2023 Stanley Cup odds: Teams to buy ahead of free agency

The 2022 NHL draft has come and gone. While there was some notable movement - headlined by the Alex DeBrincat trade - a lot of the offseason action is still to come, starting with free agency on Wednesday.

Which teams are positioned well to improve their team and, thus, their Stanley Cup chances in the days to come? Let's dive in!

Pittsburgh Penguins (+2700)

The Evgeni Malkin contract situation remains murky but I have a hard time believing the Penguins won't cave and give him the term he wants.

Assuming they get him locked up at the rumored price of $6 million per season, that would leave the Penguins with well over $9 million to spend and pretty much an entire roster in place.

The one missing piece is a top-six winger to pair with Malkin and provide real support behind Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Bryan Rust. There's a lot of noise surrounding J.T. Miller, who would certainly add serious pop to their forward group. Whether they acquire Miller or not, they have the money to chase a big fish like that.

The Penguins' defense and goaltending are already good enough; they ranked sixth in expected goals against per 60 and seventh in actual goals against per 60 at five-on-five last season.

If they can get their hands on an impact forward, which would give them one of the league's best top-six groupings, this team could flirt with top-five numbers offensively and defensively.

New Jersey Devils (+5000)

The Devils have some housekeeping to take care of - like extending Jesper Bratt - but they should have plenty of cap space to add an impact player or two, even after taking care of their own.

They already improved their league-worst five-on-five goaltending with the acquisition of Vitek Vanecek, who ranked inside the top 10 in five-on-five save percentage, and their young core of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer, Bratt, and co. should help the team ascend as their growth continues.

Even with putrid goaltending behind them, the Devils were a good hockey team when Hischier, Bratt, and Dougie Hamilton were all in the lineup. With better health, better goaltending, and the money and urgency to properly support those key players, this team has high upside.

Ottawa Senators (+5000)

The Senators still have plenty of holes on their roster. While promoting top prospect Jake Sanderson should help, their defense could still use real reinforcements. Getting a quality, established NHL goaltender to partner with Anton Forsberg - who was quietly excellent last season - is necessary as well.

With that being said, Ottawa has the pieces necessary to ice a lethal top-six group. DeBrincat is 24 and has scored 40-plus goals multiple times. He joins a group that already features Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, and Tim Stutzle. That's really good, and there are rumblings of Claude Giroux coming home to plug the hole on line two.

Ottawa still needs to extend Norris, which will not be cheap, but even then they could have around $14 million available to chase upgrades. If they're willing to spend anywhere close to the cap to improve the roster, they won't be +5000 in a week or two.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.