Nathan MacKinnon is a man on a mission.
Even with the heaviest of tasks still before him, bettors envision the Colorado Avalanche center as the most obvious choice to fulfill his destiny.
Tipico Sportsbook reports it’s carrying its greatest liability on MacKinnon as the +210 second choice to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Colorado defenseman Cale Makar is the +180 Conn Smythe favorite at Tipico, and he stands as a +225 co-favorite with MacKinnon at the Las Vegas SuperBook. The abundance of action at Tipico has gravitated to MacKinnon as the Game 1 puck drop nears Wednesday night in Denver.
“MacKinnon leads the team in goals this postseason and with the Avs as the odds-on favorite to win the Cup, (he) and Makar look to be the best bets,” Tipico spokesman Sunny Gupta said.
The Avalanche are -160 favorites in Game 1 to defeat the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, who are +130 underdogs.
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For the series, Colorado, which has skated to a 12-2 playoff record by sweeping the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals, is a -190 favorite to hoist the Cup while Tampa Bay is a +155 ‘dog.
The Lightning became the first team since the Wayne Gretzky/Mark Messier-led Oilers of the mid-1980s to appear in three consecutive finals by eliminating the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night.
Should Tampa Bay defeat Colorado, it would become the first team since the 1982 New York Islanders to win three consecutive Stanley Cups.
Yet, the Lightning’s most identifiable player, center Steven Stamkos, is a more distant 13/1 underdog to win the Smythe, slotted…