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Can the Bolts three-peat? A Look into NHL futures in sportsbooks

By Danny Bennett

Jul 7, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) kisses the Stanley Cup after the Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in game five to win the 2021 Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 7, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) kisses the Stanley Cup after the Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in game five to win the 2021 Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Tampa Bay Lightning have already created a dynasty by winning back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships, but could they join the all-elite club in sports with a three-peat?

Winning a championship in professional sports is a difficult task. Creating a culture that can be world champions two times in a row is even more taxing. Only the most elite teams have joined the rare air of being three-peat champions. Can the Tampa Bay Lightning join the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, and Toronto Maple Leafs and become the fourth team in NHL history to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup? It won’t be easy, but the Lightning certainly does stand a fairly good chance to raise a third straight banner in the rafters of Amalie Arena.

May the sportsbooks odds be ever in your favor.

Following the 2021 Entry Draft and the NHL’s free-agency period, having completed the vast majority of significant signings of players will dramatically affect their respective teams; several of your favorite sportsbooks have updated their odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Whichever is your preferred destination is aligned fairly similarly across the boards.

But you’re here to see the odds of a three-peat, so here is a breakdown of where the Lightning land in each of the top four:

DraftKings: The Bolts head into the 2021-2022 season as the second favorite to win the trophy at +700, just behind the Colorado Avalanche at +600. It doesn’t affect the Lightning at all; however, BetMGM has the biggest gap between second and third in their odds, showing that the sportsbook feels strongly that as of now, we will see the Avalanche and Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.

  • Colorado Avalanche: +600
  • Tampa Bay Lightning: +700
  • Vegas Golden Knights: +850
  • Boston Bruins: +1200
  • Toronto Maples Leafs: +1400

FOX Bet: Much like DraftKings, FOX Bet has the Avalanche (+500) and the Lightning (+600), which are better odds for each time. The standout in their ranking system is that the Vegas Golden Knights are tied with the Lightning as the second, most favored team. FOX Bet has the Boston Bruins in the sixth-ranked slot, which is lower than any other sportsbooks.

  • Colorado Avalanche: +500
  • Tampa Bay Lightning: +600
  • Vegas Golden Knights: +600
  • Toronto Maple Leafs: +1300
  • Carolina Hurricanes: +1300

BetMGM: You guessed it! The Avalanche are favorites, with the Lightning following closely behind. BetMGM gives the Avalanche the second-lowest odds of the books we analyzed, making the race between the Avalanche and Bolts the second tightest to FanDuels (below).

  • Colorado Avalanche: +625
  • Tampa Bay Lightning: +700
  • Vegas Golden Knights: +800
  • Boston Bruins: +1200
  • Carolina Hurricanes: +1400

FanDuel: Provides the tightest window in terms of favoring the Avalanche at +650, with the Lightning coming in the right behind them at +700 in the second-place spot. The Hurricanes find themselves most favored by FanDuel as they are in the fourth-best position, with the Bruins and the Maple Leafs rounding out the top five. FanDuel also provides the largest discrepancy in odds between ranks three and four.

  • Colorado Avalanche: +650
  • Tampa Bay Lightning: +700
  • Vegas Golden Knights: +800
  • Carolina Hurricanes: +1300
  • Boston Bruins/Toronto Maple Leafs: +1400

How the chips stack up after crunching the numbers:

The most important news for the Lightning and their fans is that the closest Eastern Conference team projected to finish behind the defending champions is no closer than +1200 out of the four sportsbooks analyzed. The tougher news? Out of the top 12 teams with the most favorable odds, through all four of the sportsbooks, 10 are in the Eastern Conference.

The breakdown of these sportsbooks tells you that there is a certainty in the top three teams heading into the season. However, there is a fairly significant dropoff in confidence after the third spot; and no clearcut fourth-best team. Despite having key losses during the offseason – Yanni Gourde to the Seattle Kraken via the NHL expansion draft, and Tyler Johnson being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, GM Julien BriseBois had a very successful offseason- in both the draft and free agency- to keep the Lightning at the top of the league.

Safe play? The Stanley Cup Final will match up the Avalance and the Lightning, but of course, anything can happen during the course of a season, which gets underway on Tuesday, October 12th, when the Pittsburgh Penguins come to town. Lightning has already struck twice, let’s see if we can make it a trifecta.

Editors note: Our partners at WynnBet do not have their NHL futures odds currently available; however, we will update this upon release.

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