The Vegas oddsmakers don’t think the Boston Bruins are one of the heavy favorites to win a Stanley Cup next season, and that’s probably not a huge surprise for anybody around the Black and Gold scene. But the Bruins have actually lost ground from last season, according to Bovada as Boston sits at 33-to-1 odds to win the Cup next season after things were decided between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators on Sunday night.
The Bruins were at 25-to-1 odds to win the Cup at this time a year ago, and stand with the same odds entering the offseason as a couple of fellow playoff teams, the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators. It feels a bit odd for the Bruins to have longer odds next season after qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, and doing so while introducing exciting young players like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo into the lineup while reloading their NHL roster.
But then again the Vegas numbers guys have the Tampa Bay Lightning at 12-to-1 to win the Cup next season, and that means Vegas thinks there will be at least an Eastern team or two hops past the B's next season.
Not surprisingly, the reigning Cup champ Pittsburgh Penguins are the Vegas favorites to win it all again at 9-to-1 odds to hoist the Cup at the end of the 2017-18 season.
The Penguins defeated the Nashville Predators in six games and became the first NHL team in the salary cap era to win back-to-back titles with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin driving the bus for the Pens in a big, big way. Here are the complete odds for all 31 NHL teams with the Vegas Golden Knights included as a 150-to-1 longest-of-longshots as an NHL expansion team joining the mix out West next season after this month’s expansion draft:
Pittsburgh Penguins 9/1
Chicago Blackhawks 12/1
Edmonton Oilers 12/1
Tampa Bay Lightning 12/1
Washington Capitals 12/1
Anaheim Ducks 14/1
Nashville Predators 14/1
Dallas Stars 16/1
Minnesota Wild 16/1
Montreal Canadiens 16/1
New York Rangers 16/1
Toronto Maple Leafs 16/1
Los Angeles Kings 18/1
Columbus Blue Jackets 20/1
San Jose Sharks 22/1
St. Louis Blues 28/1
Boston Bruins 33/1
Calgary Flames 33/1
Ottawa Senators 33/1
Florida Panthers 40/1
New York Islanders 40/1
Philadelphia Flyers 40/1
Winnipeg Jets 40/1
Arizona Coyotes 66/1
Buffalo Sabres 66/1
Carolina Hurricanes 66/1
Detroit Red Wings 66/1
Colorado Avalanche 75/1
New Jersey Devils 75/1
Vancouver Canucks 75/1
Las Vegas Golden Knights 150/1