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Bookmakers Give Seattle Kraken Better Chance To Win Stanley Cup Than Many Established NHL Teams

James Murphy
by in NHL on
  • The expansion Seattle Kraken will begin play with the 2021-2022 season.
  • They’ll play the NHL’s previous most recent expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, in their opening game.
  • Most NHL futures odds give the Kraken a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup than many established teams.

In theory, there shouldn’t be too much pressure involved with being an expansion team in a professional sports league. Everything–the organization, coaching staff and in some cases the arena itself–is being built from scratch. Players are obtained via an expansion draft and are often castoffs from other teams. These players, combined with amateur draftees and free agents comprise the opening roster. Historically, the benchmark for success by expansion teams in every professional sport has been extremely low.

The Vegas Golden Knights came into the NHL in 2017 and pretty much ‘flipped the script’ when it came to what an expansion team could accomplish. They finished the regular season atop the Pacific Division with a record of 51-24-7. They played before a packed house of extremely enthusiastic fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Most significantly, they shocked the world in the playoffs by reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Although they would lose in six games to the Washington Capitals just making the playoffs–let alone advancing to play for the Stanley Cup–was considered outside of the realm of possibility just nine months earlier.

One result of the Golden Knights’ first year success is that the benchmark expectations for expansion teams have gone through the roof. The first team to experience this dynamic will be the NHL’s latest team, the Seattle Kraken. From a reasonable perspective, no one expects the Kraken to reach the Stanley Cup finals this year and they’ll be a longshot to even make the playoffs. Even so, the Golden Knights’ success in their debut season now informs the Kraken fanbase that no matter how remote, the possibility to reprise their first year performance is still there.

The Kraken began to stock their roster via the expansion draft on Wednesday night and by most accounts pulled together the foundation of a viable team. It’s one thing for NHL analysts to say that the Kraken did a good job but another thing entirely for someone to ‘put their money where their mouth is’. That has also started to occur as the Seattle team’s NHL futures betting odds to win the Stanley Cup have dropped significantly since the expansion draft was completed.

Before the expansion draft, the Kraken were lumped together with the other doormats of the NHL and given a negligible chance to win the Stanley Cup. On July 6, we reported on the opening NHL futures odds market at BetOnline.ag and the Kraken were right at the bottom with six other teams:

2021-2022 STANLEY CUP CHAMPION (ODDS FROM BETONLINE.AG AS OF JULY 6, 2021)

(bottom six teams)

Anaheim Ducks                          +10000
Buffalo Sabres +10000
Columbus Blue Jackets +10000
Detroit Red Wings +10000
New Jersey Devils +10000
Seattle Kraken +10000

Since the expansion draft, the Kraken’s price has plummeted. While the specific price varies from one sportsbook to another here are a few examples starting with BetOnline.ag. The Kraken are one of four teams priced at +2500 putting them ahead of 19 established franchises:

2021-2022 STANLEY CUP CHAMPION (ODDS FROM BETONLINE.AG AS OF JULY 22, 2021)

Edmonton Oilers                        +2500
Montreal Canadiens                     +2500
Pittsburgh Penguins                    +2500
Seattle Kraken                         +2500
St. Louis Blues                        +2800
Washington Capitals                    +2800
Dallas Stars                           +3300
Philadelphia Flyers                    +3300
Nashville Predators                    +4000
Winnipeg Jets                          +4000
Calgary Flames                         +5000
Chicago Blackhawks                     +5000
Vancouver Canucks                      +5000
Los Angeles Kings                      +6600
Arizona Coyotes                        +7500
Ottawa Senators                        +8000
San Jose Sharks                        +8000
Anaheim Ducks                          +10000
Buffalo Sabres                         +10000
Columbus Blue Jackets                  +10000
Detroit Red Wings                      +10000
New Jersey Devils                      +10000

Similar markets can be found at other sportsbooks such as Pointsbet Colorado where the Kraken are one of four teams at +4000 ahead of 12 established teams:

2021-2022 STANLEY CUP CHAMPION (ODDS FROM POINTSBET COLORADO AS OF JULY 22, 2021)

Calgary Flames                         +4000
Winnipeg Jets                          +4000
St. Louis Blues                        +4000
Seattle Kraken                         +4000
Nashville Predators                    +5000
Los Angeles Kings                      +6000
Vancouver Canucks                      +6600
Chicago Blackhawks                     +8000
San Jose Sharks                        +9000
New Jersey Devils                      +10000
Arizona Coyotes                        +10000
Ottawa Senators                        +10000
Columbus Blue Jackets                  +10000
Anaheim Ducks                          +10000
Detroit Red Wings                      +20000
Buffalo Sabres                         +20000

From Betfred Sports in Colorado, where Seattle is one of four teams at +5000 ahead of 11 established franchises:

2021-2022 STANLEY CUP CHAMPION (ODDS FROM BETFRED SPORTS COLORADO AS OF JULY 22, 2021)

Calgary Flames                         +5000
Dallas Stars                           +5000
Nashville Predators                    +5000
Seattle Kraken                         +5000
Vancouver Canucks                      +6600
Los Angeles Kings                      +7000
Chicago Blackhawks                     +8000
San Jose Sharks                        +8000
Anaheim Ducks                          +10000
Columbus Blue Jackets                  +10000
New Jersey Devils                      +10000
Ottawa Senators                        +10000
Arizona Coyotes                        +10000
Detroit Red Wings                      +15000
Buffalo Sabres                         +20000

Other sportsbooks have seen less of a bounce such as Elite Sportsbook in Iowa/Colorado. There the Kraken are at +7500 along with the Anaheim Ducks ahead of only 6 teams:

2021-2022 STANLEY CUP CHAMPION (ODDS FROM ELITE SPORTSBOOK AS OF JULY 22, 2021)

Anaheim Ducks                          +7500
Seattle Kraken                         +7500
Columbus Blue Jackets                  +10000
Arizona Coyotes                        +12500
New Jersey Devils                      +12500
Ottawa Senators                        +12500
Detroit Red Wings                      +20000
Buffalo Sabres                         +25000

This demonstrates that futures prices can vary widely from one sportsbook to another, which is why you want to shop around. As far as the Kraken, there are likely some bettors wanting to take a flyer on the expansion teams based on what happened with Vegas in 2017-2018. There are also obviously some sportsbooks who are going to make certain that they aren’t facing a potential 7 or 8 figure liability like they were during the Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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