With the Pittsburgh Penguins defeating the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup finals, the 2015-16 NHL season has come to a close. The coming months will bring the draft, free agency, trades and shuffling of managerial roles, leaving much still in the wind when considering true Cup contenders for next season.
With that in mind, you should look beyond the favorites when making 2017 Stanley Cup futures bets at this point in the year. Why? Consider the Chicago Blackhawks, who open as the odds-on Cup favorite for 2017 at 6-1.
They might win the Cup next year, but those 6-1 odds aren't going to improve enough over the next 10 months to support making a bet this far out -- but the clarity of just how strong a contender they are will. So much can -- and will -- change between now and next April, that if you want to place a bet on a team with high odds, it's prudent to wait until the playoff picture is dramatically clearer in February and March.
Instead, now is the time to pick out those value bets -- teams that have low odds today, but figure to improve greatly by next season's playoffs.