Oddsmaker: Golden Knights’ ‘window wide open to win Stanley Cup’

The Florida Panthers are trying to become the first team to win three straight Stanley Cups since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980 to 1983.

The Edmonton Oilers are gunning for their third consecutive Western Conference crown.

Oddsmakers give the Golden Knights a good chance to end the title runs of both teams this season. The Knights are 8-1 co-favorites at the Westgate SuperBook to win the Stanley Cup with the Oilers, Panthers, Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes.

“Their window is definitely wide open to win a Cup,” Westgate vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “Obviously, it takes a lot of luck and bounces of the puck. But there’s no reason why this team can’t contend for a Cup this year.

“They have everything in place.”

The Knights, who were eliminated by Edmonton in five games in the second round of the NHL playoffs last season, are the +375 co-favorites with the Oilers at Circa Sports to win the West. The Knights bolstered their chances when they acquired star right wing Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs this offseason.

“I think (the Knights) are the best team in the Western Conference,” Circa sportsbook manager Jeff Davis said. “It’s close. I think Vegas, Edmonton, Colorado and Dallas are clearly the best of the West. That’s really the top four and kind of a gap to everyone else.

“Vegas adding Marner is just a massive add for them. They’re just really deep and are going to be really difficult to deal with for a lot of the teams in the league.”

The Knights are the +140 favorites at the Westgate to win the Pacific Division and the Oilers are the +175 second choice. The Kings are the +450 third pick.

“Someone could convince me that the Oilers should be small favorites over the Knights, and I wouldn’t argue it,” Davis said. “But I think those two teams are leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else in that division.

“I think the Kings are going to take a little step back.”

The Knights won the division last season with a 50-22-10 record and finished second in the West with 110 points, behind only the Winnipeg Jets (116).

The Hurricanes have the highest regular-season point total at the Westgate at 106½. The Knights are next at 105½, followed by the Avalanche (104½), Oilers (103½), Dallas Stars (103½), Tampa Bay Lightning (102½) and Maple Leafs (100½).

Lightning strikes

While Florida and Carolina have better odds to win it all, Davis rates the Lightning higher.

“Tampa Bay, top to bottom, is probably the best team,” he said. “Tampa and Vegas are actually 1-2 for me in the power rankings.”

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is expected to miss the regular season and potentially the playoffs after undergoing surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee. Florida is also expected to be without right wing Matthew Tkachuk through the end of 2025 while he recovers from surgery to repair a torn abductor muscle.

“Losing Barkov is just a devastating loss for them,” Salmons said. “To win three (Cups) in a row without your captain just seems like an impossible task. They’ve been a scrappy team, but it’s going to be difficult. Everybody’s gunning for them.

“That could really open up a window for Tampa this year. They’ve been so good in the regular season but their bugaboo is they can’t beat Florida.”

King of the Hill

Knights goaltender Adin Hill is tied for the 21-1 seventh choice at Circa to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie. Davis said Hill might be a good bet to win the award. He’s available at 50-1 at Caesars.

“It seems you have to win a lot of games to be the Vezina winner. Given Vegas doesn’t really have a proven backup goalie, it kind of feels like Hill’s going to get the brunt of the starts,” Davis said. “The jury’s still out whether or not he can play 60, 65 games in a season. … But if he does, he figures to be up there in the league lead with wins and that’s a big deal when it comes to these guys voting for the Vezina.”

Davis said he wagered on Hill, who went 32-13-5 last season, to go over 28½ wins. His total at Caesars is 27½ (over-130).

“If he stays healthy, that will win comfortably, I feel,” Davis said. “The risk is he has to stay healthy. He hasn’t played more than 50 games.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.