Golden Knights Face High Expectations, Scrutiny from Nevada Sportsbooks

The Vegas Golden Knights open their tenth NHL season as +1000 favorites to win the Stanley Cup at Caesars Sportsbook.

The team is second in the Western Conference points race at +400, behind the Colorado Avalanche at +270, and is heavily favored to make the playoffs at -600.

Jeff Davis, director of risk at Circa Sports, said the sportsbook currently has a small liability on the Golden Knights.

"It is important to note that at this time of the season, the amount of money that has been written into the pool is very small relative to how much will be written by the time the Stanley Cup Final arrives," he said.

"How we stand now is unlikely to be how we stand in June. Not just on the Golden Knights, but on all teams."

Vegas has made the playoffs eight times in nine seasons, leading to natural betting interest.

Davis said the challenge when pricing them is separating reputation from the current team, which has no obvious replacement for the offence lost when leading scorer Pavel Dorofeyev was traded to the New York Rangers in June.

The team hopes new signing Victor Olofsson, plus more offence from the defence and Jack Eichel, will help replace Dorofeyev’s 37 goals.

"Distinguishing between recreational versus sharp action is a learned skill as a bookmaker," said Davis.

"This applies to all sports/teams, not just the Golden Knights."

Carter Hart enters the season as the starting goaltender after playing all 22 playoff games last spring.

The roster’s average age is 29.3, compared with the league average of 27.5, and veterans Mark Stone and William Karlsson missed significant time last season.

"There is no difference in pricing the Golden Knights relative to any other teams," said Davis.

"We prefer to price all teams as we deem ‘correct.’ We will move the prices around throughout the season based on a combination of how teams are faring and what our overall win/loss record is for each team."

Bob Scucci, vice president of Race and Sports Operations at Boyd Gaming Corp., said they adjust futures prices from last season’s closing numbers and evaluate off-season moves.

"We look at off-season acquisitions not only of the Vegas Golden Knights but also of the top teams in the NHL to see who made the best moves," he said.

"Ultimately, money dictates how we move the lines after posting the opening price."

Scucci said the Golden Knights are 11-1 at Boyd and are the book’s fourth-biggest liability behind the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers.

"Currently, our biggest liability is on the Montreal Canadiens who opened at 30-1 and are down to 22-1," said Scucci.

"I understand the money coming in on them as they went deep into the playoffs last year, but we feel the price is fair."

Ryan Craig takes over as head coach as the team prepares to open the season against the Chicago Blackhawks.