Did oddsmakers curse Florida's title defense?
The Florida Panthers haven’t been a champion for a full day yet and they’re already favored to do it again in 2025.
Odds for next year’s Stanley Cup Final are up at BetMGM, and the champs sit at the top of the pecking order at +900. The gap between No. 1 and No. 7 isn’t very large, though.
In fact, the team with the seventh-best odds is the team Florida beat in this year’s conference finals, the New York Rangers, who are tied with the New Jersey Devils at +1300.
Between those teams and Florida are the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and runner-up Edmonton Oilers at +1000 each, the Carolina Hurricanes at +1100 and the Vegas Golden Knights at +1200. The Toronto Maple Leafs at +1600 are the one other team with odds shorter than 20-1.
For the Panthers, leading the pack — and by such a small margin — is probably not a good sign. Only four of the last 15 post-Cup favorites went on to win the following year’s title. And they all had odds shorter than Florida’s +900, according to Sports Odds History data.
