Wanna Bet? Florida Panthers Now Stanley Cup Betting Favorite

The Florida Panthers are a win away from a sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference semifinals and one major sportsbook has them as the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup.

You read that right: The Panthers are the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup.

The Florida Panthers.

On Monday night, MGM put the Panthers on top their Stanley Cup future board at +375 to win the whole stinkin’ thing.

Carolina, which leads New Jersey 2-1 in its series, is next at +400 along with Edmonton which lost Game 3 at home to Vegas and trails that series 2-1.

Other books have followed suit with FanDuel putting the Panthers at +350 and DraftKings at +380.

By the time you read this, the odds have probably changed.

That’s kind of what they do.

(*) Florida Hockey Now would just like to remind everyone that sports wagering in the great state of Florida is, right now, against the law. We think. Anyway, these odds are strictly for entertainment use only. Thank you.

When the Florida Panthers were down 3-1 in their first round series to the Bruins, they were a +2000 underdog at Caesars to win that series.

That means a $100 bet placed at that number — before Florida’s OT win in Game 5 — would have paid $2000 when the Panthers pulled out the Game 7 series win.

A $100 bet on the Panthers to win the Cup at +350 earns $350 if the Panthers were to, you know, win the Cup.

When Florida was down 3-1 in Boston, the odds looked very, very different as one could get the Panthers at +15000 to win the Cup — longest odds on the board.

A $100 bet at that point would get you a decent used sedan if Florida were to run the table.

Boston was the heavy betting favorite at +200 with Colorado second. Both are now vacationing.

With a couple of the perceived powerhouse teams out of the playoffs — the Bruins, Rangers, Avalanche and, potentially the Leafs — this year’s race to the Cup appears wide open.

Why not the Panthers?

Florida sort of slipped into this postseason as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference before upsetting the Bruins.

“It is one of those things where we see now it’s not about being an eight-seed or coming close to not making the playoffs,” defenseman Brandon Montour said. “We’re worried about day-by-day and the success we’ve brought and how we are playing.

“The last series was a big emotional series and we’re trying to bring that now. This is another tough series and Game 4 it’s a 0-0 series. We’re chasing that next win. We know they’ll come extremely hard and we’ll be prepared for what they bring. We’re excited for that challenge. We just have to go game-by-game and keep collecting all the wins we can.”

Florida goes into Game 4 against the Leafs in Sunrise riding a six-game playoff winning streak with three wins coming against both Boston and Toronto.

If Florida was to lose on Wednesday, Game 5 would be in Toronto on Friday night.

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (ATL2) AT FLORIDA PANTHERS (WC2)

GAME 4 (Florida Leads 3-0)

• When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• First Round Schedule — Game 1: Florida 4, @Toronto 2; Game 2: Florida 3, @Toronto 2; Game 3: @Florida 3, Toronto 2 (OT); Game 4: Wednesday at Florida, 7 (ESPN); Game 5*:Friday, May 12 at Toronto (TNT); Game 6*: Sunday, May 14 at Florida (TBA); Game 7*:May 16 at Toronto (TNT). (*) – If Necessary
• How They Got Here: Toronto d. Tampa Bay 4-2; Florida d. Boston 4-3
• Season Series (Toronto won 3-1): Maple Leafs 5, @Panthers 4 OT (Jan. 17); @Maple Leafs 6, Panthers 2 (Mar. 23); Panthers 3, @Maple Leafs 2 OT (March 29); Maple Leafs 2, @Panthers 1 OT (April 10)
• Last season: Florida won 2-1
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 48-36-7, 7 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting