2023 Stanley Cup: Panthers’ odds to upset Golden Knights are decent

If you were expecting to get some incredible long-shot odds on a bet for the Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup Final, you were in for a rude awakening Monday after the Vegas Golden Knights beat Dallas to set up what looks like a mismatch on paper.

Vegas did, after all, finish the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference and 19 more points in the standings than Florida, which finished as the eighth and final seed in the East.

However, oddsmakers give Florida a much better chance to pull off the upset than bettors might have expected. Though Vegas is favored, its -130 odds at DraftKings are only slightly better than Florida’s +110 odds. Florida also has -190 odds to cover +1.5 games.

In other words, if the Panthers don’t win, they’re expected to play a competitive series at the very least.

Correct series score odds favor the Golden Knights to get it done in seven games at +425. But the next most likely outcome is a Panthers win in six games at +475.

In contract, the eighth-seeded Miami Heat only have +300 odds to win the NBA Finals in any number of games over the the top-seeded Denver Nuggets.

The Panthers are getting a little more respect than the Heat, and they’ve more than earned it.

Since losing three of their first four games of the playoffs, the Panthers have won 11 of their last 12, including a 3-1 comeback against the top-seeded Boston Bruins and a sweep of the second-seeded Carolina Hurricanes.

Grab Your FanDuel Promo Code Offer Now