Stars, Panthers Stanley Cup favorites after deadline moves - ESPN

After making arguably the two biggest splashes of the NHL trade deadline, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers are the new favorites to win the Stanley Cup in 2025, showing +600 odds at ESPN BET.

Dallas acquired right wing Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes and later signed him to a reported eight-year contract extension; Florida picked up longtime Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand.

Before the transactions, the Stars were +700 to win the season's championship, while the Panthers were +750 and immediately shortened to +650 before settling at the current number. Pricing across the sportsbook marketplace varies, with some books showing the Stars as outright favorites and others posting Florida as the favorite as short as +500.

Both teams flew up the odds board past the Edmonton Oilers, who sit at +700 as of Friday afternoon and are not the Cup favorites for the first time since July 2, when the Panthers were favored. The two teams faced off in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, with Florida prevailing.

Edmonton is still easily ESPN BET's most popular Stanley Cup future selection, attracting a leading 22.7% of the bets and 14.2% of the handle. The Panthers have the second-most money at 9.8%, while the Hurricanes have the second-most tickets at 13.4%. Carolina, which had traded for Rantanen in late January, is fourth on the sportsbook's odds board at +900.

The team Rantanen began the season and his career with, the Colorado Avalanche, made one of the other big moves of the deadline, acquiring center Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders. Prior to the trade, Colorado was +1300 to lift the Cup and is +1000 as of Friday afternoon, tied with the Washington Capitals for fifth.

Washington, attracting plenty of attention