Bruins Listed at 12-1 to Win Stanley Cup After Acquiring Marcus Johansson
- The Bruins are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games
- They acquired Marcus Johansson before the NHL Trade Deadline
- Their hot play and recent acquisition has resulted in much shorter odds to win the Stanley Cup
Since the calendar flipped over to 2019, the Boston Bruins have been one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League.
The only team that has played better hockey since then has been the team running away with the President’s Trophy: the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Bruins have gone 16-3-3 in 2019, and are getting strong play from each one of their lines. However, to find a way to compete with the high-flying Lightning, the Bruins felt they needed to add more scoring.
A second round pick in 2019 and a fourth round pick in 2020 from Bruins to Jersey for Marcus Johansson, per a source
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) February 25, 2019
At the trade deadline, they went out and acquired forward Marcus Johansson from the New Jersey Devils. Johansson has just 12 goals and 27 points this season with the Devils, but that was with a non-playoff team.
He joins Charlie Coyle as the Bruins’ two newest forwards, and will have to learn on the fly about his new teammates and system.
Online sports betting sites seem to approve of the trade, though, as Boston’s Stanley Cup odds are the shortest they’ve been since November 19th.
2019 Stanley Cup Odds
| Team | Odds to win the Stanley Cup |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +225 |
| Calgary Flames | +700 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | +700 |
| San Jose Sharks | +700 |
| Winnipeg Jets | +800 |
| Nashville Predators | +1200 |
| Boston Bruins | +1200 |
| New York Islanders | +1400 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | +1600 |
| St.Louis Blues | +1800 |
*Odds taken 2/27
Oddsmakers have Boston listed right at their average across our books at +1200. This is a nice improvement from their +1800 average odds from February 14th and +2100 odds from January 28th.
But are they a good bet at this price?
No Reason to Bet Against the Lightning
Plain and simple, the best bet to hoist Lord Stanley is the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Head coach John Cooper has his team playing at peak level, and Nikita Kucherov is in a great position to win the Art Ross Trophy for most points in the regular season.
To go with the abundance of scoring they get, the Lightning have also been getting superb goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy. Goaltending is crucial in the playoffs, and the Russian-born net-minder will be one of the main factors for a long Lightning postseason.
Difficult Road to the Cup for Bruins
The other big piece working against the Bruins, will be the fact that they will have a tougher path in the playoffs. They are heading towards an opening playoff matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The two teams have had some historic playoff series over the last decade, which always seems to go to the seventh and deciding game.
Once the two rivals have beaten and bruised each other through a tough series, the Lightning will be waiting to pounce on the team that makes it through.
Best Bet
It may not be a great payout with betting the Lightning (+225), but winning money is still better than losing money, right?
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