Golden Knights Future Odds: Knights Took Care of Biz & Never A Doubt

Foley, Golden Knights Get First Stanley Cup in Sixth Season

June 14, 2023 166 3 minutes readNHL Picks & Parlays

Vegas Uknights The Realm — Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP

VGK Uneasy Heading Into 22-23 Season
Books Nailed Postseason Yes/No Playoffs Again
Odds Didn’t Show Vegas Respect Until They Had To

Now that we’ve put the 2022-23 season to bed, let’s look at the evolution of the Golden Knights season-long future odds for the champions. We’ll be back to analyzing NHL matchups in the Fall, but before we get back to making daily NHL picks, it’s important to know why the Golden Knights are the champions and what part of the season they hit the accelerator so we may be able to identify next years champion as early as possible.

VGK Uneasy Heading Into 22-23 Season

We remember talking to a Las Vegas bookmaker after the Golden Knights failed to make the postseason in 21-22. He said that when the new future odds come out, it will be the first time since their first season that Vegas would have double-digit odds to win the Stanley Cup.

That proved to be true when the Knights were listed as high as +1800 to win the Cup, most were around +1200. That was the largest odds to cash since the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues who opened +1250. If you use the +1800 we have to go back to the 2011-12 season when the Los Angeles Kings cashed a Stanley Cup futures ticket after opening +2200.

Vegas was fresh off a season where they missed the postseason for the first time in their five-year existence, after coming off a season where injuries were the norm. Even in a season where more than half the team spent significant time in the AHL, the Knights missed the postseason by just three points.

Some would suggest that this was the adversity they had to go through to become champions. We continue with our Golden Knights future odds review by pinpointing when the perception and odds of the book changed.

Books Nailed Postseason Yes/No Playoffs Again

Heading into the NHL season, we knew the Vegas Golden Knights were not going to miss the postseason if they stayed healthy. The books were right on with 23 of the 32 teams that were favored to make the postseason proving them right.

Vegas was -250 to get into the postseason so many thought that their one-year absence was a fluke, especially after starting the season 13-2. That start under veteran head coach Bruce Cassidy forced the books started to make their move with the number after taking Golden Knights wagers in early December. The future price was slashed to +900, still not one of the favorites but a team that definitely had the attention of the casinos and the betting public but it didn’t last.

In the month of December and January, the team played .500 hockey, losing bettors 372 units. The confidence that once blazed in the hearts of bettors for the Golden Knights had been doused, and sports books pushed VGK’s future odds up to +1200 at the All-Star Break. The Golden Knights were right where they wanted to be at that point, in first place but still under the radar. So when did bookmakers adjust the Golden Knights future odds for good?

Odds Didn’t Show Vegas Respect Until They Had To

From the first of March, through the end of the regular season, the best future odds to be found were around +1200 despite the fact that Vegas went on a 16-6 run to win the Pacific Division. If you want to be honest, it was the Boston Bruins who allowed the Knights odds to offer value because of the book’s liability with the perceived best team in the league after putting up 135 points.

You could say the Florida Panthers helped the Golden Knights out twice after clawing back from a 3-1 first-round deficit to knock off the Stanley Cup favorites. After that happened, Vegas’ future odds fell from +1200 to +600. They were still just the third choice to win because most of the public gravitated over to Connor McDavid and the Oilers (+375) who had the easier path to the Cup.

Toronto was +350 with the Panthers and Hurricanes looming. It wasn’t until the Knights (+375) handled Edmonton in the conference semis did the books make them the conference favorite, second only to Carolina (+350). One game settled that. VGK beat Edmonton in game one, while the Panthers beat Carolina and the Knights were never the underdog again.

Moving on to next season, it may be worth a look at some of the teams that just missed the postseason for various reasons, but have that playoff pedigree in their past. Teams like Calgary Flames (+3200), Nashville Predators (+5000), and Pittsburgh Penguins (+3500) fit that narrative. We hope you enjoyed this past season, and it won’t be long before we’ll pick up our NHL future odds conversation when camp opens back up in September.