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2018 Stanley Cup Odds: Washington Capitals among favorites

By Dave Stevenson

May 6, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Fan cheer from the stands as Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) skates by after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in game five of the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
May 6, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Fan cheer from the stands as Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) skates by after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in game five of the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Even after another second round exit, the Washington Capitals are among the favorites to win the 2018 Stanley Cup odds. 

The 2016-17 NHL season is officially over after the Pittsburgh Penguins have won their second straight Stanley Cup. Of course, they beat the Washington Capitals in order to do so. And once again, the two best regular season teams in the NHL had to face off in the second round instead of the Conference Finals, when they should have.

It’s never too early to start thinking about next season, especially in Vegas. Bovada has already released their first edition of the 2018 Stanley Cup Odds. Despite facing a potentially long offseason, the Capitals are among the teams with the best odds, at 12-1.

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Obviously, the Penguins have the best odds. They deserve it, as they won the Stanley Cup even without their best defenseman Kris Letang. Pittsburgh won’t be losing any extremely important players on the ice, though the assumed loss of Marc-Andre Fleury leaves them without a proven backup goalie. Unless the Penguins sign one, that’s an area of concern. Nick Bonino will likely be too expensive to keep, but Pittsburgh has incredible center depth, so they have a variety of options to replace him.

Washington, meanwhile, still has an extremely talented team. Especially if they can manage to re-sign T.J. Oshie and keep Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Andre Burakovsky, Nate Schmidt and Brett Connolly, all of whom are restricted free agents. The Capitals were a few bad bounces away from beating the Penguins in the second round. Of course, one could argue that sentence sums up the franchise’s existence.

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What do you think? Should the Capitals odds be better or worse? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

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