A Champion for 2017 hasn’t been crowned yet, but Vegas has already released its first set of odds for the 2018 Stanley Cup.

We still have a ways to go before the 2017-18 season begins. Nashville and Pittsburgh are duking it out in the Cup Final right now, 30 teams are going to have to navigate through an expansion draft, and then there’s the Entry Draft and Free Agent Frenzy, providing many opportunities for things to change.

But as it stands right now, the Edmonton Oilers have been given the second highest opening odds (10-1) in the NHL to win the 2018 Stanley Cup, with only the Penguins standing ahead of them.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The Golden Knights unsurprisingly have the lowest opening odds to win the Cup at 200/1. Like everyone in their first year of expansion, that team is going to be very bad.

Vegas doesn’t believe in the Predators. That’s strange, of course, because they’re in the Final right now and are going to have most of their team coming back next season. That said, the Preds did finish eighth in the West, and while we don’t view them as a Cinderella team at all, Vegas may think otherwise. Nashville comes in at 14/1, along with a handful of other teams we’ll touch on in a second.

The Penguins are yet again the team to beat. There’s no surprise there. They’ve rolled through the East yet again, dispatching the Blue Jackets in five games, the President’s Trophy Champion Capitals in seven, and the surprising Sens in seven, despite being broken down by injuries.

The Oilers are right up there in second with the Capitals, who are perennial favourites, and the Tampa Bay Lightning, which is interesting. Tampa missed the playoffs this year largely because of an injury to Steven Stamkos, but figure to be a contender again next season.

The Leafs and Habs are the next highest Canadian teams on the list, coming in at 14/1 along with a big group consisting of Nashville, Minnesota, Anaheim, Dallas, and the Rangers.

Vegas seems to think Ottawa’s playoff run that ended one win shy of the Final was a fluke, as they open with 1/30 odds, the same as the Flames who were easily brushed aside in four games by the Ducks in the first round this year.

At the bottom of actual NHL teams that exist right now are the Canucks, who open with 100/1 odds, tied with New Jersey, Colorado, and Detroit, which figures to be the league’s basement next season.

This spread looks very different than the one that came out last year. In June 2016, the Leafs had the lowest odds to win the 2017 Stanley Cup, opening at 66/1. Edmonton wasn’t much higher, coming in at 40/1 along with Calgary and Ottawa. Pittsburgh was at the top, as usual, and Nashville began at 18/1, so if you bet on the Preds and they come out on top, you could be in for a pretty penny.



