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Heading down the home stretch of the 2023-24 NHL season, the year has provided its usual mix of drama, surprises, and standout performances helping form the landscape in the lead-up to the playoffs. The season saw a clean sweep of changes in the coaching setup, which dramatically affected performance and put into question the chances each team had of making the playoffs.
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Coaching Carousel: A Season of Change
One of the top stories this year has been the leadership changes, with 13 teams having either replaced head coaches before the season or during it. More often than not, such changes can epitomize the strugglers or the attempts of a team that just needs to shake things up in an attempt to add some life to their efforts. Most notably, this season, the Oilers replaced Jay Woodcroft with Kris Knoblauch in an attempt to turn around a slow start. The move has done wonders, with the Oilers sitting at 42-21-4 and their eyes on a top seed in the West as the final weeks approach.
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With a poor run of results that came despite a strong start to the campaign, the Kings turned to Jim Hiller as an interim head coach to try and revitalize their season after firing Todd McLellan. The Kings are not far behind the Oilers and sit on the inside of the current playoff landscape.
As the playoffs draw nearer, this is an impact sought after with very great attention: to those teams who have adapted well with the new leadership in place, perhaps they're putting themselves in a fine spot for a deep run, while others have just begun to scratch the surface to even meet, let alone exceed, their expectations.
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Potential Winners: Favorites and Underdogs
As the 2023-24 NHL season skates towards the playoffs, all the coaching changes have set the stage for any path to the Finals, making Stanley Cup playoff bets all the more interesting. Adaptation to these changes, whether with the coaching staff or in player performance, has been critical for the teams aiming to solidify their contender status and thus influencing both fans' and bettors' expectations with the playoffs in sight.
Leading the pack for the Stanley Cup this year are the current odds-on favourite, the Florida Panthers, one year removed from losing in the Finals. At +650, the Panthers' odds are slightly lower than that of the Colorado Avalance, who sit at +700. Interestingly enough, neither team is the current No.1 seed in their conference, but each offers plenty of experience that analysts and experts like.
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The Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, and Edmonton Oilers round out the top five favourites, a testament to their solid seasons thus far. Surprisingly, the Boston Bruins, perhaps because of their recent postseason struggles, are down the list at +1100, despite a league-high 97 points. The Vancouver Canucks, the league’s second-best team, is also further down the list at +1500. The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights are entering the postseason as underdogs with +1300 odds. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have appeared in three of the last four Stanley Cups and are riding a five-game winning streak, offer stellar underdog value at +3000.
The march to the Stanley Cup is on, as both favourites and underdogs are poised to make a run at it. However, the playoffs are unpredictable as history has illustrated.
Conclusion
The 2023-24 NHL season is a further testament to the balance of the league and its unpredictability that brings a love for hockey as a favourite sport across North America. With one eye on the playoffs, a host of seasoned contenders and unexpected underdogs combined means that the mix will provide a postseason studded with battles of the very highest intensity—moments that will live long in the memory and ultimately crown a Stanley Cup champion well worthy of that title.
The road to the playoffs provides abundant testimony of resiliency and adaptability among teams and their coaching staffs, underlining how professional hockey is dynamic and the pursuit of excellence, which characterizes the NHL.