Hurricanes Have Best Odds to Win Metro Division, But Only 11th Best to Win Eastern Conference; What Gives?

• The Carolina Hurricanes went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season
• The Hurricanes started the year 15-17-5 but finished 31-12-2
• Carolina had a productive offseason, acquiring Erik Haula and Ryan Dzingel

If you take a look at the 2019-20 NHL futures, there’s something bizarre going on with the Carolina Hurricanes. They’re at +400 to win the Metropolitan Division – tied for the shortest odds – but they’re 11th in line when it comes to NHL Eastern Conference odds. Is there value with the Canes for either bet?

Odds To Win 2020 Eastern Conference

Hurricanes Offseason Was a Mixed Bag

The Hurricanes did a good job this offseason, for the most part. On the positive side, they re-signed Sebastian Aho, which was crucial. They also acquired Erik Haula from the Vegas Golden Knights and signed Ryan Dzingel. At the same time, they traded away defenseman Calvin de Haan, lost Michael Ferlund and are waiting to see if Justin Williams will return.

The issue is that this is a team that struggled to score goals last season and lost Williams (second on the team with 23 goals) and Ferlund (sixth on the team with 17 goals). Haula has had a 29-goal season but dealt with a knee injury last season. Dzingel was productive with Ottawa but fell off the map after going to Columbus.

For the Hurricanes to take the next step, they had to improve their offense. It’s a question mark as of right now.

Were the Hurricanes a Fluke?

A lot of things went right for the Canes last year and nobody is certain whether they can duplicate their success. For example, goaltenders Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney were two journeyman backups up until last year when they were among the best duos in the league. Can they repeat that success?

And remember, this team started 15-17-5 before finishing the season 31-12-2. Are they the team that finished so strongly or the one that started so poorly? And even with their incredible finish, they finished with just 99 points last season and were fourth in the division. Maybe that was as good as they get.

What’s the Best Bet With the Hurricanes?

Carolina had an incredible run in the 2018-19 season but I have a hard time believing they’ll duplicate it. This is a team that doesn’t have a pedigree of success. It feels like last year was a one-off.

Will they fall off the map completely? I don’t think so. Are they going to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals again? I highly doubt it.

That being the case, I wouldn’t bet their NHL division odds and I wouldn’t bet them to win the Eastern Conference. The division is weak, so they’re more likely to pull that off than win the East. However, I envision them having an elevated regular season point total, so I would wait to see that and bet under.