Capitals’ way-too-early 2022 Stanley Cup odds released originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Place your bets: the Washington Capitals’ odds to win the 2022 Stanley Cup have already been released.
According to PointsBet Sportsbook, the Capitals are tied with the Edmonton Oilers with the ninth-best odds to take home Lord Stanley at +2200. The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights are the favorites, both posting odds of +550 to win it all in 2022. Tampa, Carolina, Toronto, Boston, Pittsburgh and Minnesota are the rest of the teams who are favored to win the Cup over the Caps.
Washington’s 2020-21 campaign came to an end in late May with a Game 5 loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs—the culmination of a somewhat disappointing year for Capitals’ fans.
The Capitals will surely look a bit different as they head into the 2021-22 season, though. Teams have until July 17 to announce which players they will protect from the expansion draft. With the Seattle Kraken gearing up to snag a few Capitals for their inaugural season, certain players’ futures are in doubt in the nation’s capital.
Alex Ovechkin’s future has yet to be nailed down as well, as no. 8’s contract expired at the conclusion of last season. However, it’s all but certain that Washington is waiting to sign Ovechkin to a long-term deal until after the expansion draft, so that the team wouldn’t have to waste a protection spot on him. Both Ovechkin and the Capitals have expressed their desire for the legend to finish his career in the nation’s capital.
Two days after the expansion draft, the 2021 NHL Draft will take place. Washington will not have a first-round pick in the draft as the team traded its selection as part of the Anthony Mantha deal earlier this season. The draft is seven rounds long, though, so the Caps will have plenty of picks to make after the first day. Will they shore up their defense, or elect to add more stamina at the forward position?
There are a plethora of questions facing the Washington Capitals during the 2021 offseason. They’ve been given the ninth-best odds to take home the Stanley Cup next year, so their answers to those questions will undoubtedly have a massive impact on whether those odds hit.
Odds provided by our partner, PointsBet.
