The NHL roster freeze will be lifted on March first and people doing sports betting know the trades will happen fast and furious as teams only have three days do get deals done. One of the key components to a championship team is goaltending and there are a couple teams looking to sell at the deadline. With Philadelphia and Chicago looking to upgrade their goalie situation, it could be a hot market.

Earlier this week the Nashville Predators announced that they have signed Pekka Rinne to a two-year contract extension. This puts backup Dan Ellis on the market as he will be a free agent in the summer and will look for money that the Preds are not willing to pay.

Trade rumors have cooled in Dallas after goaltender Alex Auld was sent through waivers, and will finish the season with the AHL’s Texas Stars. Earlier this month the Stars traded for Kari Lehtonen which left them with three goaltenders and all signs pointed to Marty Turco leaving town. Now this does not mean he is staying in Dallas; just more likely.

Rick Di Pietro is healthy again and the Islanders now find themselves with three goaltenders. Martin Biron and Brian Roloson have shared time in his absence but with Di Pietro’s unmovable contract one of them will be moved. With Roloson playing well it will most likely be Biron.

Montreal has been subject to trade rumors since Christmas but they have been tentative to give up on either Carey Price or Jaroslav Halak. After his strong showing for the Slovakian Olympic team, Halak would get them the best return.

There are two other goaltenders who have an outside chance of being traded. Tomas Vokoun’s name consistently comes up but with a no-trade clause and another year left on his contract he would be a hard piece to move. Murmurs out of Boston have the Bruins quietly shopping Tim Thomas after the emergence of Tukka Rask this season.

For all the Stanley Cup picks hype we saw for teams like San Jose, Detroit and Pittsburgh last season, two different teams had the top records down the stretch: Vancouver and St. Louis. Their hockey odds were long written off halfway through the year but they rallied from improbable odds to become contenders.

The big question is – who will play that role this season? What slow starter will make a second-half charge? Here are a few teams to consider when thinking about the stretch run and which teams will surprise in the hockey betting world. Notice the familiar faces.

Boston Bruins

The defense is already fixed – they’re a top-five defensive team in the NHL – but we just need to see the offense come back. Marc Savard will spread the wealth and make others around him better but the Bruins may need to acquire a forward before making a big run.

Vancouver Canucks

Yes, folks – the Canucks may be this year’s, er, Canucks. They faded into the background with a relatively slow start but Roberto Luongo is catching fire and Daniel Sedin is back from his broken foot. The Canucks could get hot and start crushing teams like they did last year during their hot streak.

Anaheim Ducks

Should we really give up on them this quickly? They still have an amazing top line with Perry/Getzlaf/Ryan and some good secondary scoring. If Scott Niedermayer had some help on the back end, these guys would climb back up the standings.

St. Louis Blues

This one’s the biggest long shot. Even though the Blues were the NHL’s best second-half team last year, they were ahead of schedule. This is still a young team that has a lot to learn and hasn’t developed a true No. 1 scoring threat yet. They could come together but next year is more likely.

After Stanley Cup odds chatter went on hiatus for a few weeks, trade buzz is starting up again with training camp a month away. The main name being tossed around, surprise surprise, is Dany Heatley’s. Rumor has it the Sharks are making a push for him but that they need a third team, reportedly Montreal, to help with salary issues.

It’s totally unclear what the Sharks would send to Ottawa for Heatley, but rumor has it Jonathan Cheechoo would go to Montreal.

What would this potential deal do for San Jose’s Stanley Cup odds? On one hand, it’s exciting. A true 50-goal scorer playing with Joe Thornton would produce some eye-popping offense, and the pair is already acquainted thanks to their Team Canada ventures. However, regular-season numbers have never been a problem for Thornton in the first place: He’s scored 125, 114, 96 and 86 points as a Shark. It’s true that the total is steadily declining, but the bottom line is that he’s still putting up first-line center numbers.

So maybe Heatley could get Thornton back to the level he was at when Jonathan Cheechoo was playing good hockey, potting 56 goals in 2005-06. So what? Heatley and Thornton – well, the Sharks and Sens – suffer from the same problem, the propensity to disappear in the playoffs.

Call me crazy, but I don’t see how a Heatley trade would remedy San Jose’s problem – especially since we don’t know who they’d have to give up. A guess: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Milan Michalek, a draft pick or two of those three parts. That’s a hefty price.

Few bettors have Stanley Cup odds on the mind these days. After all, it’s warm and sports like baseball and golf have center stage. Heck, even most NHL general managers aren’t thinking much about their teams’ Stanley Cup odds; they did most of their work on or shortly after July 1 and are sitting back to enjoy their precious bit of holiday time.

But what about Detroit?

Has Ken Holland earned his time off this summer? Yeah, he re-signed big guns like Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg to long-term deals before the season was up, but he’s done absolutely nothing this offseason. The high-and-mighty Detroit logic probably says “well, we’re the Red Wings, we were a win away from a second straight Cup, so we’re not changing anything.”

Well, Detroit, the 2006 Oilers were a win away from the Cup too, then they missed the playoffs the next season. Should they have stood pat? Obviously, I can’t compare Detroit’s Stanley Cup odds to that Edmonton team, as the Wings are still a great team and will contend next year. But I also don’t think Detroit should employ the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. They lost Marian Hossa, Chris Osgood ain’t getting any younger and they’re one of the league’s smallest teams.

Remember, the champion Wings teams were still always boosted by key acquisitions. The 1996-1998 run got a boost from Brendan Shanahan; the 2002 group added Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille; the 2008 champs signed Brian Rafalski and brought back Osgood.

If you still want great Stanley Cup odds, don’t rest on your laurels, Detroit!

It’s never too early to think about Stanley Cup odds for 2009-10, and I already have my finalist picks in mind. One of them makes the list in light of roster changes – both its own and those of its competitors – while the other gets my vote simply by standing pat so far.

In the West, I like the Chicago Blackhawks. As soon as the playoffs ended, they were already my choice. They have arguably the best young blueline in the NHL, with stalwarts like Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Cam Barker emerging to eat massive minutes and shut down opposing forwards. We know the Hawks can score, thanks to rising stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, but the offense will only get better now that Chicago signed Marian Hossa away from the Red Wings. Not only does he make Chicago that much stronger, his signing also weakens Detroit, the Hawks’ toughest challenger in the West.

In the East, I’m feeling the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup odds. They’ve made no significant moves this offseason but they don’t need to. Their young talent – guys like Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler – should only get better. They also have the reigning Vezina Trophy winner in Tim Thomas and the reigning Norris Trophy winner in Zdeno Chara. They’re big, tough, cohesive, built for the playoffs…and now they have experience.

There you have it folks – if you want Stanley Cup odds picks, I suggest the Blackhawks and Bruins