Vegas Odds for Toronto Maple Leafs Cup a Joke

The Toronto Maple Leafs are ranked as the 8th most likely to win the Cup by Las Vegas oddsmakers.

So basically, if you know anything about the NHL, there are good value bets available. Eighth? Really? A team with Mitch Marner on the third line is “eighth” ? OK sure. Whatever. I think we all know the Toronto Maple Leafs should be ranked about six or seven spots higher.

Yeah, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Cup, but they weren’t the best team last year when healthy, let alone when they hobbled their way to one of the flukiest Cup victories ever. Seriously, if you don’t believe me, check out the stats from the Washington / Pittsburgh series where the Penguins won despite allowing close to a 100 more scoring chances over the length of the series.

And of course anyone is going to beat Ottawa. Then, in the Final, you have the 16 ranked team, the one with the worst goalie of all playoff teams, and one without their #1 centre. The Penguins also lost their third line centre this summer and are built around the three most injury prone players in the NHL. They’re just a bad bet.

#2 Is a Joke Too!

The Edmonton Oilers are ranked second? Yeah, maybe if they get Taylor Hall back they are. Otherwise, you’re telling me a team with Connor McDavid but no real depth, and a terrible defense is going to be the NHL’s second best team? In my opinion they aren’t even the best team in Alberta currently.

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Next up the Blackhawks. They traded Nik Hjalmarsson for Connor Murphy. For real, that is a move they actually made. People refuse to acknowledge just how bad Brent Seabrook is, or how thin they’ve become upfront. This is a case of Las Vegas knowing that people will just assume the Hawks are still good and bet on them. This can’t be the real ranking any person knowledgeable about the entire league would make. Unless Corey Crawford wins the Vezina, look for the Hawks to be golfing come the first week of April.

The Capitals? Leafs almost beat them before they lost about ten wins worth of players they didn’t bother to replace. They have a better chance of missing the Playoffs than finishing higher than Toronto. The Lightning and the Ducks I’ll give you. But not without pointing out that the Ducks have the worst coach in professional sports and the Lightning signed Dan Girardi. Decent teams, but I doubt they’re better than the Leafs either.

The Predators, I’d rank them ahead of Toronto if their goalie wasn’t in a free-fall of a decline. And, just in case you think whoever made these odds isn’t insane, they have the Dallas Stars as the team ranked after the Leafs. Just note: their highest paid defenseman is Marc Freakin’ Methot.

Toronto Maple Leafs Are #1

Any reasonable comparison to any other team in the NHL has only one conclusion: The Toronto Maple Leafs should be the favorite to win the Stanley Cup this season. Best coach. All-star goalie. Three x Franchise Players. Either 32 goal centre Kadri or Franchise Player Marner on the third line. Five NHL ready players in the Pressbox / AHL. Cap Space. All their draft picks. Tons of assets.

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Give me a break. If you’re not buying in now, you never will. You’re just too conditioned to disappointment as a Leafs fan that you don’t really believe it. Believe it. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the best team in the NHL.

Oh, and for the record, I think the next two best teams will be Calgary and Carolina.

Odds from Oddshark.com

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