Tampa Bay Lightning, the best performer in the regular season in 2018-19, will look to return to form as the Stanley Cup favorites in 2019-20. A host of teams will be breathing right down their necks in the race for the NHL title, if online betting odds are any indication. The news about off-season trading suggests plenty of teams consider themselves a move or two away from being Stanley Cup contenders.

Read on for all the hottest online NHL betting odds from bet365 Canada.

Lightning Lead NHL 2019-20 Betting

As mentioned, the Tampa Bay Lightning are number one in 2019-20 Stanley Cup Betting. The Lightning – who finished an incredible 21 points ahead of the next-best team in the 2018-19 regular season only to bomb out 4-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs – were paying 15/2 at bet365 at time of writing.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights, two other teams that lost in the first round of last season’s playoffs, are paying 9/1 and 10/1 respectively. The Boston Bruins are paying 10/1 to go one better than last season and win the NHL title. The Colorado Avalanche, who made the second round of the NHL playoffs last season, are 12/1. The St. Louis Blues are paying 15/1 to achieve the very difficult task of going back-to-back.

Next in the Stanley Cup betting market are the following teams: Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators, 17/1, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, and San Jose Sharks, all 18/1, and Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins, 22/1. All other teams are paying 28/1 to 80/1, except the Ottawa Senators, who are paying an unbelievable 300/1.

Think the Ottawa Senators Can’t Win It? Think Again

Reading into those odds, you’d think there are 30 teams in genuine contention to win the Stanley Cup and one – the Ottawa Senators – that may as well not turn up. Don’t think the Senators stand a chance? Well, recent history actually suggests that 300/1 odds is not insurmountable.

You only have to look back to last season’s champions St. Louis to understand that teams can win against all odds. The Blues were paying as much as $250 to win the 2018-19 Stanley Cup when they were struggling back in January. One lucky fan placed a $400 bet on St. Louis at Caesar Sports in Las Vegas in January and was rewarded with $100,000 when the Blues clinched game seven of the Stanley Cup finals.

Okay, the Blues were paying $250, but surely no one can win from $300? Actually, that’s nothing. Leicester City were paying as much as $5,000 at the beginning of the 2015-16 English Premier League season. The Premier League is notorious for being dominated by the big six teams but nobody told that to Leicester, who led the league for most of the second half of the season and ended up beating their nearest challenger by 10 points (the equivalent of 3 wins and a draw).

Will the Ottawa Senators win the 2019-20 Stanley Cup? Probably not. But stranger things have happened and, if the Senators do win, you can be sure we’ll hear some great news stories about the lucky fans who put their money where their heart was an placed a bet on Ottawa.