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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Not all of them have been beneficial, but the Blackhawks have already made numerous off-season moves.
In NHL future odds at the Internet sportsbook, it could be that Pittsburgh and Washington get more action than the Hawks.
Sports Books odds list Pittsburgh and Washington at 6.5 to 1 to secure next year’s Stanley Cup. Because the Penguins have Sidney Crosby while the Capitals have Alex Ovechkin, each of those teams has a celebrity competitor. The Capitals also have a reputation of not winning in the playoffs however and until they lose that label they are going to be placed in the same category as San Jose. The Sharks choke in the playoffs after doing nicely in the normal season. San Jose is the 4th choice in NHL future odds at 12-1. San Jose ultimately got rid of goaltender Evgeni Nabokov so perhaps they can get some playoff victories. Now they might truly have some playoff results if they could only get rid of Joe Thornton.
The next 2 teams in NHL future odds are the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins at 14-1. The Bruins are not a significant Stanley Cup contender though they made a fantastic run last season. The Red Wings are always a risk and they have lots of expertise. Last year’s runner-up Philadelphia Flyers is next with odds of 15-1. The Philadelphia Flyers were fortunate only to make the playoffs, which was a major surprise last season, and repeating a run to the final is really unlikely in 2010-2011. The Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks will be showed with odds of 15-1. The only other team with odds of below 20-1 is the New Jersey Devils as they’re 18-1.
Underdogs for next season that might astonish include Buffalo at 24-1, Montreal at 25-1, Calgary at 28-1, Colorado and Ottawa at 30-1, Anaheim, Phoenix, St Louis and the New York Rangers at 35-1, Nashville at 40-1 and Tampa Bay at 45-1.
Carolina and Dallas at 50-1, Toronto at 60-1, Atlanta, Florida, Minnesota and Columbus at 65-1, Edmonton and the New York Islanders at 70-1 are true underdogs this year.
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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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The probability of the san jose sharks versus the sports books NHL odds in NHL hockey betting got better on Thursday as they signed goalkeeper Antero Niittymaki to a two-year $4 million contract.
The Sharks had already decided they were not going to re-sign longtime goalkeeper Evgeni Nabokov so they wasted no time in getting 1 of the leading free agent goalies on the market. The Sharks consistently underperformed versus the sports books online odds in the playoffs and Nabokov got much of the blame.
The Sharks finished last season with the top track record in the NHL but in the playoffs they bombed all over again. Acquiring Niittymaki is the 1st step for San Jose to rectify some of their problems. He spent last season with a bad Tampa Bay squad but was still pretty good. The Sharks are learning that a high priced goalkeeper is no better in the modern day NHL than a more cost effective 1 like Chicago’s Antti Niemi or Philadelphia’s Michael Leighton. Niiittymaki gets into the season as the starter, even though the Sharks also have some young goaltenders they like in Thomas Greiss and Alex Stalock. Last year Niittymaki went 21-18-5 with a 2.87 goals-against average. He’s 83-79-28 in 6 NHL seasons, many of which were with average or below average squads.
Niittymaki began his career in his homeland of Finland. He then played for an AHL squad, the Philadelphia Phantoms, from 2002-2005 as well as for their NHL affiliate, philadelphia. He aided to get the Calder Cup in 2005 and was awarded the Butterfield Trophy for being the MVP along the way, making a name for himself in the league. The flyers signed him as a backup goalkeeper for the 2005-06 season. He played through until July 2009, when he was signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a backup goalkeeper. He lead the league in both saving percent and goal vs average for the 2009-10 season. Until July 1, when he became an unrestricted free agent, he performed quite well for the Lightning from that point on. He immediately agreed upon the two-year contract with the Sharks.
San Jose already re-signed forwards Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski although they did lose free agent forward Manny Malhotra. The Sharks are attempting to remake their image after a lot of playoff failures. In that regard, San Jose nevertheless has some work to do. Joe Thornton is a fantastic passer and 1 of the leading scorers in the NHL but in the playoffs he is consistently a bust. Perhaps he might be put on the trade market this summer.
Just how good was San Jose in the regular season a year ago? They ended up 51-20-5-6. That was good for the leading track record in the league. Unfortunately for the Sharks, that track record did not mean much as they lost in the playoffs again. Thornton led them in points with 89 and overall the offense was fourth in the league, scoring 3.1 goals per game. The defense was also solid at 8th in the league, allowing only 2.5 goals per competition. With Niittymaki in net, that defense may very well be improved next season.
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It will be hard for the Edmonton Oilers to be worse vs the NHL probabilities at the sports book than they were last season.
Edmonton was 27-48-8 last season with Pat Quinn as head coach. This season they will be coached by Tom Renney and it figures the Oilers will be better vs the probabilities at the offshore sports book with the new coach.
General manager Steve Tambellini made the announcement on Tuesday. He said that his goal had always been for Pat Quinn to take a senior advisory role, while Tom Renney was to be the coach. Tambellini seems to feel that Renney is a proven coach with regards to development and structure, and might be also perfect moving forward with a young group.
Quinn was in charge for 1,400 matches and picked up 684 victories. Only 3 other NHL teams have won more matches. He will still be attending training camp, go on a few of the Oilers’ road trips, and he’ll be traveling to Oklahoma City to see the team’s American Hockey League affiliate play. According to Tambellini, Quinn might have coached until he was 90 if he’d been allowed. He simply adores the sport.
Sportsbook probabilities still won’t favor Edmonton quite often in 2010-2011 however the team could be much better. Getting Quinn off the bench is a step in the right direction. He was a solid head coach a decade ago but he is simply not a solid head coach now. Quinn will continue to be with the team as a senior advisor. Renney will take over as head coach and it will be his 3rd shot as an NHL head coach. He coached the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers. He will now be supposed to enhance an Edmonton team that won only 18 matches at home and only 9 on the road last season. The team has not made the playoffs since 2006.
The Oilers hired Quinn in May of 2009 but it was apparent that he wasn’t the right man for the job. Quinn was truly not ready for the young competitors that Edmonton has, given that he had not coached in the league since 2006. Injuries also didn’t aid Quinn’s cause last season. The Oilers lost Nikolai Khabibulin, Alex Hemsky, Sheldon Souray and Ladislav Smid to injuries and they didn’t have much depth to compensate for it.
Dustin Penner led the Oilers a year ago but he had only 63 points. The Oilers averaged only 2.5 goals per game, making them quite poor on offense. They also didn’t stay out of the penalty box and that hurt them. The defense was even worse as they allowed 3.4 goals per game which was the lowest in the league. They were 26th in the league in penalty killing, which was horrible.
Despite the poor numbers from last season, the Oilers could be much better next season vs the probabilities at the offshore sports book. Edmonton will get a number of competitors back from injury and they should be inspired to play nicely under their new head coach.
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