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It didn’t take long after they hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup for the conversation around the Colorado Avalanche to shift towards next year and whether or not this team is built to repeat. And while going back-to-back is difficult in any sport, we’ve now seen two NHL clubs do it over the past decade and like those Penguins and Lightning teams, the Avalanche have the foundation in place to succeed for quite some time.

Thus, it’s not surprising that bookmakers were quick to install Colorado as the clear betting favorite for the 2023 Stanley Cup at +450. And considering that the second-choice Toronto Maple Leafs are nearly double the odds at +850, it seems the market is pretty bullish on the Avalanche’s’ chances to go back-to-back for the Stanley Cup.

Does that make sense? Let’s take a look:

Like any team in a hard-cap league, the Avalanche will have to do some maneuvering in the offseason to replace key players. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog, and Devon Toews are not going anywhere, and that means they will bring back the best core in the NHL. However, the team will likely lose second-line forwards Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, and Andre Burakovsky, who all should prove too expensive for the Avalanche.

It’s assumed that the Avalanche will bring back starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper, but he’s also an unrestricted free agent, so there’s also a chance Colorado will need to find a new No. 1 goaltender for next year.

The Avs will also need to find reinforcements further down the lineup as depth players like Josh Manson, Jack Johnson, Darren Helm, Andrew Cogliano, and Ryan Murray also are unrestricted free agents.

It seems probable that the Avalanche will have six to seven new regulars in their lineup for next season, but that shouldn’t be a huge deal for this team. It’s not all that difficult to find effective depth in the NHL, but the same can’t be said of finding star players and the Avs have more than enough of those. Additionally, youngsters like Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook seem ready for bigger roles and could provide internal replacements at the top of the lineup.

And even if the Avs do need to go out to the market to find role players, Joe Sakic and his front office have done a fabulous job of building the best roster in the NHL, so there’s no reason to doubt that Sakic and Co. will be able to effectively fill out this lineup.

At +450, the Avalanche have an implied win probability of 18.2% for next year’s Stanley Cup. While that does seem fair given the team’s best players will all be back and are in their prime, it’s way too early in the offseason to feel confident enough to bet on any team, let alone one that is shorter than 5/1.

That said, this early oddsboard does give us a general idea of where every team in the NHL stands right now. And the message from the bookmakers is clear: Colorado is in a class of its own.