Morning Coffee: The Gr8 chase continues as Presidents’ Trophy frontrunners clash in Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Jets were considered a longshot to win the Stanley Cup at +2600 at FanDuel entering the season.

The Washington Capitals weren’t even in the Stanley Cup conversation at +7000.

Fast-forward five months later, both teams are among the top 10 choices to win it all at FanDuel.

The Capitals and Jets are also the top choices to win the Presidents’ Trophy as the team that finishes with the league’s best record in the regular season.

Washington is currently two points up on Winnipeg at the top of the NHL standings with one game in hand.

Tonight, on TSN, the Jets will get an opportunity to close the gap on the Capitals as the betting favourite for a clash with major implications in the Presidents’ Trophy race.

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday March 25^th, 2025.

The Gr8 Chase Continues As Presidents’ Trophy Frontrunners Clash In Winnipeg

The Jets are +320 to win the Presidents’ Trophy at FanDuel this morning.

That number translates to just a 23.8 per cent implied probability that Winnipeg finishes with the NHL’s best regular season record.

The fact that the Jets are a -146 moneyline favourite for tonight’s game against the Capitals makes that number a little more interesting.

With a win on home ice tonight, Winnipeg would be tied with Washington atop the NHL standings at 102 points with just one more game played.

However, the flip side of that coin has the Jets falling to the Capitals on home ice and dropping four points back with one more game played and just 10 games remaining to close the gap.

There’s also the fact that Winnipeg the sixth-toughest remaining strength of schedule in the NHL with games against the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings.

Meanwhile, Washington is projected to benefit from the 21^st-ranked remaining strength of schedule, although it’s worth pointing out that some of their weaker opponents will be playing desperate hockey as they play two more games against both the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders.

FanDuel bettors remain torn on which team will come out on top in the Presidents’ Trophy race.

Per the FanDuel traders, 42 per cent of the total handle wagered in the Presidents’ Trophy market is on the Jets.

Contrast that with 43 per cent of the handle on the Capitals to finish atop the NHL standings.

Winnipeg has been the more popular pick in terms of the sheer number of bets placed at 40 per cent compared to Washington at 31 per cent, but the Capitals still have the slight edge in terms of the total dollars wagered.

With the top two teams in the NHL standings set to go head-to-head tonight on TSN, it will be fascinating to see how they match up against each other, as well as the impact the outcome has on betting markets.

In addition to the Presidents’ Trophy race, it’s interesting to note that these teams have identical odds to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel this morning.

Washington is down to +1100 to win the Stanley Cup from +7000 at the start of the NHL regular season.

Meanwhile, Winnipeg is down to +1100 to win it all from +2600 back in October.

There’s no denying that the Jets and Capitals have been two of the league’s biggest surprises this season.

The fact that they have identical Stanley Cup odds, nearly identical records, and identical goal differentials entering tonight’s contest is remarkable.

Adding to the anticipation for tonight’s showdown is the fact that two of the NHL’s best at their craft will go head-to-head in Alex Ovechkin and Connor Hellebuyck.

Ovechkin is seven goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL all-time goals record with 895.

“The Great Eight” has scored more goals against the Jets/Thrashers franchise than any other team with 56 in 74 career games.

While he failed to score in Washington’s 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday, Ovechkin still leads the NHL with nine goals in 15 games since the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Tonight, he’ll face off against the Hart Trophy favourite in Hellebuyck.

Hellebuyck leads the NHL with a 2.06 goals against average, a .924 percentage, and 40 wins.

However, when these teams met earlier this season in Washington, Ovechkin scored his 877^th career goal against Hellebuyck in a high-scoring affair that the Jets eventually won 5-4.

Ovechkin also scored his 600^th career NHL goal versus Hellebuyck back in 2018.

Ovechkin is +135 to score tonight, +950 to record 2+ goals, and +4900 to score a hat-trick tonight in Winnipeg.

As for his pursuit of the NHL’s all-time goal scoring record, FanDuel has Ovechkin at -114 to net his 895^th career goal this season.

Per the FanDuel traders, 88 per cent of the bets are on Ovechkin to break Gretzky’s record this season.

The three most popular picks to record an assist on Ovechkin’s 895^th career NHL goal?

Tom Wilson, John Carlson, and Jakob Chychrun.

With 12 games remaining on Washington’s regular season schedule, time is running out for Ovechkin to break Gretzky’s all-time NHL record this season.

While most of the betting public is cheering for Ovechkin to get there this season, Jets fans will be hoping the “GR8 Chase” stalls as the Presidents’ Trophy race heats up tonight in Winnipeg.

A Trio Of FanDuel Best Bets To Consider

In case you missed it, we were a review away from the NHL best bets in this column going 2-0 on Monday night.

Unfortunately, we settled for the split while the NBA best bets were washed out when Quentin Grimes and C.J. McCollum both missed last night’s game between the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans.

It’s difficult enough to navigate NBA player props and SGP’s at 7 AM ET, but it’s clear that some teams are trying to win and others are not so here’s what I’m going to do.

I’ll lock in a traditional two-team NBA parlay with the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies to win outright at -120 odds.

The Warriors will be motivated in Jimmy Butler’s return to Miami and it looks like Stephen Curry will play.

Golden State is 16-3 since acquiring Butler from the Heat.

Meanwhile, Miami has been a mess since the split with just one win in its previous 11 games.

Hopefully, Curry returns, he and Butler take care of their business, and the Warriors win again tonight.

Meanwhile, the tank is on in Utah where the Jazz have lost 12 of their last 13 games.

With Memphis competing for playoff position in the Western Conference, the Grizzlies should handle their business as a big favourite in Utah.

I’ll carry over the revenge them to the NHL, where Dylan Cozens faces his former team for the first time since he was traded by the Buffalo Sabres to the Ottawa Senators at the deadline.

A Same Game Parlay with Cozens 2+ shots on goal and Tage Thompson 2+ shots on goal gets me -120 odds.

I also played Cozens anytime goal at +230.

The Sabres have dominated the head-to-head series versus Ottawa this season.

With Cozens set to make his return and the Senators desperate for points, it will be interesting to see how tonight’s game plays out.

Finally, I’ll lock in a Same Game Parlay with the Colorado Avalanche to win in regulation and the alt over 4.5 goals at -115 odds.

The Detroit Red Wings are coming off an impressive win over the Utah Hockey Club last night as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive in the Eastern Conference.

The fact that they have to face the high-scoring Avalanche at elevation less than 24 hours later likely won’t help their chances.

I’ll take the Avalanche to come out on top on home ice in a high scoring game at nearly even-money.

Next up, I’ll add an SGP with Nick Suzuki to record 1+ point and the Montreal Canadiens +1.5 on the puck line at +107 odds. Finally, give me an SGP with Nazem Kadri 2+ shots on goal and the Calgary Flames to beat the Seattle Kraken.

Hopefully, tonight’s the night we pull off the best bets sweep.

Have a great day, everyone!