The pursuit of Lord Stanley’s Cup begins in earnest Wednesday night, when the puck drops in five of the eight playoff series. Sportsbooks in Nevada and offshore certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some of the 16 teams involved get bounced as early as possible, to alleviate futures book liability. Covers checks in with those oddsmakers on four teams they don’t want to win the Stanley Cup.
Among those weighing in: Jeff Stoneback, sportsbook manager at The Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip; Scott Kaminsky, director of sports at offshore book TheGreek.com; Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill US in Nevada; and Peter Childs, supervisor of risk management for offshore site Sportsbook.ag.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs had two dismal seasons heading into the 2016-17 campaign, with just 69 points last season and 68 in the 2014-15 season. That was more than enough reason to post Toronto with pretty long odds of hoisting the Cup this year.
“We opened them 60/1, the longest shot on the board,” Stoneback said of odds at The Mirage and its sister shops at MGM Resorts. “We’ve taken quite a bit on them, and now they’re down to 18/1.”
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The Greek also opened the Leafs 60/1, with the number sitting at 30/1 Monday evening. Toronto is the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, opening Thursday night at No. 1 Washington in the best-of-7 series.
“I know one team we don’t want is Toronto, because we have a lot of Toronto clientele,” Kaminsky said, while noting that even though the Leafs are the No. 8 seed, they shouldn’t be overlooked. “They have one of the two best young guys in hockey (Auston Matthews). And anything can happen in the hockey playoffs. You get a hot goalie, you can win.”
Toronto’s price at William Hill US was down to 22/1 Monday.
“We lose biggest with the Maple Leafs,” Bogdanovich said, pointing out bettors jumped on the opportunity months ago to get the Leafs at a higher payout on the longer odds. “It doesn’t take a lot to add up liability.”
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are the No. 1 seed in the West, opening Thursday against eighth-seeded Nashville. Chicago has won the Cup three times in the last seven years, most recently to cap the 2014-15 season, so MGM Resorts books have some liability again this season.
“It seems so every year, because they’re so popular and so good,” Stoneback said. “That’s a bad combination for us.”
Chicago opened 10/1 and is now at 7/2 at MGM shops. Sportsbook.ag started the Blackhawks at 15/2 and is now at 15/4.
“The Blackhawks are the second-most-wagered-on team this year, and they are our biggest liability,” Childs said. “If they get past the Predators, they might have to play the Wild in the second round, which could be a tough series for them.”
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks have been perennial contenders, but only last year broke through to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in six games to Pittsburgh. With William Hill US having several of its 108 books statewide in Northern Nevada, San Jose is often a popular play, drawing Northern California action.
“We always lose to the Sharks because of the contingent up north,” Bogdanovich said from his Las Vegas office. “It’s only a few hours to bet in Tahoe. When they got to the Stanley Cup Finals, we wrote a lot of business up there.”
San Jose hits the road Wednesday to open its series with Edmonton.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks nabbed the No. 2 seed out West and will open the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday, hosting Calgary.
“Anaheim is bad for us,” Kaminsky said. “Usually, it’s the teams you open at 30/1 or higher that you have a lot of liability on. We opened 15/1, went up to 20/1, then took a bunch of money at 20/1 and 17.5/1.”
Patrick Everson is a Las Vegas-based senior writer for Covers. Follow him on Twitter: @Covers_Vegas.
