea who is a real contender for the Stanley Cup this season and who is vying for the No. 1 overall pick. At BetMGM we’ve seen teams move up and down the odds table, but there’s still a constant at the top of the leaderboard. The Edmonton Oilers were the preseason favorite to win the Stanley Cup in 2024, and just over a quarter of the way through the season, they remain that way.

Let’s take a look at the top five teams currently on the odds board: Oilers +750, Hurricanes +800, Stars +900, Panthers +900, Avalanche +1100.

Looking at these names, you probably wouldn’t be shocked to see any of them as a favorite. However, you might be a little surprised to see Edmonton still at the top. They are just 16-10-2 this year with 34 points and third place in the Pacific Division behind the Golden Knights (39 pts) and Kings (37 pts). They weren’t bad per se, but they also didn’t play like a dominant team or a Stanley Cup winner. So why are they still at the top of the odds? I call this the Connor McDavid effect.

The superstar is the best player in the NHL, and as long as he stays healthy with this roster and they don’t fall too far behind in the standings, I don’t think they’ll ever be outside the top 5 favorites any time soon. Edmonton is also notorious for its slow starts at this point. People wrote them off last season when they got off to a terrible start, fired their coach and demanded a trade for McDavid. In the end, they were just one game short of winning the championship.

Personally, I think this is a very good team that will achieve better results as the season progresses. Offensively, they take a ton of shots on goal, averaging 32 per game, but only score 3.00 goals per game. I expect this number to increase. Defensively, they were one of the best teams in the NHL and only allowed 26 shots on goal. I think they’ve been pretty unlucky so far and have had to deal with a few injuries at the start of their year.

I don’t think I would bet them at such a low number, but if the books ever get to 10/1 or higher then I think a spread on a late blooming team is certainly justified.

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