NHL Stanley Cup Odds and Staff Picks 2023: Ovi Continues Quest to Catch the Great One

The quest for the Stanley Cup gets back underway tomorrow when the puck officially drops on the 2023-24 NHL season!

There is a plethora of pundits with advice and opinions on how the hockey season will unfold (and what NHL odds everyone should bet on) but we've got the puck picks that everybody needs to see — the official NHL picks from the Covers staff!

We've polled our best in-house hockey betting minds for their favorite plays for the upcoming season, including their favorite Stanley Cup bet, a Hart Trophy pick, best NHL futures play, and favorite hockey flow.

OK, maybe no hair opinions... but that would be a good discussion!

Check out where our crew is leaning this year, and then feel free to follow along — and connect with us on X to share your best plays for a new season of NHL action!

NHL predictions for 2023-24

Writer	Stanley Cup	Hart Trophy	Fave future
Josh Inglis	Oilers	Leon Draisaitl	Huska to win Jack Adams
Jared Hochman	Stars	David Pastrnak	Korpisalo o24.5 wins
Kyle LaRusic	Hurricanes	Nathan MacKinnon	Ovechkin top goalscorer in Metro
Chris Vasile	Oilers	Leon Draisaitl	Ovechkin o71.5 points
Robert Criscola	Avalanche	Kirill Kaprizov	Meier u37.5 goals

Covers staff NHL picks

Josh Inglis, Betting Analyst (@Covers_josh)

• Stanley Cup pick: Edmonton Oilers (+1,100 )
• Hart Trophy: Leon Draisaitl, Oilers (+1,800 )
• Favorite future: Ryan Huska to win Jack Adams Award (+3,500 )

The Edmonton Oilers have the playoff experience and talent and now enter the 2023-24 season with a better blueline. I’m also more confident in the goalie situation, with Stuart Skinner a promising young talent entering just his second full season, and the path through the West is a little easier grind in the regular season.

Connor McDavid is going to win the Hart (he's currently even money), but if he were to miss any time, Leon Draisaitl could put on a show. Even if McDavid does play the entire season, however, Draisaitl could put up 60 goals and the forward has gotten Hart votes for the past four seasons since winning the award in 2020.

The Jack Adams Award should be given to a coach with the biggest turnaround and that could easily belong to the Calgary Flames. They went from 111 points two seasons ago to missing the playoffs last year as they underachieved under Darryl Sutter. If new coach Ryan Huska can turn this back into a 105-point team, he could get serious consideration for this award... and the talent is there on the roster.

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Jared Hochman, Senior Publishing Editor (@JLHoch)

• Stanley Cup pick: Dallas Stars (+1,600 )
• Hart Trophy: David Pastrnak, Bruins (+2,000 )
• Favorite future: Joonas Korpisalo Over 24.5 regular-season wins (-115 )

There's a lot to like about the Dallas Stars, who lost in the Western Conference Finals last season: Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Miro Heiskanen are legit stars, supported by a roster littered with proven veteran talent. Jake Oettinger is a true Vezina Trophy contender, and I could see Wyatt Johnston taking a huge leap after an impressive rookie campaign. This team has talent and depth everywhere, playoff experience, and room to grow — sign me up at 16/1.

Yes, yes, McDavid should win the Hart, but I'll throw a dart on David Pastrnak, who is arguably the best pure goalscorer in the league right now. Last year he finished second in Hart voting, second in goals, and third in points, and I see no reason why he can't put up another monster year. Add in the narrative that a down year is coming for the Boston Bruins after Patrice Bergeron retired, and if the Bruins remain an elite squad — spearheaded by Pasta again being a superstar — it's at least possible... right?

Joonas Korpisalo won 18 games last year, despite playing for lowly Columbus for most of the season, but went 7-3-1 after joining a playoff-bound Kings team at the trade deadline. After winning 39 games last season, I think the Ottawa Senators are going to take another step forward this year — and unlike last year's goalie-by-committee, this year it will be Korp as the main man between the pipes, so I think 25+ wins should be easily attainable for the clear No. 1 on a potential playoff team.

