Now that the NHL‘s trade deadline has come and gone, teams know what rosters they will bring into the Stanley Cup playoffs – barring injury, of course.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Really no major changes on the odds to win the Stanley Cup following the deadline, and why should there have been? The Tampa Bay Lightning are lapping the rest of the field and could break the NHL single-season record for points, which is 132 by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. It’s not a matter of if the Lightning win the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in franchise history, but when. Tampa was quiet at the deadline because it frankly didn’t need anything and is the +220 heavy favorite to win the second Stanley Cup in franchise history.

It’s almost not fair that the Lightning, red-hot Boston Bruins (+900) and Toronto Maple Leafs (+1000) are in the same Atlantic Division because they are likely the three best teams in the East, yet just one could reach the conference final thanks to the NHL’s playoff structure. The Leafs and Bruins are on a first-round collision course.

Now that the NHL‘s trade deadline has come and gone, teams know what rosters they will bring into the Stanley Cup playoffs – barring injury, of course.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Really no major changes on the odds to win the Stanley Cup following the deadline, and why should there have been? The Tampa Bay Lightning are lapping the rest of the field and could break the NHL single-season record for points, which is 132 by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. It’s not a matter of if the Lightning win the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in franchise history, but when. Tampa was quiet at the deadline because it frankly didn’t need anything and is the +220 heavy favorite to win the second Stanley Cup in franchise history.

It’s almost not fair that the Lightning, red-hot Boston Bruins (+900) and Toronto Maple Leafs (+1000) are in the same Atlantic Division because they are likely the three best teams in the East, yet just one could reach the conference final thanks to the NHL’s playoff structure. The Leafs and Bruins are on a first-round collision course.

While many professional sports leagues initially scoffed at the idea of opening their doors, and fields, to sports gambling without some type of “integrity fee,” they have found other solutions that are proving to be just as lucrative. The National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the Champions League have already begun to make sponsorship deals that are seeing them take in a serious amount of cash. Another league, the National Hockey League (NHL), has been at the forefront of the deal-making and this is set to produce a significant windfall of income for the league.

The NHL has already partnered with several gambling-related entities. MGM Resorts is its “official sports wagering partner” and FanDuel is now its “official sports betting partner” as of this past Monday. Additional, the New Jersey Devils have a second sponsorship deal with FanDuel and the Vegas Golden Knights have teamed up with William Hill.

Luc Robitaille, the president of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, appeared recently on a ESPN ON ICE podcast and said, “If teams profit, then everybody will profit. If you go by the numbers on the illegal part, it’s pretty significant. If that part ends up on the team side, I think it’s going help everyone. First of all, the [salary] cap will go up. Fans will be happy. Teams will spend more money on players. Players’ salaries will go up.”

The increased revenue to the NHL, expected to be as much as $216 million, won’t just produce more profits and higher salaries; it will also lead to a better fan experience. Robitaille added, “You would think this would help with always putting the pressure on fans to keep paying … hockey is still a ticket business, primarily. Hopefully, that helps offset some of the ticket pricing. I’m not sure about it, but it could if the money is significant enough. There’s a lot that could go around it.”

It’s strange times at the Olympics — at least when it comes to the men’s hockey tournament. We have been spoiled by seeing the NHL players in the games for the last several editions of the Olympics, and we have seen some of the best hockey ever played on the planet as a result. The NHL got greedy and ridiculous, though, so they stayed home this time. And that means that we are left with a tournament of leftovers, spare parts, and old NHLers who can’t hack it anymore.

It still should be entertaining hockey, but it’s a bit of a handicapping nightmare. When the games were full of NHL players we knew who they were and how good they were, so we could handicap effectively. Now, though, we have less direct knowledge, and we must speculate far more. And speculate we will.

There are 12 teams in the tournament, but only six that are legitimate contenders. And all six are capable of winning if they get all the breaks. Here’s a look: 

OAR (+100): Canada has won the last two gold medals. Both times all 25 players on their roster played in the NHL, the best league in the world. This time, the team formerly known as Russia features all 25 players from the KHL — the best league in the world that is eligible to play in this tournament. This is the only team exclusively made of KHL players, so by logical extension it is the most talented team.

With nearly two-thirds of the NHL regular season over, the Vegas Golden Knights are legitimate contenders to win the Stanley Cup according to oddsmakers.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Currently sitting as the second choice to hoist the Cup at +650 (bet $100 to win $650), the Golden Knights head into Tuesday’s visit to the Pittsburgh Penguins with a double-digit points lead in the Pacific Division and the best record in the Western Conference.

Vegas is 3-1 on a six-game road trip that includes matchups with teams all in playoff contention. Meanwhile, two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh is starting to pick up steam and chasing the Washington Capitals for the lead in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins are listed at +1200 to win their third Cup in a row and sixth overall along with the Capitals, Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Tampa Bay Lightning (19-6-2) became the first NHL team to reach 40 points and currently lead the league in goal differential, earning the respect of oddsmakers who have them pegged as the +700 favorites to hoist the 2018 Stanley Cup.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Lightning sit atop the Atlantic Division standings and do not look like they will have much competition outside of the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto (18-10-1) is three points behind Tampa Bay but has also played two less games, and the Atlantic race appears a lot less challenging right now in the Eastern Conference than the Metropolitan, where seven of the eight teams have winning records. That said, the Maple Leafs are the second choice to win it all at +900.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to make quick work of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the NHL playoffs. The Penguins are listed near a pick’em to eliminate the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, as they hope to complete a four-game sweep of their first-round series in Columbus.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Pittsburgh’s 5-4 overtime victory in Game 3 on Sunday saw rookie Jake Guentzel tally a hat trick, including the game-winning goal at the 13:10 mark of the extra session. The Pens trailed 3-1 after the first period, but goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was solid after that rough start to outplay counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky for the third straight time. The Blue Jackets have now lost seven of the past nine meetings with Pittsburgh.

The other two NHL playoff matchups continuing on Tuesday will also see the road teams attempt to take commanding 3-1 series leads back home for Game 5. Both also have similar NHL betting lines near a pick’em, with the Montreal Canadiens visiting the New York Rangers in the early game and the defending Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks hosting the upstart Edmonton Oilers in the late game.

Las Vegas popped its major league sports cherry on Wednesday after the National Hockey League confirmed it would be expanding to the Nevada city in time for the 2017-18 season.

The NHL had only two contenders for its first expansion since the year 2000 – Vegas and Quebec City. The former city has been hungering for some major league attention for decades while the latter city has never really gotten over losing their Nordiques to Colorado in 1995.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Vegas got the nod in part due to “fluctuation of the Canadian dollar,” the value of which had at times this year sunk as low as 68¢ on the US dollar. Since player salaries are paid in US dollars, Quebec’s Canuck-buck ticket prices would have to be set sky-high to balance the books.

Vegas had its own hurdles to clear, in particular, the belief that a pro sports team had no business playing in the only US state in which sports betting is legal because, er, well, it’s not quite clear why, since betting goes on everywhere regardless of its legality.

Las Vegas popped its major league sports cherry on Wednesday after the National Hockey League confirmed it would be expanding to the Nevada city in time for the 2017-18 season.

The NHL had only two contenders for its first expansion since the year 2000 – Vegas and Quebec City. The former city has been hungering for some major league attention for decades while the latter city has never really gotten over losing their Nordiques to Colorado in 1995.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Vegas got the nod in part due to “fluctuation of the Canadian dollar,” the value of which had at times this year sunk as low as 68¢ on the US dollar. Since player salaries are paid in US dollars, Quebec’s Canuck-buck ticket prices would have to be set sky-high to balance the books.

Vegas had its own hurdles to clear, in particular, the belief that a pro sports team had no business playing in the only US state in which sports betting is legal because, er, well, it’s not quite clear why, since betting goes on everywhere regardless of its legality.

This is a guest contribution by Jon Kuiperij of NHLtips.ca. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty; for submission details. Thank you.

NHL trade deadline day has become an unofficial national holiday in Canada.

It’s also become a big pissing match between the country’s two major sports networks, TSN and Sportsnet, both armed with panels of insiders who comically scramble to be the first to tweet out even the most insignificant of deals.

This year, TSN is airing a half-hour preview show Sunday, followed by nine hours of TradeCentre coverage on deadline day Monday. Sportsnet’s rebuttal is an 11-hour Hockey Central Trade Deadline show Monday that will only end when that night’s games begin.

This is a guest contribution by Jon Kuiperij of NHLtips.ca. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty; for submission details. Thank you.

NHL trade deadline day has become an unofficial national holiday in Canada.

It’s also become a big pissing match between the country’s two major sports networks, TSN and Sportsnet, both armed with panels of insiders who comically scramble to be the first to tweet out even the most insignificant of deals.

This year, TSN is airing a half-hour preview show Sunday, followed by nine hours of TradeCentre coverage on deadline day Monday. Sportsnet’s rebuttal is an 11-hour Hockey Central Trade Deadline show Monday that will only end when that night’s games begin.

If you’re one of the people asking, “What happened to the NHL’s expansion?” We might have an answer for you: Nothing yet.

The member of the National Hockey League executive committee met in New York on Wednesday to have an update on the expansion application review process. A source told the Review Journal that although both bids were discussed, no decision was made.

Lead investor in Las Vegas NHL franchise Bill Foley is not surprised and said that the final decision is still a couple of months away and he is patiently waiting for it.

“I think it will be March or April, and then we can start putting one foot in front of another,” Foley told LVRJ. I feel we’re in a very good position at this point. We’re respecting the process and hoping for a positive outcome.”