The odds for the 2024 Stanley Cup Winner are out! Let's dive in.
The parade has happened. The beer and champagne were aplenty. With the Vegas Golden Knights winning the 2023 Stanley Cup, we already have odds for next year. Of course, it is entirely too early to be placing bets. Teams change a lot over the course of the off-season, specifically during the free agency period.
There are a few teams looking to add players to become contenders, a few teams looking to take a step towards making the playoffs and many more who need to shed salary. There are a lot of moving pieces and while the odds are available, I suspect they will change quite a few times heading into next season.
Here are BetMGM's odds for the 2023-2024 Stanley Cup:
The Colorado Avalanche are favoured to win, with the Edmonton Oilers closely behind. This makes sense given the star power on both teams and the expected improvements coming to Edmonton's forward core.
The Avalanche will have to hope Gabe Landeskog can return to form after a devastating leg injury. There is no guarantee that happens and they are likely to lose bottom-6 staple, JT Compher as well. Colorado's top heavy roster was exposed in the 2023 playoffs, as their bottom-6 could not handle the depth of the Seattle Kraken. There is little value on this line and the Avalanche may have to rethink their roster construction where the forwards are concerned.
The Carolina Hurricanes are intriguing at +1200. They will almost certainly battle the New Jersey Devils all season for top spot in the Metropolitan. The Hurricanes looked really good this year until they ran into a hot goalie. That can happen in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference final was a lot closer than the series score shows and with savvy moves, Rod Brind'Amour should have his team challenging to be the top team in the East next season.
The Leafs are in a conundrum and no one knows what new general manager Brad Treliving will do. Free agency will be telling. The Leafs and Panthers are set up to be the top dogs in the Atlantic next year, as Tampa Bay and Boston have aging cores and salary cap issues. I wouldn't be surprised if Tampa Bay made a run and there is real value at +1400, especially with Kucherov, Point, Hedman and Vasilevskiy suiting up. It could be their last run at a Stanley Cup with this core before a retool is needed.
It is not the time to place a futures bet on the Stanley Cup until we know who signs where and who is traded. However, you can expect the usual suspects to be in contention next year. The most interesting bets are who will and won't make the playoffs. Once those lines come out, I suspect we will some movement on the Stanley Cup odds, as well.