Golden Knights aren’t favored to repeat as Stanley Cup champions

Winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships is difficult in the salary cap era of the NHL, with only Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay accomplishing the feat since 2005.

That helps explain why the Golden Knights are not favored at Las Vegas sportsbooks to repeat.

The Knights enter the season with the fourth-shortest odds at Circa sportsbook to win the Stanley Cup and sixth-best odds at the Westgate SuperBook.

“They’re a good team. They’re a playoff team,” Circa sportsbook manager Jeff Davis said. “They’re still popular at the window, and now that they’ve won the Stanley Cup there’s not going to be any shortage of Golden Knights recreational money, at least through the first four to six weeks of the season.”

Circa saw a wave of early public money on the Knights, and they are currently +950 to win the title after being the 9-1 favorite in June.

Carolina is the current favorite at Circa at +775, followed by Colorado at 8-1 and Edmonton at +825.

The SuperBook lists the Knights at 12-1 to win the Stanley Cup. They were as low as 10-1 in June after capturing the franchise’s first title by defeating Florida in five games.

Carolina and Colorado are the 8-1 co-favorites at the SuperBook.

“Thirty-three percent of our handle to win the Stanley Cup is on the Knights so far,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “On paper, they essentially have everything back. There’s no reason not to expect them to be a top three or four seed in the West again.”

The Knights have the second-highest regular-season point total in the Pacific Division behind Edmonton.

At Circa, the Knights have the seventh-highest point total overall on the board at 103. That number opened at 97½ points in August, and the market adjusted upward as sharp bettors pounded the large middle that was available.

The Hurricanes have the highest total (108½) at Circa, while the Oilers have the highest total in the Western Conference at 106½. The Avalanche were down to 105½ points after opening as the conference’s highest total at 107½.

In the betting market for the team to finish with the most regular-season points, the Knights have more tickets written than any other team by a wide margin, according to Davis.

The Knights at 102½ points are tied with the New York Rangers for the seventh-highest point total at the SuperBook.

Edmonton has the highest total in the Pacific Division at 106½ points, and the Avalanche have the highest total in the Western Conference at 107½. The SuperBook lists the Hurricanes at 108½ points with the highest total on the board.

“It’s uncharted territory now that they’re coming back as defending champions,” Salmons said. “You just never know how a team plays like that. Sometimes a team takes the challenge and tries to go all-out in the regular season or sometimes they relax and just try to get into the playoffs and go from there.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.