NHL Rocket Richard Trophy Odds: Connor McDavid Looks To Repeat

Preseason is officially underway for the NHL with the 2023-24 regular season just around corner.

Let's jump into the Rocket Richard Trophy odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to see who are the favorites to lead the league in goals in the new campaign.

Here's a look at the top-10 favorites heading into the new season.

Connor McDavid

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +200

After leading the NHL in goals for the first time in his career, Connor McDavid is the favorite heading into the 2023-24 season.

McDavid finished with 64 goals last season, 20 more than his previous career-high of 44. The change in his goal-scoring should not come as too much of a shock; McDavid has shown an elite ability to score throughout his career. The main difference for the Edmonton Oilers star is that he shot more than ever last year.

The 26-year-old finished with 352 shots and the best shot percentage of his career (18.2%). As a result, he had three more goals than David Pastrnak, who finished in second on the season.

At this stage in his career, it's hard to doubt McDavid on any front. If he continues shooting 350 shots in a campaign, it's hard to pick against the reigning winner. Add in the unbelievable speed and nastiness he has with the puck, and there's no one like him in the league. However, if there's an award for him to be most likely to lose, the Rocket Richard feels like it'd be the one with how talented the rest of the league is at putting the puck in the net. McDavid contributes in all areas.

Auston Matthews

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +300

A new contract and a new mentality for two-time Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews should help the Toronto Maple Leafs center pursue a third.

Matthews and the Maple Leafs agreed to a 4-year, $53 million contract in the offseason to lock in their superstar. Signing a new deal doesn't always lead to a bounce back, but for Matthews, it likely is significant to have finally calmed the nerves over the last year that should lead him to getting back on track. One reason is the contract, the second is the Maple Leafs finally winning a playoff series -- even if there wasn't much success afterward.

Last season, Matthews finished with 40 goals in 74 games. This was the lowest total of his career since the 2018-19 season. When you're an elite scorer like him, that's a down season. It's unfair that 40 goals are considered as such, but after scoring 60 in his 2021-22 Hart Trophy run, he's expected to be at the top of the leaderboards year in and year out.

His shot percentage (12.8%) dropped considerably in 2022-23 -- the lowest of his career. Prior to 2022-23, he won back-to-back Rocket Richard Trophies as the league's top scorer with 60 goals in 2021-22 and 47 goals in 2020-21 through 52 games.

Toronto's star is an elite goalscorer, so expect a bounce-back campaign.

Leon Draisaitl

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +400

Leon Draisaitl has done a lot in his NHL career, but he hasn't won the Rocket Richard Trophy.

Draisaitl is arguably the second-best player in hockey. He can be overlooked because he is a teammate to Connor McDavid, but his dominance over his last five seasons has been simply incredible.

The 27-year-old has four 100-point campaigns in five season with the fifth being an 84-point finish in 56 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy in 2019-20, finishing with 43 goals, 67 assists, and 110 points. He's scored at least 50 goals in three seperate seasons but has just one Hart Trophy to show for it.

Those 50-plus goal seasons include doing so in back-to-back years. Last season, he had 52 goals, good for fourth in the league. He finished in second back in 2021-22 with 55 goals, following only Matthews.

With three 50-plus goal seasons to his name and continued domination expected, he's as good a choice as anyone to get this done at +400. There may be value here since he's the lone contender to not have a Rocket Richard Trophy to his name yet.

David Pastrnak

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +1000

There's been a lot of change in the offseason for the Boston Bruins, but David Pastrnak is still earmarked for success as the team's top offensive weapon.

Pastrnak had the best season of his career in 2022-23, helping push the Bruins to a record-setting regular season before prematurely being eliminated in Game 7 of the first round. The sniper had career-highs in both goals (61), assists (52), and points (113).

The 61 goals would lead any season since 2007-08; McDavid just happened to notch 64 at the same time as Pastrnak had his best year.

Pastrnak's 61 goals aren't a fluke when he won the Rocket Richard back in the 2019-20 season with 48 goals. His concern for this upcoming season will be the changes for Boston. Both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired in the offseason, leaving uncertainty for the entire team as the top two centers are now gone.

Bergeron and Krejci's absences could mean more trust on Pastrnak to make offense happen. It'll be wait-and-see if that's good or bad with defenses focusing all the more on Pastrnak, but due to his ability on the ice, it shouldn't phase him too much.

At +1000, his overall ability and track record make him the best bet of the bunch not named McDavid.

Mikko Rantanen

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +1500

Quietly, Mikko Rantanen had the best season of his career last year and should be able to build on that with the Colorado Avalanche at full strength.

In what was an overall down year for the Avs, Rantanen dazzled with 55 goals, 50 assists, and 105 points -- once again all career-highs for a player on this list. The 55 goals were all the more stunning seeing that he had never eclipsed the 40-goal plateau in his career -- let alone the 50-goal plateau. His previous career-high was 36 goals in 2021-22.

The Avalanche are expected to be better this season, entering the year with the best odds to win the Stanley Cup at +850. That doesn't mean guaranteed success for Rantanen, but Gabriel Landeskog is expected to miss most, if not the whole season, meaning that the 26-year-old will be leaned on heavily (alongside Nathan MacKinnon) for offense.

If he's to outpace the likes of McDavid, Matthews, and company, he will need to make another step as he has throughout his career. It's not crazy to expect that he does, but there's a reason his odds lag a bit behind the rest of this pack.

Looking for more NHL betting opportunities? Check out all of the NHL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.