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The Golden Knights’ betting odds of reaching the Stanley Cup final aren’t very different than they were last year

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Photo: John Locher / AP Photo

Betting odds reflect the notion that, going into the playoffs, this year’s Vegas Golden Knights’ team is a slight step above the one that advanced to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

The Golden Knights are listed as co-favorites with the Calgary Flames to win the Western Conference at a price of 4-to-1 at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook. At this same time last year, Vegas was 9-to-2 to reach the Stanley Cup Final—sitting behind both the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets.

The Golden Knights enter the postseason with 10-to-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year. Calculating the prices for every team—and adjusting for the house’s hold percentage—the Golden Knights’ probabilities fall to 15 percent to win the Western Conference and 7 percent to hoist the Stanley Cup.

The Golden Knights will likely need to win what amounts to three straight coin flips to play into June once again. The first-round series with San Jose opened as a straight pick ’em before Vegas moved to a small minus-115 (risking $1.15 to win $1) favorite.

Series odds would likely fall in the same range for a potential second-round showdown with Pacific Division champion Calgary, along with any prospective pairing with Nashville, Winnipeg or St. Louis in the conference finals. The Golden Knights were favorites of minus-125 or more in each of their first two series last year, but for that to be the case at any time this postseason, they’ll probably need an unforeseen upset—like Colorado knocking off Calgary as a 2-to-1 underdog.

Working in the Golden Knights’ favor, however, is the fact that they’re highly unlikely to come into any potential series as a plus-130 or higher underdog like they were against the Jets in last year’s Western Conference Finals.

Every path to the Stanley Cup is paved with roadblocks and parity, but the Golden Knights can rest easy knowing their route isn’t any more difficult than the one they navigated a year ago.

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Case Keefer

Case Keefer has spent more than a decade covering his passions at Greenspun Media Group. He's written about and supervised ...

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