A lot can be surmised by a quarter season’s worth of NHL games, especially if you’re setting betting lines for Stanley Cup winners.
DraftKings have updated numbers they put out at the beginning of the 2025-26 schedule, and the new math has resulted in some altered perceptions when it comes to teams most and least likely to host a springtime parade.
The Colorado Avalanche, with just one regulation loss in their first 20 games, have gone from the fifth-most likely Cup champion to the clear favorite, with their odds dropping from 900 to 450. The Anaheim Ducks have also seen a spike in optimism in the form of odds dropping from 10000 to 5500.
Heading in the other direction, meanwhile, are the Nashville Predators, who were listed as 7000 to begin the season but have plummeted to 30000 after a 6-10-4 run through their first 20 games.
The B/R hockey team took a look at the updated numbers and reconfigured the six tiers on which teams were positioned to begin the season. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.