(OddsShark.com) — The Chicago Blackhawks are the defending Stanley Cup champions but the Washington Capitals have the best record in the National Hockey League, which has Alexander Ovechkin and company set as the current betting favorites on the odds to win the Stanley Cup this spring at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Capitals are the runaway leaders in the Metropolitan Division standings, and they sit at +400 on the latest Stanley Cup betting futures at the sportsbooks. That puts them slightly ahead of the Blackhawks, who are pegged at +500 on those odds. Chicago sits in first place in the Central Division standings and first overall in the Western Conference standings.
Another division leader rounds out the top three teams on the latest Stanley Cup odds, with the Los Angeles Kings set at +800 on the futures. The Kings are coming off a 9-2 rout of the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday night to improve to 32-17-3 on the season and give them a seven-point lead on the San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division standings.
The Sharks, meanwhile, are back at +2500 on the latest Stanley Cup futures, putting them behind two Pacific Division teams as the Anaheim Ducks have shot up to +1200 on the strength of an 8-2-0 run over their past 10 games according to the OddsShark NHL Database. That has the Ducks in a tie with the Dallas Stars, who are second to the Hawks in the Central.
The Florida Panthers, the surprise leader of the Atlantic Division heading into the stretch run of the season, are tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins at +1400 on the odds to win the Stanley Cup, with the Tampa Bay Lightning behind them both at +1600. The Penguins are looking to ride a hot streak by star center Sidney Crosby into better positioning in the postseason race.
A group of four teams are then at +2000 on the Stanley Cup odds, with the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens all holding down that betting line. The Canadiens, an early-season favorite on the Cup odds before starting goaltender Carey Price went down with injury, are riding a modest three-game winning streak right now.
Joining the Sharks at +2500 are the New York Islanders, while the Bruins are listed at +2800, and the Minnesota Wild hold down a line of +3300. The Nashville Predators and the Colorado Avalanche, in the Wild Card hunt in the Western Conference, are at +4000 and +6600 on those betting futures, respectively. The Philadelphia Flyers are also set at +6600.