We can talk about potential Stanley Cup winners, but today we are going to be checking out at NHL betting sites the odds on which teams could potentially finish the regular season with the worst overall record.
There are three or four teams currently in the running to do so, but the favorites are as low as -200 betting odds.
Is their value to be found elsewhere or have the San Jose Sharks already got this market wrapped up?
NHL Odds: Worst Record 2023-24 Regular Season
- San Jose Sharks (-200)
- Chicago Blackhawks (+170)
- Anaheim Ducks (+750)
- Columbus Blue Jackets (+6600)
- Ottawa Senators (+6600)
- Montreal Canadiens (+8000)
*All odds from BetOnline (check our BetOnline Review)
Comparing Odds to Overall Records
From the odds above, we have to believe there are only three teams with a real shout of finishing the regular season with the worst record, Anaheim, Chicago, and San Jose.
At the time of writing, San Jose is a very poor 10-31-4 with just 24 total points earned. Anaheim is in the same division as San Jose and currently has a 15-28-1 record having earned 31 points, whilst Chicago has gone 13-29-2 so far in the Eastern Conference with 28 points in total.
It’s clear these three teams are in the running. Although we have Columbus, Ottawa and Montreal in the betting market, these teams seem too strong to finish with the worst record. Even if things were to go downhill fast from here to the end of the season for one of them, the Sharks and Blackhawks have a head start.
If we did have to select one of them three to be in with a shout, the Ottawa Senators might do so, as they are currently 15-24-0, but again: it’s hard to see them falling below the Sharks or Blackhawks.
Why are we ignoring the Ducks? Mainly because they are in the same division as San Jose and we believe they will finish ahead of the Sharks, even if it’s only by a couple of wins.
Which Team Will Finish With the Worst Overall Record?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to look past San Jose. We picked them to have the worst record pre-season and currently the sportsbooks are favoring them heavily at -200.
Even if we take a look at each team’s previous ten games, the Sharks have the worst record of all the teams in the betting market with a 1-8-1 record. The second worst is Anaheim and Chicago having gone 2-7-1.
Another major problem for San Jose is the fact they not only have the worst defense but also the worst offense. Although Anaheim and Chicago (and Ottawa, for that matter) are bad, they’re just not as bad as San Jose right now.
The Sharks did have a minor surge earlier in the season which saw them go 6-4, but that was their only winning record over a ten-game span so far, and have since gone 1-16-1, with their only win coming against Montreal and their overtime loss against none other than their closest rivals in the betting market, the Chicago Blackhawks.
Conclusion
We did advise betting San Jose to win this market pre-season at around +250/+300 NHL betting odds with top-rated sportsbooks. Their odds are well and truly gone now, but is this market already done and dusted? We would like to believe so, but the Chicago Blackhawks might have a say in the matter.
With Connor Bedard out for around 6-8 weeks for the Blackhawks, things are only going to get worse. Will things get bad enough that they end up worse off than the Sharks? Time will tell.
We are sticking with the Sharks to win this market, but considering the Blackhawks are only three wins ahead of San Jose and without their wonderkid for the next two months, they could come down in odds. Currently, they’re not a bad shout to win this market at +170.
If we didn’t already advise the Sharks, we would like to get on the Blackhawks in this spot without their top prospect, and +170 seems like a fair set of odds all things considered. When Bedard returns they could win some games. Either way, we believe it will come down to the final 5-10 games of the season before we have a clear indicator as to who the worst team in the league is this season.
