General Manager Steve Yzerman carries on to make moves that should boost the Lightning for next season and sports books gamblers in NHL betting are beginning to notice.

On Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired forward Simon Gagne from Philadelphia and his acquisition should give the Lightning more scoring punch in hockey lines. The Tampa Bay Lightning is 40-1 to get the Stanley Cup at the sportsbook.

Last season sports books odds on Tampa Bay had them as underdogs quite a bit, but that could change in 2010-2011. Yzerman is taking some steps that should make Tampa a better squad. Gagne, the most recent move, might be a quality one. The squads gave up defenseman Matt Walker and a 4th-round draft pick for Gagne. Sportsbook statistics indicated that last season, Gagne had 17 goals and 23 assists in 58 matches. He has 259 goals and 265 assists and he has played 664 matches in his NHL career. He is ninth on the Flyers’ career list in goals and 10th in points and in matches played. Gagne was pretty great for the flyers last year in the playoffs since he had 9 goals and 3 assists. He should have the ability to match Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis next year.

The Flyers will be giving up a popular player in Gagne and gaining Walker in return. Sports book statistics indicated that he had 2 goals and 3 assists last year for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has four goals, 26 assists and 444 penalty minutes in his career. Giving up Gagne to get Walker isn’t a major surprise since General Manager Paul Holmgren has never been known as someone who may evaluate talent. Holmgren likes participants who spend time in the penalty box and Walker undoubtedly fits that description.

The deal is entirely one-sided for the Tampa Bay Lightning in writing. Gagne is a player who led the flyers in goals 3 times. He went to the All-Star match two times and was the squad’s MVP two times. He was a pretty popular player in Philadelphia and will be missed on and off the ice. The Philadelphia Flyers were a surprise squad last season vs the sports books odds when they got to the NHL playoffs, getting all the way up to the Stanley Cup Finals, but they’ve made a step back with the loss of Gagne.


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The Devils were one of the top teams versus the online sportsbook probabilities in NHL game bets last season and they may be yet again in 2010-2011 as they have re-signed Ilya Kovalchuk.

The Devils signed him to a seven-year $60 million dollar deal, plus they are thrilled to have the two-time 52 goal scorer. With his signing, the Devils ought to be a force again next season versus NHL probabilities at the sportsbook.

Kovalchuk was drafted first total by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as league rookie-of-the-year in the 2001-02 season. He won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goal-scorer in 2004 in a 3-way tie with Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash, and he’s a three-time NHL All-Star. He has performed for Russia in the World Cup and the Winter Olympics and acquired two straight gold medals in the 2008 and 2009 World Championships. He competed for 8 seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers before being traded to the Devils in February of 2010. At the end of that season, he became a free agent. Happily for the Devils, the team was able to re-sign him.

Sportsbook probabilities on New Jersey had them preferred a lot last season. What might be forgotten is that the Devils won the Atlantic Division championship last season. They were even better than the Pittsburgh Penguins in the normal season. Kovalchuk was added in early February in a trade from Atlanta, so he was with the squad for only a brief time.

New Jersey was a major force last season at home since they went 27-10-2-2. The Devils were sound on the road too, going 21-17-0-3. A good deal of the time, they were a squad that went under the total at the sportsbook. 45 of their 82 competitions went under with six ties. Zach Parise led the squad in points with 82 and his numbers should go up even further next year with Kovalchuk playing with the squad the full year. As they were only 19th in the league in goals won, New Jersey can definitely use Kovalchuk for a full season. The team was eleventh on the power play and those statistics may progress with Kovalchuk fully included into the system.

Future Hall of Fame goalkeeper Martin Brodeur, who led the league with 45 victories last season, is still with New Jersey. New Jersey was the top squad in the NHL last season in goals versus, giving up only 2.3 per game. Sportsbook NHL stats indicated that they were second in the league in shots versus. They were only 13th in the NHL in penalty killing, so that is one area of worry.

New Jersey was a disappointment in the playoffs last season since they lost to Philadelphia but there is no question the Devils have the talent to do nicely next season versus the NHL probabilities at the sportsbook. Kovalchuk provides them a true scoring threat along with Parise upfront, so the signing of him was of major significance.


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