- The Florida Panthers look for their third straight Eastern Conference title in 2024-25
- Four teams: Florida, New Jersey, NY Rangers, and Carolina Hurricanes have the best betting odds to win the Eastern Conference in 2025
- The 2024-24 NHL Season begins on Friday, Oct. 4, when the Buffalo Sabres play the New Jersey Devils in the 2024 NHL Global Series at O2 Arena in Prague
The 2024 Stanley Cup Final series between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers went seven games, with Florida jumping to a 3-0 lead to open the series. The Oilers won the next three games to force Game Seven, but Edmonton could not pick up a fourth straight win, dropping that game 2-1 in the Panthers’ home barn of Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. The early betting odds for the 2025 Eastern Conference have the Panthers as the slight betting favorite to win the conference for a third straight season.
The Panthers won the Eastern Conference in 2023 but fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Cup Final that year. In 2022, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the East but lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final. Tampa Bay is not among the betting favorites to win the conference in 2025.
Last year, the Carolina Hurricanes were the betting favorite to win the Eastern Conference. They are in the mix again in 2025, along with the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
Below, we look at the 2025 NHL Eastern Conference Futures. You can also find the best NHL hockey betting sites here, and see our pick to win the 2025 Stanley Cup.
2025 NHL Eastern Conference Futures
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are in the midst of the best run in team history. Florida made it to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final,where the Vegas Golden Knights defeated them in five games. The club returned to the Cup Final in 2024, jumping to a 3-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers before losing the next three contests. The Panthers went on to win Game 7 and the first Cup in franchise history in front of their hometown crowd. In 2025, Florida looks to become the first team since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21 to go back-to-back.
Following their Stanley Cup win, the Panthers re-signed some essential roster pieces and lost others to free agency. Gone are Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kevin Stenlund and Ryan Lomberg. Re-signing with the club are Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell. GM Bill Zito added forwards Jesper Boqvist, Tomas Nosek , and A.J. Greer, and defensemen Nate Schmidt, Adam Boqvist, and Jaycob Megna.
The Panthers have kept most of the core intact heading into 2025, which bodes well for their chances to repeat as Cup champions.
Florida had the best record in the Atlantic Division last year at 52-24-6, that record was third best in the Eastern Conference behind the Rangers and Hurricanes.
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils shook things up following a disappointing 2024 regular season where the team missed the playoffs. The club got a new coach in former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe and then GM Tom Fitzgerald went to work on the roster.
Fitzgerald picked up goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames for defenseman Kevin Bahl and a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. He then went out and signed Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Stefan Noesen, Mike Hardman, Colton White, and Tomas Tatar. The Devils also picked up Johnathan Kovacevic and Paul Cotter via trades. To make room for the new members of the roster, the Devils let go of Cal Foote, Alexander Holtz, Kaapo Kahkonen, John Marino, Michael McLeod, Tomas Nosek, Akira Schmid, and Brendan Smith.
Fitzgerald’s goal was to shore up the team’s defense in 2024, and he did so on paper.
The Devils were seventh in the Metropolitan Division in 2024, so the pundits are expecting big things from the team this year.
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers finished the 2024 NHL season with the best record in the league at 55-23-4. However, that did not equate to playoff success as the team bowed out in the Eastern Conference Final, losing to the Panthers in six games. The team fell in the first round of the 2023 playoffs after finishing in third place in the division.
The Rangers brass either liked what they saw in 2024 or they failed to find a partner to deal with because the team only made one significant move over the summer and that was acquiring Reilly Smith from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a conditional 2025 fifth-rounder. Pittsburgh retained 25% of Smith’s $5 million salary. Smith played in 76 games last year for Pittsburgh, scoring 13 goals and 27 assists. His best season came in 2018 when he had 60 points for Vegas (22G, 38A).
New York was likely priced out of the free agent market, which prevented them from making moves on that front.
Perhaps the Rangers will wait and see if the current line-up can perform better at even strength this year than they did in 2024 before making in-season adjustments.
Best bet to win the NHL Eastern Conference in 2024-25
If the Devils stay healthy and get the goaltending they expect, and need, from Jacob Markstrom, they are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference in 2024-25. The betting pick is the NJ Devils to win the Eastern Conference.
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