Can the Golden Knights Clinch Back-To-Back Stanley Cups?
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Expansion sports franchises can be risky investments, with some taking years to enjoy any sort of success. This cannot be said of the Vegas Golden Knights who enjoyed a sensational Stanley Cup victory in the 2022/23 NHL season.
The Golden Knights became Las Vegas’s first major league franchise when they joined the NHL in 2017. With the Las Vegas metro area having a population of almost 3 million, and the city being widely regarded as America’s gambling capital, it has been a long time coming.
The Golden Knights had started strongly, finishing 3rd in the Pacific in their first season before coming first but missing out in the Conference Finals to the Dallas Stars the following year.
A Stanley Cup semifinal defeat in the 2020/21 season was as close as they got before last season’s 4-1 Stanley Cup win over the Florida Panthers.
2023-24 NHL Season Contenders
As we near the halfway point of the regular season, the divisions are beginning to take shape. The bookmakers already have their ideas of who they see winning each conference, and those they believe can go on to fight their way through the Stanley Cup Playoffs and lift the trophy this year.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights returned this season with a relatively settled roster. Only Reilly Smith moved on from the triumphant team that lifted the last Stanley Cup, and this team now has less pressure than a team chasing their first Cup victory.
Vegas has a 22-11-5 record at the time of writing, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. An 11-0-1 start had everyone thinking that last season’s form was set to carry on for this campaign too. However, they have since gone on an 11-11-4 streak and will be desperate for more consistency.
Two home matches against the Florida Panthers and the New York Islanders come before a trip to take on the Colorado Avalanche. The bookmakers have relatively even odds between the Golden Knights and the Panthers with both teams being priced at around 19/20. There is also a selection of other markets worth exploring for better value, including period wagers, puck lines, money lines, and live bets. (Source: https://www.techopedia.com/gambling/best-offshore-sportsbooks)
Colorado Avalanche
While the Vegas Golden Knights have last season’s experience to call back on, it is the Colorado Avalanche they aren’t the runaway bookmakers’ favorite to lift the Stanley Cup this season.
In fact, there is not much to pick between all the teams we are looking at today with odds of 10/1 being offered by at least one bookmaker for each.
The Colorado Avalanche the 2022 Stanley Cup Champions is one of the favorites to repeat the feat. Their 24-11-3 is similar to the Golden Knights’ record and Nathan MacKinnon has been instrumental in their success this season. 41 assists and 20 goals so far make good reading, and Valeri Nichushkin’s recent form of 9 goals and 6 assists in the previous 10 games make him a dangerous player.
New York Rangers
A recent 6-1 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes will have dampened the New Year spirits of the New York Rangers somewhat. They will be looking to get back to winning ways against the Chicago Blackhawks before they take on the Canadiens and Canucks.
A current record of 25-10-1 could have looked better had it not been for the Hurricane’s Pyotr Kochetkov who made an impressive 28 stops in the match. The Rangers will take some heart from Kreider and Panarin’s continued form.
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins ran out 4-1 winners against the CBJ Blue Jackets thanks to a dominant James van Riemsdyk performance that saw him pick up two assists and a goal.
They next travel to the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 23-7-6 record and a four-game win streak. David Pasttrnak’s 28 assists and 22 goals this season have been instrumental in his teams’ success and he is sure to be key to how they finish the season.
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars fell to a narrow defeat away at the Montreal Canadiens despite opening the scoring after just 11 seconds. Their next fixture against the Colorado Avalanche will be a big game and the Stars will hope to improve on their 22-10-4 record. Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson have been the big performers recently, and they will be looking to continue this form.