It wasn’t long ago that the thought of betting the Golden Knights to win anything more than the next game was considered a sucker bet. 50:1 to win the division, 100:1 to win the conference, and at a time the Golden Knights went off at as high as 500:1 to win the Stanley Cup. They cashed a bunch (wish it was all) of those tickets and this year Vegas sportsbooks have wised up.
William Hill has had futures listed for the Final (VGK +900) and for both conferences (VGK +450) for a while, but now they’ve recently released the odds for each team to win their respective divisions, and to no one’s surprise, the Golden Knights aren’t longshots this time around.
Pacific Division
Golden Knights +260
Sharks +300
Ducks +400
Kings +400
Oilers +600
Flames +600
Coyotes +5000
Canucks +7500
Oddly enough, the Golden Knights do not have the highest season point total in the division. Instead, they come in third behind the Sharks and Ducks and tied with the Kings.
Ducks – 97.5
Sharks – 97.5
Golden Knights – 95.5
Kings – 95.5
Flames – 93.5
Oilers – 90.5
Coyotes – 79.5
Canucks – 76.5
Remember, a lot of these numbers have to do with betting action rather than the actual belief of a bookmaker. However, it’s surprising to see such disparities between the season point totals and the division futures.
On one hand, the Golden Knights are the favorites to win the division. On the other, they are projected to be right at the playoff points cut line with 95.5 points.
Every good gambler knows, when you see numbers like that, something is amiss. Unfortunately, I’m not a good gambler, so I’m not sure what it is.
Here are the rest of the divisions and their respective season point totals. All wagers are available now at William Hill sportsbooks in the state of Nevada and on the William Hill Mobile Sports App.
Central Division
Predators +130
Jets +160
Wild +650
Stars +850
Blues +1200
Avalanche +1500
Blackhawks +2000
Predators – 106.5
Jets – 105.5
Wild – 95.5
Stars – 94.5
Blues – 94.5
Avalanche – 91.5
Blackhawks – 86.5
Atlantic Division
Lightning +125
Maple Leafs +180
Bruins +240
Panthers +1400
Canadiens +3000
Sabres +4000
Red Wings +6000
Senators +10000
Lightning – 107.5
Maple Leafs – 105.5
Bruins – 103.5
Panthers – 93.5
Canadiens – 81.5
Sabres – 78.5
Red Wings – 76.5
Senators – 71.5
Metropolitan Division
Penguins +160
Capitals +200
Flyers +400
Blue Jackets +450
Devils +1200
Rangers +3000
Hurricanes +5000
Islanders +5000
Penguins – 102.5
Capitals – 100.5
Flyers – 97.5
Blue Jackets – 96.5
Devils – 92.5
Rangers – 77.5
Hurricanes – 81.5
Islanders – 79.5
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BL
Both the Blues and Knights point totals for the season seem low. Does the gambling public have something against Perron?
Joking aside, though, seems the Pacific is a crapshoot in many people’s minds. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Coyotes ahead of the Kings and Ducks. And the ‘Days of Our Lives’ saga with Mr Kane in SJ may be entertaining.
As for the Blues, they added a TON of talent in the offseason. How is their point total the same as what they actually scored last year? This is the one I might saunter into the William Hill app for.
Willy Andara
I will try to explain the odds situation. The bettor for the points is often a “sharp” as the average Joe doesn’t want to make a bet for 8 months to win about even money. The sharps don’t bet division odds because the house takes too much out of that prop, better to bet points.
So the lower division odds teams are books just recognizing they will get more Knights money than deserved because they are the local team. Sharks get more casual money than the Ducks too since fewer Ducks fans any of thr divisions teams, hence that difference in odds too. Knowing who will likely get bet and that casual bettors don’t care about getting a great price they lower the odds and force people to in essence pay up.