Devils vs. Hurricanes series odds
- Devils +240
- Hurricanes -300
The Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils both came into the 2024-25 NHL regular season with high expectations, but only one of them lived up to them.
While the Devils floundered down the stretch and flirted with falling out of the playoff picture, the Canes surged after the trade deadline and established themselves as one of the heavyweights in the Eastern Conference.
Not only is Carolina a big favorite to beat New Jersey in this best-of-7 series, but the Canes are the second favorite to win the Stanley Cup at some sportsbooks.
The Devils started the season as one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, but injuries to Jack Hughes, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Dougie Hamilton cooled the market, and a stretch of inconsistent play caused everybody to abandon ship on one of the offseason's buzziest teams.
Hamilton may be back for this series, but Hughes and Siegenthaler won't play again until training camp.
Carolina comes into the playoffs without any real injury concerns, but they do have playoff demons to contend with this spring.
The Hurricanes have been among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup for a number of years but have come up short, causing skeptics to wonder if their grinding style of play can work in the playoffs.
Carolina's goaltending is also a concern, though Frederik Andersen has put together another strong showing in the regular season.
The Canes absolutely deserve to be the clear betting favorite in this series, but it does seem like the market is counting out the Devils a bit too much for this series.
New Jersey should have a goaltending edge, and the Devils should be the more clinical team. That's enough to make them an interesting bet at this kind of price.