Bruins Given Short 10-1 Odds to Win 2020 Stanley Cup After Losing in Game 7

• The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup on Wednesday night
• The Tampa Bay Lightning open as the favorite to win the 2020 Stanley Cup
• The Boston Bruins come in at +1000

The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history on Wednesday evening. It was a night of high emotions as their incredible run was capped with the championship, but now the focus shifts to 2020.

The Boston Bruins have opened at +1000 in 2020 Stanley Cup odds, but are they the best bet or is there value elsewhere?

2020 Stanley Cup Odds

*Odds taken 06/13/19. Click on the link in the table above to see odds for all teams. 

Lightning Open as +600 Favorites

To no one’s surprise, the Tampa Bay Lightning opened as the 2020 Stanley Cup favorite at +600. This team should return mostly intact – assuming they can take care of Brayden Point. Tampa Bay also has to think about Cedric Paquette and Adam Erne – two key bottom-six forwards – but the good news (in some ways) is that all of these players are restricted.

The Lightning should be able to run it back with a team that won 62 games last season but was swept in the first round of the playoffs. They’re a reasonable bet, but at +600 it’s not worth it in my view.

Blues Have Work to Do

The Blues will enter the offseason with odds of +1400. They are 15th in terms of cap space but they have some work to do. Most notably, goaltender Jordan Binnington is a restricted free agent and he’ll be set for a monster payday.

Jordan Binnington is a restricted free agent and he’ll be set for a monster payday.

After him, there’s also Carl Gunnarsson on the blue line and a slew of forwards who contributed to the Stanley Cup run in different ways. That includes Patrick Maroon, who is an unrestricted free agent, and then Ivan Barbashev, Robby Fabri, Zachary Sanford, Oksar Sundqvist, and Sammy Blais, who are all restricted free agents.

In general, I don’t see the Blues as having the same type of lasting power as the Lightning or Boston Bruins because we simply haven’t seen that year in, year out. Should they be good? Yes. Will they carry over momentum? It’s possible, but in this modern-day NHL where things change quickly, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Bruins Will Again Be Tough

The Bruins don’t have to worry about a ton this offseason as Marcus Johansson – who had a solid postseason – is one of the few free agents they have to be concerned about. He’s a top-six forward, but he’s due for a pay raise. Charlie McAvoy is due for a raise as well, but he’s restricted. Outside of them, it’s mostly just Noel Acciari and Steven Kampfer.

What’s interesting about this Bruins squad is they are projected to have a ton of cap space. Whereas a team like Toronto has similar space but has to worry about Mitch Marner, Jake Gardiner and Kasperi Kapanen, the Bruins are projected to have about $14.3 million in cap space to play with.

Might they gun for Erik Karlsson, Artemi Panarin, or Matt Duchene? Or maybe cheaper blue liners from the second tier like Anton Stralman and Gardiner can strengthen their defense and weaken a contender.

What’s the Best Bet?

To be honest, the NHL has become so unpredictable that I don’t like betting futures this early. We don’t know what will happen in free agency, we don’t know how the draft will go and we don’t know who’ll retire. However, if I was betting this, I’d take a shot with Boston at +1000. In an unpredictable league, they’re a consistent performer and they’re likely to bring back almost their entire roster intact.

Pick: Boston Bruins (+1000)