Kyle LaRusic, Publishing Editor (@CoversLaRusic)

• Stanley Cup pick: Carolina Hurricanes (+1,050 )
• Hart Trophy: Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche (+1,200 )
• Favorite future: Metro Top Goalscorer: Alex Ovechkin (+250 )

Fresh off a 114-point season that landed them in the Eastern Conference Final, the Carolina Hurricanes still have all the pieces for a Cup run. Michael Bunting will provide grit and scoring to a team that just lost five forwards, as will the addition of offensive blueliner Tony DeAngelo, while Dmitry Orlov also helps bolster one of the deepest defensive corps in the league, supporting a stellar goaltending pairing in Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.

Nathan MacKinnon has yet to claim MVP honors but is fresh off a career-high 111 points in just 71 games. With both "Nate Dogg"  and the Colorado Avalanche hungry after last year's disappointing first-round exit, a healthy Cale Makar back on the power play, and one of the best sidekicks imaginable in Mikko Rantanen, I’m banking on the Nova Scotian start to snag MVP No. 1.

Let’s get one thing straight: The Washington Capitals contention window is rapidly closing (if not shut already) and the only thing stopping them from a full rebuild is staying semi-competent in Alex Ovechkin’s last years. You know, the guy who is 72 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record? Ovi is realistically two seasons away from breaking it, but the Caps' biggest motive this season will be to get him over that hump.

Chris Vasile, Publishing Editor (@mc_silly3)

• Stanley Cup pick: Edmonton Oilers (+1,100 )
• Hart Trophy: Leon Draisaitl, Oilers (+1,800 )
• Favorite future: Alex Ovechkin Over 71 points (-115 )

Sooner or later, a Canadian team will win the Stanley Cup, and while my die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fandom is kicking my butt for writing this, the Oilers will be the one to break the drought. They've got the best player in the world in Connor McDavid and arguably the second-best player in the game in Leon Draisaitl. That's not a bad one-two punch. Depth-wise they are fine with the likes of Evander Kane, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, while Darnell Nurse leads the blueline. If the Oilers can get some competent goaltending when it matters most, my money is on McDavid and Draisaitl in more games than not.

Given my belief in the Oilers, the obvious Hart Trophy choice is McDavid but at +100, there's not much value. If the Oilers go off and Leon can find a way to pot 60 goals and put up 120+ points, the voters might have no choice but to give it to him.

Finally, my favorite futures play is Alex Ovechkin Over 71.5 points. He's chasing Gretzky for the all-time goal record, and if we look at his stats, he's logged 72+ points in 12 of 14 seasons where he's played at least 72 games. With an average scoring rate of 0.61 goals per game, he'd be on pace to score 50 if he plays a full 82 games — do you think he's not going to get at least 25 assists?

Robert Criscola, Hockey Contributor (@itsgood2beking)

• Stanley Cup pick: Colorado Avalanche (+1,000 )
• Hart Trophy: Kirill Kaprizov, Wild (+2,000 )
• Favorite future: Timo Meier Under 37.5 goals (-115 )

The Avalanche are among the the Stanley Cup favorites, and for good reason: They’re loaded with talents like MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar, plus they improved their depth this offseason with shrewd additions like Ryan Johansen, Ross Colton, Jonathan Drouin, and Miles Wood.

Colorado has dealt with major injuries each of the last few seasons — even in their Cup-winning campaign two years ago — but is deep enough to weather any potential storm. Even if goalie Alexandar Georgiev goes down, Pavel Francouz is a capable backup, and Justus Annunen is an NHL-ready third-stringer (which Vegas showed last year just how important a player like Annunen can be).

Connor McDavid posted an otherworldly 153 points last year, a number that will be difficult to even approach this season, making him at +100 to win the Hart Trophy totally unpalatable. Kirill Kaprizov had 108 points for the Minnesota Wild in the 2021-22 season (finishing seventh in Hart voting) before missing 15 games last year and settling for 75 points. Expect a bounce-back effort from the former Calder Trophy winner, who is definitely live at 20/1. 

Timo Meier simply didn’t pass the eye test for me with the New Jersey Devils (a team that won’t sneak up on anyone now), especially in the playoffs. He barely reached 38 goals last year (40 total), but was well short of a 38-goal pace over 21 regular season games with New Jersey.

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