BetMGM: Stanley Cup odds after NHL Trade Deadline

Bruins still favorite, Rangers make jumps since deal for Kane

The Boston Bruins became the Stanley Cup favorite in late December. At +550 in BetMGM's Stanley Cup odds, they caught and passed the 12 teams that were above them on the preseason odds board.  

Two shootout losses in five days in late December didn't change that, nor did a three-game skid in late January, or any of the 54 NHL trades that were completed from Feb. 1 through the NHL Trade Deadline on March 3.

The Bruins are still atop the board at +425.  

But there's been significant movement behind the Bruins in recent weeks, particularly in the 10 days ahead of the trade deadline. 

From Feb. 22 -- one day before the Bruins acquired defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway in a trade with the Washington Capitals -- through the deadline, Stanley Cup odds changed for each of the six teams with the shortest odds. 

-- Bruins: +425 (+500 on Feb. 22) 

-- Colorado Avalanche: +650 (+700) 

-- Carolina Hurricanes: +750 (+700) 

-- Toronto Maple Leafs: +900 (+1000) 

-- New York Rangers: +1100 (+1400) 

-- New Jersey Devils: +1200 (+1400) 

The public appeared to take notice of the movement at the online sportsbook and in transactional reports, pushing money toward several teams, most notably the Rangers and Bruins. 

The Rangers and Bruins are the only teams to add more than 0.1 percentage points to their respective ticket shares since Feb. 22. They're also the only teams to add more than 0.3 percentage points to their handle share over that time. 

A majority of the Rangers betting interest has come since reports of their potential acquisition of forward Patrick Kane surfaced, and particularly since Feb. 28, the date the trade became official. In the 48 hours before the trade deadline, the Rangers ticket and handle shares jumped as they moved to +1100 on the odds board, their shortest of the season. 

Elsewhere, the Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings were the only teams to jump more than two spots on the odds board. The Stars' odds didn't move from +1400, but they went from the 10th-shortest odds on Feb. 22 to the eighth-shortest on March 3. The Kings barely climbed from +3500 to +3300, but that was good enough for a jump from 16th to 14th. 

Four teams dropped at least two spots in odds ranking: the Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, and St. Louis Blues. 

Despite holding at +1400 over the 10-day period, the Golden Knights fell from sixth to eighth and lost a larger share of their ticket and handle than any other team.  

You can bet on Stanley Cup odds and more NHL odds at the BetMGM online sportsbook.