Bet on these NHL Vezina Trophy, Presidents Trophy odds

For most of the first half of the 2023-24 NHL regular season, it looked as if chaos was going to be the theme of the year, especially from a betting point of view.

Few, if any, clubs announced themselves as clear-cut contenders, the awards races were wide open and preseason projections were rendered useless as teams like Ottawa, New Jersey and Edmonton underwhelmed, while surprise squads such as Vancouver, Winnipeg and Philadelphia overachieved. 

But as we got closer to the All-Star break, things started to settle down.

We now have an odds-on favorite for every individual award and we’re starting to see a handful of teams separate from the pack and establish themselves as legitimate threats to win the Stanley Cup.

Even with all that said, there is still some betting value on the futures board as we head into All-Star Weekend. 

It would have been crazy to suggest that Skinner would be even on the fringes of the Vezina Trophy conversation even six weeks ago, but the Oilers’ 16-game winning streak has completely changed the complexion of the season.

Ooe of the ripple effects of this historic run is that Skinner is starting to get some serious attention for his play and it’s well deserved. 

After posting a 4-7-1 record and a woeful .865 save percentage in his first 13 appearances, the hockey world was out on Skinner and wondered when, not if, the Oilers would make a trade to upgrade in goal. Edmonton decided to remain patient, and its restraint is paying big dividends.

Skinner has arguably been the best goaltender in the NHL since Thanksgiving with a 19-2-0 record, .935 save percentage and a +20.1 Goals Saved Above Expected.

The Edmonton native is riding a personal 12-game winning streak and it’s not out of the question that Skinner ends up leading the circuit in wins by the time this season wraps up.

There’s a ton of work for Skinner to do to get himself into the thick of the Vezina race, but with Edmonton looking like the best team in the NHL and its starting goaltender in tip-top form, there’s a legitimate avenue to success for this bet.

It took longer than usual, but Rod Brind’Amour’s Carolina squad is surging up the NHL standings.

The Hurricanes are 11-2-1 with a +18 goal difference since the Christmas break and their statistical profile in that span is as good as any team in the NHL.

There’s nothing that shows that this run is smoke-and-mirrors and, perhaps most importantly, the goaltending situation has stabilized of late.

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The Hurricanes still rank 30th in the league with an .883 save percentage, but that number has ticked up to .897 over Carolina’s last 21 games and news that Frederik Andersen is closing in on a return to action should provide a significant boost in the blue paint for the Canes.

Additionally, the Canes are one of the best teams in the NHL at making life easy on their goalies.

If the Hurricanes get decent goaltending and players such as Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen continue to produce offensively, this team has every chance to continue surging up the standings over their last 34 games.