The Vegas Golden Knights are NHL champions after their sixth season, the fastest expansion team ever to lift the Stanley Cup.
Oddsmakers aren’t convinced they can hoist the trophy again next year.
In early odds posted for the 2024 Stanley Cup champion, the Golden Knights aren’t among the four or five favorites.
The team Vegas defeated in five games in the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers, are even lower down the list of 2024 favorites, while the 2022 champion Colorado Avalanche are listed atop the board.
The Avalanche failed to get out of the first round of this year’s playoffs.
BetMGM and FanDuel both list Colorado as the sole favorite at +800. DraftKings also has the same odds for the Avalanche, but it also lists the Boston Bruins at +800.
The Bruins set NHL regular-season records for most points (135) and most wins (65) before they were eliminated by Florida in seven games during the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Seattle Kraken knocked out the Avalanche in Game 7 of a Western Conference opening-round series.
BetMGM lists the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs as the co-second choices at +1000, followed by the Bruins at +1100. The Golden Knights are posted at +1200 at BetMGM, while FanDuel and DraftKings both have Vegas at +1300.
DraftKings, after Colorado and Boston, has Toronto at +900 and the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes both at +1200.
FanDuel’s list is topped by the Avalanche, then the Maple Leafs and Oilers (both +1100) and the Golden Knights, Bruins, Devils, Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning (all at +1300).
The Anaheim Ducks are the biggest longshot at both FanDuel (+15000) and BetMGM (+20000). DraftKings has five teams tied for the longest odds, +25000: the Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes.
In the immediate aftermath of last year’s finals, the Avalanche were installed as +450 favorites by BetMGM. The Panthers were the fourth favorite at +1000, and the Golden Knights were sixth favorite at +1400.
–Field Level Media
