Why the Winnipeg Jets could make a Stanley Cup run

The best team in the NHL is not the favorite to win the Stanley Cup.Far from it. The Winnipeg Jets are tied with the Washington Capitals for first place in the entire NHL entering Thursday.The Jets and Caps have each collected 94 points, eight more than the third-place Dallas Stars and 16 more than the Edmonton Oilers, who spent most of this season as the consensus Stanley Cup favorite. Edmonton’s price has drifted slightly — the Oilers are sitting around +800 at most sportsbooks — but it’s not the Jets who have jumped to the top of the board.

There are seven other teams in the NHL with shorter Stanley Cup odds than Winnipeg’s 12/1 mark (BetMGM Sportsbook), and four (Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas and Colorado) are in their conference. One reason that the Jets have slipped through the cracks is that they were relatively quiet compared to their rivals during last week’s trade deadline. The Stars added Mikko Rantanen, the Colorado Avalanche acquired Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle, while the Oilers made a shrewd move for Jake Walman. Winnipeg was expected to be in the hunt for a No.2 center — it reportedly had plenty of interest in Nelson — but ultimately just nibbled around the edges by acquiring bottom-six forward Brandon Tanev and veteran defenseman Luke Schenn. Neither of those additions glisten like the ones made by Winnipeg’s rivals, but the Jets added more length to a roster that was already considered to be among the deepest in the circuit. Nothing gets money to flow in on a team like a blockbuster trade, so it’s not surprising that sportsbooks were quick to shorten the prices on Dallas and Colorado, but that’s also caused bettors to overlook the Jets, who also got better at the deadline. It’s also quite possible punters just don’t have the appetite to back this Jets team in the playoffs again.Winnipeg was dumped out in five games in the first round in each of the past two postseasons and hasn’t won a game in the second round sinc...