As the final round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ends, fans can get a first glimpse at some of the future odds for next season. In this article, we point out some NHL Futures for the 2022 Stanley Cup. Will the Tampa Bay Lightning be able to win three Stanley Cups in a row? Maybe Colorado or Vegas will finally lift Lord Stanley’s Cup over their heads? Or will it be someone nobody saw coming?
| NHL Stanley Cup Winners Odds 2021 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Avalanche | +500 | +500 | +500 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Boston Bruins | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | +1400 | +1400 | +1500 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | +1500 | +1500 | +1500 |
| Montreal Canadiens | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| New York Islanders | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Washington Capitals | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Edmonton Oilers | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
It is not all that shocking that even though the Tampa Bay Lightning just won the 2021 Stanley Cup, they are not automatic favorites to win it yet again. The Lightning has won in a bubble and then in a gradually less restrictive environment. Now, they must try to do it again with even more salary-cap headaches.
Now, the obvious problem is that Tampa Bay cannot keep everyone. They are already over the cap without even a full roster. Teams have to be cap compliant one day before the regular season opens (October 12th this year). With several players remaining to sign to fill out a roster, General Manager Julien Brisebois has his work cut out for him.
Tampa Bay will also lose one player automatically due to the expansion draft. Will the Seattle Kraken help the Lightning out and take a higher-salaried player? Perhaps, they might. However, they may not. Tampa Bay could offer a sweetener (pick and/or prospect) to facilitate such a move.
That is partially why Tampa Bay’s early NHL Futures are a little clouded. There is an understanding that the roster will be different. It is more a question of how altered will it actually be? No one fully knows that answer yet — hence the uncertainty. In the meantime…
This is where the debate for NHL Futures begins. Naturally, the team that won the Stanley Cup should be easy favorites. However, many felt the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights should have not had to play each other so early. That is an argument for another time. They all have less than +1000 odds to lift the 35-pound silver chalice in 2022.
It will be a difficult road for Tampa Bay to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in a row. However, their odds on Bovada especially are enticing at +700.
With the 2021-22 NHL season still three months away, the NHL Futures do favor the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche is right between +450 and +500 depending on the site out there. Oddsmakers, so far, seem to agree that Colorado has the right stuff to be favored at this time.
Colorado showed they could almost pull it off against Vegas but faltered late in Game 3 and then lost Games 4-6 versus the Vegas Golden Knights. The expectation is that the Avalanche will come into 2021-22 even more loaded with talent. Their young defensive core remains one of the most mobile in hockey led by Cale Makar.
It will boil down to the playoffs and health as always for a team like Colorado. They are built for immense regular-season success and do have the tools for a deep playoff run. The Avalanche has one of the best goaltenders in Philipp Grubauer. They have the quintessential elite top center in Nathan MacKinnon. There is an excellent supporting cast including Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog who help form one of the best first-lines in hockey. Colorado has led the league in home scoring out West for the past couple of seasons.
Scoring depth is not an issue with players like Joonas Donskoi and Andre Burakovsky among many others. Colorado’s goal differential remained one of the best in hockey throughout the season. They swept St. Louis in the first round before losing momentum and getting eliminated at the hands of Vegas. A team has to lose to learn how to win (see Tampa Bay against Columbus in 2019).
For NHL Futures, Colorado remains the favorite throughout most of the 2021-22 season again and likely going into the playoffs.
Vegas has earned its place in the NHL Futures’ hierarchy. The Golden Knights feature one of the best defenses in the league and showed the ability to dispatch Colorado in six games. They did win four straight against the Avalanche after all. That has to count for something.
The Golden Knights ran into a hot goaltender in Carey Price and an even better defense and penalty kill. Montreal was just on one of those runs. It is the second year that Vegas has run aground like this which does cause a few concerns. On the other hand, the oddsmakers just do not feel the same.
Mark Stone is right. Vegas is built to win a Stanley Cup in 2022 and why they are so high up the futures list.
Is there any other team that could have some unexpected value to win the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup title? Now, Tampa Bay, Colorado, and Vegas so far are the favorites.
The Florida Panthers are an intriguing team and can be had as high as +2800. They are young, improving, and hungry. Do not be surprised if Spencer Knight takes over as their number one goalie at some point next season.
Take the Colorado Avalanche for safety and Florida for value.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
