Hurricanes slim betting favorites in crowded Stanley Cup field - ESPN

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have long been marked by parity. Perhaps more than any other major professional sport, the NHL routinely sees teams outperform expectations in the regular season, sneak into the playoffs, make a run to the Stanley Cup Final and oftentimes win it.

Few teams embody the spirit of this better than the 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes, who opened that regular season at 60-1 to win the title — the longest preseason odds of any Cup winner since at least 1984-85. That squad entered the postseason at +600 and exited with the most famous trophy in North American sports.

It feels appropriate, then, that 18 years later, the Canes enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the favorites to lift the Cup — but at +550 odds at ESPN BET, they hold the longest odds for any favorite entering the playoffs in the last 40 seasons, per ESPN Stats & Information. Other books have Carolina as long as +650, meaning their odds as this year's favorites are longer than when they won the Cup as underdogs nearly two decades ago.

Ironically, this is the first time the franchise, even going back to its days as the Hartford Whalers, has ever been the betting favorite entering the playoffs. While bookmakers generally agree that the Hurricanes are the strongest team in the dance, their tough path to the Final and the strength of other teams in the league have once again created huge parity.

«Without a doubt, this is as wide open a field as I've seen in years,» says Fanatics Sportsbook trader Ty Gour. «While the Stanley Cup Playoffs are known for [their] unpredictability, this race is as tight as it gets. You can make a serious Cup case for just about every team in the field this year.»

Indeed, there are currently six teams at +800 odds or shorter