NHL Odds: Which last place team will have the best season in 2026-27?
You know it’s the dog days of summer when you start evaluating some of the worst teams in the NHL last season.
Well, that’s exactly what I’m doing today. I’m going to look at the four teams that finished last in their respective divisions last season and rank them in order of best to worst by how good I think they will be in 2026-27.
Let’s get into it.
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Make the playoffs: -120
Miss the playoffs: -102
Win Atlantic Division: +1000
Win Eastern Conference: +1700
Win Stanley Cup: +3000
It could really go either way for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2026-27. Are they the team that finished dead last in the Atlantic Division with 78 points last season? No. But, they’re also not the team that won the Atlantic with 108 points the year before.
The sting of losing Mitch Marner last off-season is still impacting this team. And while first overall draft pick Gavin McKenna, defenceman Darren Raddysh and new head coach Jim Hiller give the Leafs a shot in the arm, I still think they’re somewhere in the murky middle as a wild-card team.
New York Rangers
Make the playoffs: +230
Miss the playoffs: -300
Win Metropolitan Division: +2000
Win Eastern Conference: +4000
Win Stanley Cup: +8000
Perhaps no recent drop-off has been more shocking than the New York Rangers, who went from a Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24 to back-to-back playoff misses, including a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference last year.
Mika Zibanejad looks like the wheels are starting to fall off, Alexis Lafreniere just never developed into his potential and Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox aren’t getting any younger. Things might get worse before they get better in New York.
Chicago Blackhawks
Make the playoffs: +400
Miss the playoffs: -550
Win Central Division: +6000
Win Western Conference: +10,000
Win Stanley Cup: +20,000
Future Chicago Blackhawks captain Connor Bedard took another step forward into becoming a superstar last season and signed a massive five-year contract extension in the off-season, but there just isn’t enough talent around him.
Chicago brought back franchise legend Patrick Kane over the summer and while he should be a great influence on Bedard, the team still needs more skilled pieces. The Blackhawks haven’t done enough to become a playoff team, let alone compete in the stacked Central Division.
Vancouver Canucks
Make the playoffs: +1100
Miss the playoffs: -2500
Win Pacific Division: +25,000
Win Western Conference: +25,000 (ditto below)
Win Stanley Cup: +50,000 (tied with Calgary for longest)
Just how bad were the Vancouver Canucks last year? They finished dead last in the NHL with 58 points, while no other team had less than 72 points. The Canucks absolutely imploded last season, which forced their hand to trade captain Quinn Hughes.
And with Elias Pettersson reportedly on the trade block, things aren’t expected to get any better anytime soon. Oddsmakers agree, giving Vancouver easily the worst odds on the NHL futures board.