NHL awards are often correlated with other future bets.
For example, if you thought the Rangers were a good bet to win the Stanley Cup at 16/1 before the playoffs began last spring, you may as well have played Igor Shesterkin to win the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) at 30/1 instead. . There was no way the Rangers were going to hoist the Cup without an MVP performance from Shesterkin, so a wager on Igor was like getting the Blueshirts at double the odds.
Although not the exact same, similar logic can be applied in some regular-season awards markets, including my personal favorite, the Jack Adams Award (coach of the year).
And there are a couple of coaches, including one local one, who fit this criteria.
Perhaps no team in the NHL had a more exciting offseason than the Senators. Not only did Ottawa bring in 40-goal man Alex DeBrincat from Chicago, it also signed Claude Giroux and stabilized its goaltending situation by shipping out Matt Murray and then bringing in Cam Talbot.
After entering the last three seasons as one of the biggest long shots in the league, the Sens are sitting around 50/1 to win the Stanley Cup and have the potential to be one of the league’s most exciting teams in 2022-23.
With all the buzz surrounding Ottawa, you can expect plenty of folks to back them at a decent price to make the postseason. A month out from puck drop, the Senators are +210 to get into the playoffs and if that number sounds good to you, why not take a crack at DJ Smith to win the Jack Adams at 60/1?
Claim a Risk-Free First Bet up to $1,000
New customers only. Must be 21+. AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, LA, MI, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY only. (Welcome Offer not available in NY & PA) Full T&C apply.
First bet up to $1,250 on Caesars
New users only, 21 or older. NY, CO, DC, IA, IN, IL, MI, NV, NJ, PA, TN, VA, WV only. Full T&Cs apply.
Bet $5, Win $150 in Free Bets
21+. New customers only. AZ, CT, IA, IL, LA, MI, NJ, NY, PA, TN, WV, WY only. T&C apply
Smith is entering his fourth season as head coach in Ottawa and has guided the Senators through a painful rebuild. But that is all behind them now. For the first time in his tenure, Smith has a competitive roster to work with and won’t just be tasked with developing players for the future.
With DeBrincat, Giroux and Talbot joining a young core that features Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Thomas Chabot, you can see a world where this team is good enough to hang around the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
Should the Senators do that, it will be one of the best stories of the season and Smith will get plenty of votes as coach of the year.
A similar strategy can also be applied to Lane Lambert of the Islanders. After four seasons with Barry Trotz in charge, the Islanders shocked the hockey world by letting the future Hall of Fame coach go and hiring his right-hand man as his successor.
And boy, does Lambert have an interesting job on his hands.
The Islanders are going to be a very polarizing team for pundits going into October. Coming off a season in which they were both hilariously unfortunate and wildly underwhelming, the market is split on the Islanders.
There are plenty of solid arguments to be made that the Islanders’ Stanley Cup window is closed, but there’s also reason to be optimistic that the Isles could be a solid buy-low opportunity.
Betting on Sports?
With a month to go until the puck drops on a new season, bookmakers at Caesars have slapped an Over/Under of 90.5 points on the Isles, although they do have them at -130 to make the postseason.
If you believe in the Isles enough to make the postseason, you may as well sprinkle Lambert to win the Jack Adams at 20/1, since he’ll get plenty of love as a rookie head coach guiding the Isles back into the playoffs.
.