The 2016 NHL Draft is not expected to have any generational talents like Connor McDavid but there is one noteworthy player to check out in Auston Matthews. The Arizona native has been a major star with the United States National U18 team and is even rumored to be playing in a professional league in Europe.
What makes him so important is that there are plenty of teams that could potentially take him with the top overall pick in the 2016 draft. Matthews is by far the favorite to go to the top of the draft board a year from now. In fact, there are three teams that could potentially land him.
These three teams are projected to be the weakest teams in the NHL in terms of betting. Most NHL betting lines have these three teams going at 100-1 hockey betting odds to win the Stanley Cup in 2016.
NHL Arizona Coyotes
The biggest concern about the Arizona Coyotes is that the team may not even be playing in the state of Arizona at the start of the season. The Coyotes’ arena contract with the city of Glendale was made void. The Coyotes could try and play its games at an arena in downtown Phoenix but many other cities, specifically Seattle and Las Vegas, have coveted the team.
Either way, the Coyotes have been extremely sluggish in recent years and have a serious lack of talent. The team had the second-worst scoring total in the NHL last year as well. The Yotes do have one talented young defenseman in Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres had the worst offense, power play and penalty kill in the NHL last year plus the worst record with 54 points. However, the Sabres are expected to get major help from rookie Jack Eichel. Dan Blysma, who used to coach Pittsburgh, will also bring in his new system to Buffalo.
NHL Carolina Hurricanes
Much of what makes the Hurricanes down at the bottom comes from the extreme uncertainty surrounding the team. General manager Ron Francis and coach Bill Peters are trying to rebuild and adjust the team’s system. Part of this could entail trading away top players like Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner or Cam Ward. However, those players have not performed well in recent time and may cost too much for some teams.