It’s a hard thing to quantify, but there was some level of consensus that the Eastern Conference might be better than its counterpart at the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
The West had a few great teams at the top, but the next tier and overall depth appeared to be better on the other side of the continent. As the Avalanche takes a break ahead of the NHL All-Star Game, it’s pretty clear that the opposite is true and Colorado’s path back to the Stanley Cup Final could be a treacherous one.
There were 13 teams with +2500 odds or better to win the Stanley Cup in the preseason, according to BetMGM.