BOSTON — The moves the Bruins chose to make at Monday’s NHL trade deadline neither improved nor harmed their chances of hoisting the Stanley Cup this season, according to oddsmakers at Bovada.
On Feb. 2, the online sportsbook had Boston pegged as a 25-1 long shot to win the Cup. Those odds remained unchanged Tuesday, despite the fact the retention of winger Loui Eriksson and the acquisitions of winger Lee Stempniak and defenseman John-Michael Liles at the deadline theoretically made the Bruins a better team in the short term.
The B’s were one of just five teams to not experience a fluctuation in their Stanley Cup odds — a list that also includes the Carolina Hurricanes (100-1), New Jersey Devils (66-1), Florida Panthers (16-1) and, curiously, the Chicago Blackhawks (5-1), who were one of the most active teams over the final few days of trade season.
Thirteen more clubs had longer odds Tuesday than they did at the start of February — most notably the Detroit Red Wings (25-1), Los Angeles Kings (11-1) and Washington Capitals (9-2) — while another 12 improved their chances, including nine of the top 13 teams on Bovada’s big board.
You can find the full listing of Stanley Cup odds by scrolling to the bottom of this page. But before you get there, let’s take a spin through some notes from Tuesday night’s Bruins game, which they won 2-1 over the Calgary Flames at TD Garden.
— Bruins center Chris Kelly skated Tuesday morning for the first time since fracturing his femur during a Nov. 3 loss to the Dallas Stars.
Kelly’s injury carried a projected six-to-eight-month recovery period and was expected to end his season. That still might be the case, but the 35-year-old did leave the door open for a potential return.
“I don’t know,” Kelly said after completing his skate. “You just come in and listen to the training staff and just go through the process. That’s really all it’s been is taking it a day at a time and going through the process. Obviously, I knew it was going to be a long process.”
Kelly is in the final year of his contract and is set to become a restricted free agent July 1.
— Stempniak’s arrival pushed right wing Brett Connolly from the first line to the fourth, significantly cutting his ice time in the process. Connolly, who also was not used on either of Boston’s power-play units, played just 5:50 in the win, his lowest single-game total since he joined the Bruins last February.
“It’s different,” the 23-year-old said. “You’ve got to try and keep your legs going as much as you can. And when you’re playing a lot like I was in the past, you’re not really thinking, you’re just playing. Your legs were in it all game. But when you’re sitting there a little bit longer, your legs get a little heavy. But you’ve got to try and stay in the game. And I thought for the most part, our line was pretty good tonight for the minutes that we did play.”
Boston’s retooled fourth line of Connolly, Landon Ferraro and rookie Noel Acciari did look good in the trio’s first game together, with Ferraro scoring the game’s opening goal and Connolly picking up an assist.
— The Bruins admitted after the game they did not put forth their best effort against the Flames. While it was enough to get them past a slumping team like Calgary, a similar showing more than likely will not do the trick against their next two opponents: the defending champion Blackhawks on Thursday and powerhouse Capitals on Saturday.
“Every game is very important from here on in,” said goalie Tuukka Rask, who stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in the win. “And obviously, we want to play well and keep improving and get the wins, because it’s definitely not going to get any easier. So, it was a good win (Tuesday). (We have two) real tough games coming up this week, and hopefully we can keep things tight and get some points.”
— Some additional odds that might be of interest to Bruins fans: Bovada has Boston’s chances to win the Eastern Conference set at 12-1, tied with the Detroit Red Wings for seventh-best in the conference. The B’s also have been given 6-1 odds to win the Atlantic Division, again tied with the Wings. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning both have 7-5 odds to emerge as division champs.
As promised, here’s the full list of how each team’s Stanley Cup odds have changed post-deadline:
Washington Capitals: 4-1 to 9-2
Chicago Blackhawks: 5-1 to 5-1
Dallas Stars: 11-1 to 10-1
Anaheim Ducks: 16-1 to 11-1
Los Angeles Kings: 8-1 to 11-1
Tampa Bay Lightning: 14-1 to 12-1
New York Rangers: 16-1 to 14-1
San Jose Sharks: 25-1 to 14-1
St. Louis Blues: 16-1 to 14-1
Florida Panthers: 16-1 to 16-1
Nashville Predators: 33-1 to 20-1
New York Islanders: 25-1 to 20-1
Pittsburgh Penguins: 25-1 to 20-1
Boston Bruins: 25-1 to 25-1
Detroit Red Wings: 20-1 to 25-1
Colorado Avalanche: 50-1 to 40-1
Minnesota Wild: 25-1 to 40-1
Philadelphia Flyers: 100-1 to 50-1
Montreal Canadiens: 28-1 to 66-1
New Jersey Devils: 66-1 to 66-1
Ottawa Senators: 75-1 to 66-1
Carolina Hurricanes: 100-1 to 100-1
Arizona Coyotes: 40-1 to 200-1
Vancouver Canucks: 66-1 to 200-1
Calgary Flames: 75-1 to 500-1
Winnipeg Jets: 150-1 to 500-1
Buffalo Sabres: 500-1 to Off the Board
Columbus Blue Jackets: 300-1 to Off the Board
Edmonton Oilers: 200-1 to Off the Board
Toronto Maple Leafs: 300-1 to Off the Board
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
