BetMGM: Stanley Cup odds biggest risers, fallers

BetMGM is providing NHL.com readers with odds and analysis during the 2022-23 season. Today, a look at the change in odds for teams to win the Stanley Cup since the start of the season.

Six weeks after the Boston Bruins lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference First Round on May 14 -- and minutes after the season ended with the Colorado Avalanche hoisting the Stanley Cup on June 26 -- the Bruins opened at +2500 in 2023 Stanley Cup odds at BetMGM.
At that time, a $10 futures bet on the Bruins at +2500 would return $260 (including stake).
Twelve teams had shorter odds than the Bruins, including the Avalanche, who opened as the sizable Cup favorite at +450 in
NHL betting
. No other team was better than +850.
When the 2022-23 regular season began in October, the Bruins still had the 13th-shortest odds -- though they had dropped to +2800 -- and the public wasn't buying redemption with the team's first championship in 12 years. But two seven-game winning streaks and the best 20-game start in the Bruins history convinced the public otherwise.
Entering the regular season, just 1.7% of the Stanley Cup handle (i.e., share of the total money bet on the 2023 Stanley Cup winner) was on the Bruins, 22nd among all teams. As of Nov. 24, 5.9% of the handle is on the Bruins, fifth-most among all teams. And they're behind only the Avalanche with the second-shortest odds (+700) to win the Stanley Cup this season.
That same $10 Stanley Cup wager on the Bruins now has a potential payout of $80, including stake.
The Bruins aren't the only ones whose odds to win the Cup have changed. Here are the biggest risers and fallers (by odds rank) in Stanley Cup odds at BetMGM from the start of the regular season (Oct. 5) through Nov. 24:

Risers

New Jersey Devils:+13
After opening at +8000 (24th) on June 26, the Devils entered the season at +6600 (22nd). And their climb didn't begin until catching fire in late October.
The Devils remained at +6600 before jumping to +2500 (13th) by Nov. 3 after winning four straight games. It jumped to +1600 (ninth) by Nov. 24 thanks to a 13-game winning streak from Oct. 25 - Nov. 21.
The public is buying the early-season success. The Devils went from 2.7% of the handle and 2.2% of the tickets on Oct. 5 to 4.4% and 4.1%, respectively, on Nov. 24.
Boston Bruins: +10
The Bruins were +2800 on Oct. 20, the day of a 2-1 shootout win against the Anaheim Ducks, the first of seven straight wins. Before puck drop of that seventh straight win - against the New York Rangers on Nov. 3 -- they were +1200. Over that time, their handle share jumped from 1.5% (16th-highest) to 4% (sixth).
Winnipeg Jets: +7
Despite Winnipeg's 9-4-1 start, its Stanley Cup odds didn't move; the Jets opened at +6600 and remained +6600 until Nov. 17, when they jumped to +5000. It's Winnipeg's best start in four seasons but the odds bump hasn't interested bettors.
The Jets' handle share has decreased in recent weeks and is down 0.3 percentage points - 0.6% to 0.3% - since Oct. 5. Their ticket share has quadrupled but only from 0.2% to 0.8%, which still ranks 28th-most in the league.

Fallers

Minnesota Wild: -7
The Wild opened the offseason and the regular season with the eighth-shortest odds (+1800). The public, however, wasn't buying it; only 1.1% of tickets (20th) and 1.4% of the handle (22nd) were on the Wild.
The odds fell to +2220 by the end of the month and sat at +2500 (14th) on Nov. 24 while the team struggled to string together wins; they've won consecutive games only four times and have zero winning streaks longer than two games.
Ottawa Senators: -6
The Senators climbed the odds board throughout the offseason, going from +8000 (24th) on June 26 to +5000 by Oct. 5 (17th). Trades for goalie Cam Talbot and forward Alex DeBrincat and the free-agent signing of forward Claude Giroux brought plenty of excitement to Ottawa in the offseason.
But It took only five weeks to wipe away their gains … and then some.
After building up 2.8% (10th) of the handle by the season opener and looking like a potentially strong Stanley Cup value pick through the first three weeks of the season, the Senators, who were an NHL worst 6-12-1 on Nov. 24, tumbled back to 24th (+15000) and own just 0.8% of the handle (21st). Their 1.5% ticket share ranks 20th.
Vancouver Canucks: -6
A season-opening seven-game winless streak didn't inspire confidence in oddsmakers or the betting public.
Before opening the season with a loss to the Edmonton Oilers - the first of three straight regulation defeats - the Canucks were 18th in Cup odds at +5000. As of Nov. 24, they're with the Senators at +15000 (24th) and own 0.4% of the tickets (32nd) and 0.2% of the handle (29th).
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