Oddsmakers View Red Wings As Worse Than A Team With No Players

That the Colorado Avalanche are +500 favorites to win the Stanley Cup in 2021-22 probably won’t catch anyone by surprise. The Avs are a team that’s been on the cusp of greatness for a couple of years now.

Likewise, that the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres are the longest shots on the board at +20000 probably didn’t catch anyone off guard. After all, the Sabres and Red Wings have defined what it means to be an NHL bottom feeder in recent seasons.

Here’s one betting line that might be the cause of a double take, though. The Seattle Kraken are listed at +5000 to win the 2021-22 Stanley Cup title. That would be the expansion Seattle Kraken, a team that currently has zero NHL players on their roster. They likely won’t until the July 21 NHL Expansion Draft.

Kraken Already Better Than Red Wings?

Those charged with the task of establishing betting odds for the Stanley Cup appear confident in Seattle GM Ron Francis. They figure that the 30 players he selects during the expansion draft will instantly provide his club with a better chance to win the Cup than all the players currently at the disposal of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman.

meanwhile our mentions every day be like: pic.twitter.com/IfuZ2kw7Rv

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) July 8, 2021

Perhaps there’s a bit of recency bias at work here. In 2017-18 the expansion Vegas Golden Knights defied the odds by making a run all the way to the Stanley Cup final as a first-year expansion team.

Granted, neither team should be classified anywhere near what would be considered a legitimate contender. Seattle is given just a 2 percent probability of winning the Cup. The Wings are offered a 0.5 percent opportunity of lifting the Stanley Cup at the conclusion of next season.

Then again, if you truly believe in the Red Wings and the Yzerplan, opportunity is knocking. Maybe it’s time to take a leap of faith. Let’s say you bet $100 on the Red Wings to win the Cup. That wager would deliver a $20,000 profit if they were to come through and take the title.