Who Is The Worst NHL Team For The 2023-24 Season

The 2023-24 NHL season is quickly approaching, and teams are putting the finishing touches on preparations for what they hope is a successful run at Lord Stanley’s Cup. There are also clubs that are preparing for a race to the bottom to enhance their NHL Draft Lottery odds.

NHL betting sites have a hockey futures bet on which team will finish with the worst record for the 2023-24 NHL season. Rather than betting on which team you think will win the Stanley Cup, you can wager on the squad that you believe will be the worst team this year.

There are a few viable candidates to finish with the worst record this season. Let’s dissect the latest NHL odds for these candidates and make our prediction on which team finishes dead last in the standings.

The following worst NHL team in 2023-24 odds are courtesy of Bovada:

The San Jose Sharks are favored to be the worst team in the NHL in 2023-24. At +225 odds, the Sharks have an implied chance of 30.8 percent to finish with the worst record.

After the Arizona Coyotes at +1000, there is a steep drop-off to the next tier of teams listed at +5000. There are several long shots on the board for this futures prop bet at Bovada.

According to the odds, there are two teams that are well behind the rest of the league. The Sharks and Anaheim Ducks do not have a promising outlook this season.

After finishing with the worst records in the Pacific Division in 2022-23, there isn’t going to be much relief in 2023-24.

The Sharks had a good run in the Western Conference, but they weren’t able to parlay that into a Stanley Cup. For the better part of the past two decades, the Sharks have been a contender in the West.

Last season, the Sharks finished second-to-last in the Pacific Division at 22-44-16. The dreadful Sharks went on a six-game losing streak to end the regular season.

Following a 46-27-9 season in 2018-19, the Sharks have been on a downward slope. With Erik Karlsson out of San Jose, there are no indications of the Sharks showing any improvement. In fact, things should get worse in San Jose before getting better.

The Sharks’ big offseason acquisition was forward Filip Zadina. The sixth overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft never panned out with the Red Wings in Detroit.

He had some brief stretches where the selection looked justified, but the 23-year-old has dealt with injuries for most of his five-year NHL career. The Sharks have nothing to lose, so taking a shot on Zadina for a one-year, $1.1 million contract isn’t the worst move.

Nevertheless, Zadina doesn’t shift the meter for the Sharks. He doesn’t help the Sharks avoid having the worst odds to win the Cup at the top Stanley Cup betting sites.

Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture are proven assets, but they are ammunition for the trade deadline to further empty the cupboards. Couture is dealing with an undisclosed lower-body injury and is unlikely to be available for the start of the season.

The Ducks had an opportunity to blow their roster up and do a complete tear down a few years ago. Rather than go all-in on a rebuild, the Ducks retooled their roster and made ineffective tweaks. They remained a mediocre team with no identity.

In 2022-23, the Ducks started the process of tearing the roster down. With a record of 23-47-12, good for 58 points, they finished dead last in the NHL. The Ducks had the worst goal differential by a large margin at -129.

After losing the Connor Bedard draft lottery, the Ducks selected Leo Carlsson with the second overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft. Carlsson is the most rewarding feature of watching the Ducks play this season.

Unfortunately, the centerman isn’t going to help this horrendous defense anytime soon. In 2022-23, the Ducks set a cap era record by allowing 4.09 goals per game.

There are some positives for the Ducks’ future. They recently inked talented 22-year-old Trevor Zegras to a three-year, $17.25 contract. The Ducks are optimistic that they can come to a resolution with defenseman Jamie Drysdale shortly.

A new era of Chicago Blackhawks hockey has arrived. Following three Stanley Cup titles, the Joanthan Toews-Patrick Kane era is officially done in Chicago.

Kane was traded to the New York Rangers last season, while Toews is taking time away from hockey. In 2022-23, Towes played 53 games with the Blackhawks, but stepped away due to longtime symptoms from COVID.

At the 2023 NHL Draft, the new era began, as the Blackhawks drafted the highly-sought after Connor Bedard. The Blackhawks lucked out and won the draft lottery for the first pick. Bedard fell into their laps in a stroke of luck.

However, Bedard is not going to turn this team around in one season. The Blackhawks will have to depend heavily on Taylor Hall and Bedard to carry the weight. Besides Bedard and Hall on the first line, the Blackhawks do not offer many redeeming qualities.

If an unsuspecting player doesn’t step up, the Blackhawks could very easily have the worst record in the NHL in 2023-24. The Blackhawks have a promising future, spearheaded by Bedard, but expectations for the team are not high in his rookie season.

Selecting an unexpected team to finish with the worst record will take a bit of luck. So, we recommend betting on a team with huge odds.

The luck is going to come as a result of injuries. Which team out of the long shots will be doomed if they suffer a critical injury or two?

When it comes to the Buffalo Sabres, they are a Jeff Skinner or Alex Tuch injury away from being in deep trouble. The Sabres have received plenty of hype in the offseason, but we don’t see there being enough defensive depth to have a Playoff run.

The Sabres’ defense will be heavily dependent on goalie Devon Levi. The 21-year-old native of Quebec made seven appearances after getting the call-up to the NHL last season.

Levi recorded a 2.94 GAA and 0.905 save percentage in his first taste of NHL action.  He is projected to have a successful career, but Levi’s first season as a starter could be a crapshoot.

Without an elite blue line to give him support, he will have to steal a few games for the Sabres this season. Buffalo should be fine, but if the injury bug rips through their locker room, this year could quickly turn into disarray.

The Sharks should have two objectives this season: tank to improve their odds in the draft lottery and develop their young talent. If the front office had their way, the Sharks would struggle mightily and be awarded with the first overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft.

Last season, Karlsson kept the Sharks somewhat afloat. And even with Karlsson playing well, the Sharks still finished with a record of 22-44-16.

Karlsson was responsible for 25 goals and 76 assists. That doesn’t include his defensive contributions that don’t show up on the stat sheet. Also, Karlsson stayed healthy and played all 82 regular season games.

Take Karlsson off this roster and the Sharks are only left with Couture and Hertl. The front office likely intends to put a nail in coffin of the previous era and send these two elsewhere for prospects and draft picks.

With an implied probability of 30.8 percent of having the worst record, the Sharks’ true chances should be closer to 40 percent. There is solid value on the Sharks to finish last in the NHL in 2023-24 at online betting sites.