Hockey is (almost) back! When the puck drops in Ottawa on Oct. 12 to kick off the 2016-17 NHL season, the next Stanley Cup championship is officially up for grabs.The aim of placing a bet at this time of the year is somewhere between placing a bet in the offseason and placing one leading up to the postseason. In other words, the Chicago Blackhawks are currently 6-1 to win the Cup. While they are talented enough to do so, their value is not going to change much between now and the end of the regular season -- in fact, it might even improve a bit. So, even if you think Chicago wins the Cup this season, youre not touching the Blackhawks right now.Instead, look for undervalued teams. To that end, lets look at some of the best Stanley Cup value bets just ahead of the start of the regular season: Throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, NHL on TSN analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan ranks the netminders after each game night. Number values assigned are out of five with five being the best performance. Henrik Lundqvist - 4 - A strong game. He was focused early on and had to fight traffic and pressure all game long. The Horton goal was a tough break where the puck bounced back to him. On the Krug goal, Boyle was in his lane screening him, and the Seguin goal he made a great original save. Loved the way he was working to push rebounds past oncoming traffic. It was noticeable in this game. Tuukka Rask - 2 - A tough game. He fell on the Hagelin goal, was slow on his exchange with Chara on the Stepan goal. He has set the bar very high for himself playing so well in the playoffs, just not a very sharp game for him. The game winner was a nice redirection in front, not much chance as he scrambled to find it on the seam play. Noticed the rangers are really targeting his blocker side. Jimmy Howard - 5 – He was brilliant and aggressive all game long. His glove was locked in and tracked the puck really well. Big save on the sharp breakaway was about the posittioning – Howard had taken ice and not given the shooter anything.dddddddddddd On the big save on Bolland, it was more of a Jonathan Quick lunge across and forward that he came up with, took the angle up approach on the puck, and it came back on the ice to the right pad. Good read. Corey Crawford - 4 - Played well. He didnt have much of a chance on the Kindl goal, as he was screened well by Abdelkader. One thing he was very strong at on Thursday was his rebound control, really took ice, planted his feet and let the puck come to him. Jonathan Quick - 5 – A money goalie on Thursday. He was not bombarded with shots, but the Sharks had some Grade-A chances and he had the answer. A left shoulder save on Thorton was great, but his best trait all night long was he fought for his sight lines to find the puck through screens. His biggest save was on Pavelski in the last minute. Antti Niemi - 4 - His strongest play on Thursday was his ice coverage, no better save in the game than his lateral push and flexibility display on a Jeff Carter wrap-around. Had to battle through traffic and net crashing all night, only goals that beat him were through bodies and bounces. ' ' '