With the Stanley Cup headed to Washington for the first time in the 44-year history of the Capitals, the book is officially closed on the 2017-18 NHL season. So now we can begin setting our sights on next year, and that means the oddsmakers in Las Vegas today put together a list of favorites for next year's championship.
And the Bruins are listed by Bovada as one of the big favorites to win the 2019 Stanley Cup after going out in the second round of this spring’s playoffs.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the overall favorites to win the Cup next season with 9-to-1 odds, according to Bovada, but the Bruins are one of four teams on the next tier of favorites at 10-to-1.
The Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets are all sitting at 10-to-1, with the reigning Cup champ Capitals at 14-to-1.
So expectations are high for a Boston team that’s going to return most of its incumbent players along with another wave of young prospects expected to add to a roster that piled up 112 points in 2017-18. While it's clear there are a couple of areas on the B’s roster (left side defense, second line right wing) that need improvement, it's also clear this is a team bursting with talent, young and old, across the board.
At the other end of the board, the Ottawa Senators are dead last with 100-to-1 odds to win the Cup next season as they deal with ownership issues, and a potentially acrimonious situation with Erik Karlsson that could end with the Senators trading away their franchise defenseman.