The best teams in the NHL are not popular to win the Stanley Cup. And it's far from there.
The Winnipegjet is tied with the Washington Capitals to rank number one in the NHL that enters Thursday.
The Jets and Cap each earned 94 points. More than eight more than the third-placed Dallas Star and 16 more points than the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton's prices drifted slightly – the Oilers sit at about 800 in most sportsbooks, but it's not the Jets who jumped to the top of the board.
The NHL has seven other teams with Stanley Cup odds shorter than Winnipeg's 12/1 mark (BETMGM Sportsbook), four (Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas and Colorado) at the meeting.
One reason the Jets slipped the crack is that they were relatively quiet compared to their rivals during the trading deadline last week.
The star added Mikko Lantanen, Colorado Avalanche acquired Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle, and the Oilers made a wise move for Jake Walman.
Winnipeg was expected to be looking for a second center – reportedly had a lot of interest in Nelson, but ultimately he nibbled around the edge by acquiring the bottom six forwards Brandon Tanev and veteran defenseman Lukshen.
These additions don't shine as bright as those made by Winnipeg rivals, but the Jets have added length to the roster already considered the deepest on the circuit.
There's nothing to make money on teams like the big hit deals, so it's no surprise that Sportsbook has quickly cut prices in Dallas and Colorado, but that has also made it better for bettors to overlook jets.
And it's not just that they don't have an appetite to support this Jets team again in the playoffs.
Winnipeg has been dumped five games in the first round in each of the last two postseasons, and has not won the game in the second round since 2017-18.
Due to all the good work Vezina Trophy favourite Connor Helebuick has done in the last two regular seasons, he wilted in the spring, and lightly treaded when it came to bettors questioning his big game abilities and supporting him in the playoffs.
The most obvious reason this team doesn't get much love from the market is that they are the Winnipeg Jets.
They are the smallest market in the league and not public darlings like the Golden Knights, Oilers, Avalanches and Panthers.
This may sound like Jet's accusation, but it's against it.
All of these market forces keep Winnipeg (the team with the most important goal difference on average, most points, and the highest goals in the NHL) at a very attractive price.
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Something that makes them even more appealing when you think about their path.
Dallas and Colorado could face off in round one of the playoffs, but Winnipeg will attract a team finishing in the second wildcard spot.
This means one of Winnipeg's biggest rivals in the west will play golf by round two, while the other will recover from becoming a fierce battle series certainly before facing the Jets.
Still, the stars (+300) and avalanches (+500) are sitting at much shorter odds than the Jets (+600) to win the Western Conference.
Sometimes the betting market is stubborn – and that's a good thing.
Best bet: Jets to Western Conference (+600, BetMgm)
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Michael Lubov is a patient and abundant islander fan, but is a long-time for-profit sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters acquire a pool of brackets, find long shots, and learn how to win the market in mainstream and niche sports.
