NHL East Division Season Odds Preview – 01/05/21
by OddsShark (@OddsShark) – Sponsored Post
In what might be the most competitive division in the NHL this season, the Boston Bruins are favored to take the East with +250 betting odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Bruins are coming off a second-round playoff exit after winning the Atlantic Division a year ago, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. Fortunately for Boston and the rest of the East, Tampa Bay resides in the Central Division this year.
The Bruins lost goaltender Tuukka Rask early in last year’s postseason when he opted out prior to Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. Boston saw backup goalie Jaroslav Halak step up in his absence to help get the team to the second round before running out of gas. It will be interesting to see how the Bruins perform this year in a new division without captain Zdeno Chara, who served as one of their top defensemen for more than a decade.
The Washington Capitals signed the 43-year-old Chara away from Boston with a one-year deal worth $795,000 after he was reportedly told he would have a reduced role with his former team. The Capitals lost Stanley Cup-winning goalie Braden Holtby to the Vancouver Canucks in the offseason but have a promising replacement in 23-year-old Ilya Samsonov. Washington had planned to spell Samsonov with future Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist, but he had to step away from the game in order to undergo open-heart surgery. The Capitals still have a championship-caliber roster though, which makes them an intriguing play at +600 to win the East.
In between them on the board at sports betting sites are the Philadelphia Flyers (+300) and Pittsburgh Penguins (+450) while the New York Rangers have the same odds as Washington. The New York Islanders (+750) are next after the Capitals followed by the Buffalo Sabres (+1400) and New Jersey Devils (+1400).
The Flyers closed out last year’s regular season as the hottest team in the league, finishing only one point behind the Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh ended up three points more behind in third place but lost in the qualifying round of the playoffs. Washington lost in the first round and Philadelphia the second. The Islanders went the furthest of the teams in last year’s postseason, falling to the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
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