NHL Future Picks To Win Stanley Cup

The NHL season is barely underway, but it’s never too early to look ahead to the future. Here’s which teams are poised to win the prestigious Stanley Cup when June rolls around! It may be far away, but the payoff won’t get any bigger than making a wager now!

The NHL season is barely underway, but it's never too early to look ahead to the future. Here's which teams are poised to win the prestigious Stanley Cup when June rolls around! It may be far away, but the payoff won't get any bigger than making a wager now!

Outright 2018-19 NHL Odds

Before we jump into our betting picks, here's who Bovada has pegged with the best Stanley Cup odds:

Toronto Maple Leafs (+750)
Tampa Lightning (+800)
Winnipeg Jets (+950)
Nashville Predators (+1000)
Las Vegas Golden Knights (+1600)

If you need a place to bet on NHL, Bovada has you covered from now and until the season ends in June!

Toronto Maple Leafs (+750)

It's only fair to begin with the consensus favorites. This franchise has been tortured since 1967 — the last time they won it all — but this season is shaping up to be their best chance at ending the drought.

Toronto has been thinking Cup ever since acquiring five-time All-Star center John Tavares over the offseason. A $77 million contract lured one of the league's best two-way players away from the Islanders. Tavares, playing in his tenth season, gives the Maples Leafs a much-needed veteran presence.

Tavares and center Auston Mathews gives Toronto arguably the best one-two punch in the entire league. We're already seeing the pair's unlimited potential as both are racking up points and goals in historic fashion. Good luck to opposing defenses stopping a power play with both on the ice.

However, if we're being honest, we have our doubts about the Maple Leafs. After all, the core of this team has been bounced from the playoffs in the first round two consecutive years. Even worse, they've won just one playoff series since 2004. Those shortcomings make us believe Toronto is better suited to win the Stanley Cup next season — after initial growing pains and once they have time to gel.

Based on talent alone, we still believe Toronto deserves some betting action, but our advice is to temper it. Instead of laying a big one on the Leafs, spread out your money with them and the following teams:

Tampa Lightning (+800)

If you prefer to make just one big futures bet — and earn the giant payoff that comes with it — we're a lot more comfortable advocating for Tampa than Toronto. The inexperience that gives us doubts about the Leafs is nonexistent with the Lightning.

Unlike the Leafs, the Lightning have been proverbial contenders for five years now. In that timeframe, they've come up short in the Eastern Conference finals twice, and once more in the Stanley Cup. Of course, while the Lightning are always in the thick of it, they just can't seem to get the "monkey off their back."

What makes 2018-19 any different? The biggest thing is a full year with defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller on the roster. A midseason trade with the Rangers landed both in 2018, but now that they're more in sync with the team, dividends should start paying off this season for Tampa.

Above all, though, the Lightning has the deepest forward group in the league. The unit is led by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, who tallied a combined 66 goals and 120 assists last year. Throw in studs like Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, and Yanni Gourde, and there's a reason why Tampa led the NHL in scoring a year ago. That group is all 28 years or younger, so there's still room for improvement, too.

With a perfect blend of youth and experience —eleven players from their 2015 Stanley Cup run remain on the roster — Lightning is set up to win the Stanley Cup in 2019. This is a no-brainer bet.

San Jose Sharks (+1100)

Our previous two picks were out of the Eastern Conference, so it's only right we finish with one from the West, which is shaping up to be a gauntlet. Nonetheless, the Sharks to not only built to win the conference, but even threaten Tampa or Toronto in the finals.

Look it's painfully obvious the franchise is in win-now mode. How else do you explain trading four players, a first-round pick, and two second-rounders for Erik Karlsson, who has an expiring contract at season's end? San Jose needed this type of gamble, however. They've made the playoffs each year but once since 2003, but have nothing to show for it. A Stanley Cup appearance in 2016 was close but no cigar.

The addition of Karlsson gives the Sharks arguably the best blue line in all of the NHL. You won't find a better trio back there than Karlsson, Brent Burns, and Marc-Edouard Vlastic — and you know what they say, defense wins championships.

We love San Jose here and we especially love the Sharks at +1100. That's simply too much value to pass up.

See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you: