Bruins, Avalanche Co-Favorites in NHL Futures
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A Cinderella story that fell just short in 2018 has come to fruition five years later. In existence for a mere six seasons, the Vegas Golden Knights - who reached the Stanley Cup final in their inaugural season - went one step further this year, capturing the first championship in franchise history with a 4-1 series victory over the Florida Panthers.
Vegas put the finishing touches on its storybook run with a dominant win at home in Game 5.
Already looking toward 2024, oddsmakers are not terribly bullish on the Golden Knights being able to repeat. Vegas is only tied for the eighth-best odds to win the 2024 Stanley Cup, with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche co-favored at +800.
2024 Stanley Cup Odds
A pair of Canadian teams - the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers - sit third and fourth at +900 and +1000, respectively. Both Toronto and Edmonton were ousted in the second round of the 2023 playoffs by the eventual conference champions (Florida in the East; Vegas in the West).
The Stanley Cup drought for Canadian teams reached 29 seasons this past year, with the 1993 Montreal Canadiens remaining the last team to bring the cup north of the border. (The Cup was not awarded in 2005 due to a lockout.) Canadian teams have lost in the Stanley Cup final six times since the Habs' 1993 championship.
Will NHL Free Agency Shift the Betting Landscape?
The 2023 offseason is not a banner year for free agents. The highest-scoring player set to become an unrestricted free agent is Tampa Bay's Alex Killorn (64 points in 82 games).
Boston's perennial Selke candidate Patrice Bergeron (58 points in 78 games) is also a UFA this summer, but all reports suggest that the 37-year-old lifelong Bruin is either going to re-up in Beantown or retire.
Former Hart Trophy-winner Patrick Kane, now 34, is the most-prominent name on the UFA list. Kane was traded from Chicago, where he spent his first 15 seasons, to the New York Rangers at the 2023 trade deadline. There does not appear to be a leader-in-the-clubhouse, so to speak, to acquire Kane this summer. The two-time Stanley Cup-winner underwent hip surgery after the Rangers bowed out of the playoffs and is likely to be sidelined at the start of next season.
Fellow Ranger and deadline acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko is also a UFA.
The biggest potential loss for the reigning champions is winger Ivan Barbashev. A deadline acquisition from St Louis, Barbashev spent much of the postseason on Vegas' top line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault, recording 17 points in 22 games.
Sportsbooks Bullish on Flames, Down on Kraken
The Calgary Flames are the top team in the odds that did not make the 2023 NHL playoffs. At +2000, the Flames find themselves ahead of multiple teams that made the postseason last year, including: the Minnesota Wild (+3000), Seattle Kraken (+4000), New York Islanders (+5000), and Winnipeg Jets (+6000).
Seattle is by far the longest team on the board that won a postseason series in the 2023 playoffs. The other seven teams that advance to the second round are all +1600 or shorter to win the 2024 Stanley Cup.
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