All eyes are on the Stanley Cup Playoffs right now. Very soon, though, that’s going to change. Everyone’s attention will shift over to the league’s stars who will be looking for fresh starts next season. And those won’t be the only changes to keep an eye on – there will be a number of coaches on the hunt for their next gig as well.
Enter Bodog. They’ve decided to look beyond the playoffs and add a few “Where Will They Be” futures bets to their menu for players and coaches in 2021-22. Let’s investigate further.
Who will be where next season?
As of this very moment, three player and three coach futures props are available through the bet giant. The players listed are Seth Jones, Mitch Marner and Connor McDavid. Now, Marner and McDavid are still under contract with their current teams for a few more years, but Jones is interesting because his contract with Columbus ends after next season and rumours of trade are swirling, which is why the odds are substantially better that he’ll be moved before the puck drops again in October.
Jones has a digestible cap hit of $5.4 million this coming season so it is likely that GM Jarmo Kekalainen is going to receive a few phone calls about his star defender this summer. Where will his landing place be? Well, we do have a few front-runners listed.
The obvious number one choice is that he stays with the Blue Jackets (+140). The Flyers and Oilers are then next in order of odds (+275) followed by the Red Wings (+500) and then Jets and Stars (+600). In betting, the better the chances of something happening, the lower the odds. So it’s fair to say that Bodog is pretty high on Jones wearing a different jersey next season.
As for Marner and McDavid, the odds aren’t quite as tantalizing. Marner currently has another four years on his six-year deal with Toronto, so the odds of him staying are -400. With that said, you’ll find Vegas, Nashville, Dallas and a few bottom feeders nipping at his heels.
Meanwhile, McDavid will only be heading into year four of his eight-year deal, so the odds of him starting the season with Edmonton pay -10000. In other words, you’d need to bet $10,000 to win $100 here. The odds are supremely in the Oilers favour – much to the chagrin of many non-Oilers fans.
Where will the coaches land?
This bet is a little livelier because everyone’s got a shot at landing the gig. The three teams listed with vacancies you can bet on are the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers. Each team desperately needs a shot in the arm, and we’ve got quite a few candidates on the board to fill their vacancies.
For Arizona, you’ll find the largest number of prospective suitors. There are 10 candidates listed to take over the gig.
At the top of the pile are Rocky Thompson (+350) followed by Lane Lambert () +400)), Bryce Larsen ( +400) and Mike Van Ryn ( +400). While the long shots read Gerrard Gallant (+750), John Tortorella (+900), Bruce Boudreau (+900), Claude Julien (+900) and Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green (+900), who was just given a contract extension by the team. Then, to round us out, we come to your absolute “no chancer” in current Carolina boss Rod Brind’Amour (+1200).
The numbers vary a bit more for the other job postings around the league, with only seven listings on the board for both the Rangers and Sabres. In New York, the likeliest candidate is former Golden Knights coach Gerrard Gallant (-160) followed by several other household names. While in Buffalo, the luckiest guy in line appears to be current interim coach Don Granato (+130) who’s followed closely by former Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella (+350).
Quite often these types of bets heat up and get more action the closer we get to the actual decisions being made. That’s when all the headlines surface about who may be going where. Unfortunately, though, if you wait that long, the odds reduce heavily as more info becomes available.
