Avs open playoffs as Cup favorites amid tepid action on Florida teams

Field Level Media|published: Fri 18th April, 23:47 2025

NHL: St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche

Mar 29, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) takes a shot on net in the second period against the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Colorado tied for seventh in the NHL with 102 points during the regular season, but the Avalanche are opening the playoffs as the consensus favorites to win the 2025 Stanley Cup.

On the eve of playing host to Game 1 of a first-round series against the Dallas Stars -- who finished with 106 points during the regular season -- Colorado was being offered as the +750 Cup favorite by DraftKings and at +700 by BetMGM.

It helps that the Stars will be minus top goal-scorer Jason Robertson due to a lower-body injury sustained in the team's regular-season finale. Dallas has already been playing without top defenseman Miro Heiskanen (knee) and limps into the playoffs 0-5-2 in its past seven games.

By contrast, after retooling the roster throughout the season, Colorado has been gaining momentum since mid-February. That has led to the Avalanche being backed by the most total wagers (10.6 percent) and money (11.0) to win the Cup since opening at +1000 at BetMGM.

However, Colorado is not among the book's three biggest Cup liabilities.

The top honor in that regard would go to St. Louis, followed by Montreal and Dallas. With the Blues (+4000) and Canadiens (+8000) the two biggest longshots remaining, BetMGM is more nervous about the Avalanche.

It's the two Florida teams the book is pulling for currently. The defending champion Panthers have drawn a modest 6.3 percent of the money at +750 currently, while the Tampa Bay Lightning have been backed by just 2.8 percent of the money while moving from +2000 to +1100.

Tampa Bay finished tied with Colorado with 102 points during the regular season, while Florida was 11th with 98 points.

"The Panthers and Lightning are among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup but the public is ignoring them," BetMGM senior trader Matthew Rasp said. "BetMGM really wants the Stanley Cup to stay in Florida."

Winnipeg, which topped the league with 116 points while winning an NHL-best 56 games, opens the postseason at +1000 at both BetMGM and DraftKings -- the eighth-shortest Cup odds and tied for the sixth-shortest odds at the latter.

--Field Level Media