The Vegas Golden Knights are favored to win the Stanley Cup, but there was a time when they were long shots to capture a championship in their inaugural season.
Not just normal long shots, either. We're talking 500-to-1 long shots.
What does that mean? Well, besides the already obvious fact that Vegas defied the longest of odds to reach the Stanley Cup Final, it means that anyone who happened to place a bet on the Golden Knights before the start of the season could rake in some serious cash if the NHL's newest team proves to be its best against the Washington Capitals. As Fox Business noted, "a bet of just $20 before the season would yield $10,000 if the franchise were to win the series."
The Golden Knights obviously don't face 500-to-1 odds now that they're actually in the Final, having disposed of the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets. But now that they're in a position to actually win a title, oddsmakers have acknowledged how unprecedented the return on preseason bets would be.
"It could still end up being the biggest futures loss in Las Vegas history," SportsBettingExperts.com's Jim Murphy told Forbes this week.
