Odds Are, Kraken Fans Won't Like These Odds

Kraken Remain A Great Bet For Franchise Owners

The Seattle Kraken's better-than-predicted 2022-23 season has not made believers of the oddsmakers at BetMGM.

In the 32-team NHL, Seattle is given the 17th-best odds of winning the Stanley Cup. They're listed at +4000, the same as the Ottawa Senators - who finished 14 points behind Seattle in league standings, and didn't make the playoffs.

("+4000" means a person who bet $100 would win $4,000 if the Kraken were to win the Cup. I am not suggesting you do this, or place a bet on any team or game.)

There are four co-favorites to become champion at +900, one from each division: the Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Avalanche, and Oilers. Edmonton, by this reasoning, is favored at +200 to win the Pacific Division. (See chart at right.)

Also from Seattle's division, the defending champion Golden Knights are +1200 to go back-to-back.

The two longest of NHL longshots are Pacific Division teams, too. The Ducks and Sharks both come in at +25000.

Of last year's 16 playoff teams, only two are listed with longer championship odds than the Kraken, the Islanders (+5000) and Jets (+6600). Three non-playoff teams - the Flames, Penguins, and Sabres - are given a greater chance than Seattle.

Now, If you want to discuss really big money, may I point you back to the 2022 Forbes.com list of NHL franchise values.

The most recent annual "Business of Hockey" list, published last December, estimated the Seattle Kraken to be worth $1.05 billion.

Here's how impressive that is: the figure is 10th highest in the league, represents a 20% increase over a year earlier, and puts the Kraken at #5 among non-Original Six franchises.

The Forbes valuations are calculated by meshing and weighing a variety of metrics - which, according to the publisher of The Hockey News, completely misses the point.

In a 2020 opinion column, W. Graeme Roustan called the Forbes valuations, "Some of the best fiction I have ever read." Roustan maintains that only one metric matters: what a buyer is willing to pay. By that measure, some of the dollar figures assigned are "quite insulting."

Roustan challenged a hypothetical team buyer to try negotiating, using the Forbes valuations. "Go ahead, call and make those offers and see what they say after the laughter on the other end of the phone subsides."

So, good news, Kraken owners David Bonderman, Samantha Holloway, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tod Leiweke, Marshawn Lynch, Macklemore, et. al. Your franchise is probably worth a whole lot more than $1.05 billion - not that any of you were planning on selling.