Not much has changed on the Vancouver ice this offseason, and that’s a very good thing.  For the Canucks, keeping goaltender Roberto Luongo and the Sedin Twins has the team in position to not only return to the playoffs, but go deeper into the run for the Cup.  The 2010-11 postseason is also where the Chicago Blackhawks will be heading after signing Marian Hossa and John Madden.

While the offseason has only just begun, many of the big names are off the board and many players have new homes. Here is a look at the biggest winners of the offseason so far in my opinion. (All lines are by 5dimes)

Chicago Blackhawks (+960 to win Stanley Cup)
Last season the Chicago Blackhawks made it all the way to the Western Conference finals, and their excellent young core led by Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews gained valuable playoff experience. While they were a virtual shoo-in to make the playoffs again this year with the young players a year older and further along in their development, they actually got better this offseason.

They lost Martin Havlat, the oft-injured but highly talented left winger, but in his place signed Marian Hossa, an upgrade in both talent and durability. They also lost defense specialist center Samuel Pahlsson, but once again arguably upgraded with replacement John Madden, who is just as defensively capable but actually has a bit more of a scoring touch.

The only major loss that wasn’t addressed was goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin; but with Cristobal Huet already in place, he was one the Blackhawks could afford to lose. This Chicago team looks better than last year’s that made it to the Western Conference finals. I’d grab them at +960 as they definitely have the look of a legitimate cup contender.

Vancouver Canucks (+1800 to win Stanley Cup)
Vancouver makes this list for the things that didn’t happen this offseason: Losing Roberto Luongo and the Sedin twins. Luongo appears to be close on a large contract extension that would officially put to rest the trade rumors that had been circulating.

As for the Sedins they looked 100% ready to test the free agent market, and it is awfully hard to replace two point per game players. Impressively enough, the Sedins were re-signed by the Canucks just 45 minutes before free agency began. Hearing that Luongo would be staying in town probably helped with negotiations.

Adding Mikael Sameulsson was a great move as well; he is a perfect fit on the 3rd line and can be used as a second liner when needed. A hard worker and a fundamentally sound player, he will help to bolster the Canucks’ depth.

Last season the Canucks were my sleeper team to do some serious damage in the playoffs; they just ran into an extremely tough Chicago team. But this year there is no reason to believe that they won’t return to the playoffs, and holding a +1800 ticket with the best goaltenders in the game on your side doesn’t hurt.

New York Rangers (+2800 to win Stanley Cup)
The league is still in disbelief over how badly the Rangers fleeced the Canadiens in the Scott Gomez trade. For comparison’s sake, lets take a look at the Ryan Smyth trade in Colorado.

The Avs were in cap trouble and needed to dump Smyth’s massive contract. They partnered up with the Kings to do so, and in return they got a good (but still unproven and coming off back surgery) defensemen in Kyle Quincey, a Vertigo-suffering defensemen in Tom Preissing and a fifth round pick. That’s what happens when you salary dump; you get the worse end of the deal.

Somehow not the Rangers. Don’t get me wrong; Scott Gomez is a great player, but he is a second line center getting paid franchise player dollars. Somehow the Rangers not only finagled a young consistent 20-goal scorer in Chris Higgins out of the Canadiens (I thought the deal was fair right here), they also received the Habs’ best prospect in defensemen Ryan McDonagh!

McDonagh projects out to be a top-pairing defensemen, has very few flaws in his game and is NHL-ready right now. The Rangers not only found a way to get out of a terrible contract, but also to win the trade.

With extra money now in hand, GM Glen Sather went out and signed another obscene contract, this time to winger Marian Gaborik. While the massive contract (5 years, $7.5 million per) was risky due to Gaborik’s past issues staying healthy, one thing is for sure: When Gaborik is healthy and on the ice, he is one of the most dynamic scorers in the game. The Rangers should be very good this season, and will not stay over +2000 for long.

(http://sbrforum.com/Betting+Articles/NHL/11464/blackhawks-canucks-among-offseason-winners.aspx)

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