Betting Odds: Kessel Probable To Stay; Skinner, Hoffman Likely To Be Traded

Take this for what it’s worth — entertainment, mostly — but one prominent Las Vegas bookmaker has issued betting odds on the likelihood that a handful of NHL players will be traded this summer.

Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner (-300 to move) is the most probable player to be on the move before the start of the 2018-19 season, with Senators skaters Mike Hoffman (-250 to move) and Erik Karlsson (-220 to move) close behind.

Skinner is the most marketable player for a Carolina team that’s looking to restructure under new owner Tom Dundon, while Hoffman’s significant other was implicated in a recent report of cyberstalking against Karlsson’s wife. Add that messy situation to Ottawa’s poor finish and there are likely to be changed in Canada’s capital city.

Yes, Phil Kessel was included in these pre-NHL Draft odds, but he’s considered to be a favorite to return for his fourth Penguins season; Casinos have Kessel at -280 to stay and +185 to move. In other words, the betting consensus is that Kessel is about twice as likely to stay as he is to move. (For a primer on betting odds and how to interpret them, click here.)

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, Capitals backup goalie Philipp Grubauer (-240 to move) and Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly (-160 to go) as more probable than not to have different mailing addresses in the fall. Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty is often mentioned on the trade rumor circuit, but he’s favored to return to Montréal at -160.

Check out the full odds, including a surprise mention of Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, on the screenshot below: