NHL

As sports betting has grown, leagues like the NHL, which already had a big following, have started to receive even more interest. The NHL is incredibly fast-paced and exciting, making it not only one of the most entertaining pro sports leagues to watch but also one of the most exhilarating to bet on.

Key upcoming dates for NHL bettors & fans

• September 21, 2025: First NHL preseason game

• October 7, 2025: Start of 2025-26 NHL regular season

• October 21, 2025: Brad Marchand returns to Boston to play against his former team for the first time

• November 14-16, 2025: International games in Stockholm, Sweden

  • Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Nashville Predators

• November 22, 2025: Stanley Cup rematch between the Florida Panthers & Edmonton Oilers

• January 2, 2026: Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park

  • New York Rangers vs Florida Panthers

• January 23, 2026: Mitch Marner returns to Toronto for the first time

• February 1, 2026: Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium

  • Boston Bruins vs Tampa Bay Lightning

• February 5-25, 2026: 20-day break for the 2026 Olympics

• April 11, 2026: Last potential game between Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin

• April 16, 2026: Final day of 2025-26 NHL regular season

Comparing online sportsbooks and their NHL betting markets

While the NHL has a growing following in the U.S. by the day, the league remains the most popular in Canada. With that, there are sports betting apps in each country that may be more enticing for NHL bettors. For that reason, we suggest bettors in both countries create multiple sports betting accounts, and always line shop for the best price, no matter which market they are betting on.

For starters, both U.S. and Canadian bettors have access to the Bet365 Sportsbook, which is a solid shop for placing NHL player prop bets or when looking for a nice range of futures markets. Other U.S.-based sports betting apps that stand out more for the NHL include BetMGM Sportsbook for its competitive pricing on games and DraftKings for its robust live betting layout and markets.

In Canada, bettors have a highly competitive market at their disposal, which they can utilize to their advantage. We’ve found that apps like Bet99, Proline+, TheScore Bet, Pinnacle, and Power Play Sportsbook are all very much worth creating an account on. Line shopping any market between these shops will certainly lead to a lot of value for serious bettors.

NHL and daily fantasy sports

Generally, there are two DFS contests that draw the most interest from NHL fans. These contests may have differing names depending on the DFS product a customer is using, but the premise is typically the same. The first contest revolves around creating a lineup of players for a specific window of games, and the number of other players a customer is competing against will determine how large the potential payout could be.

Pick’em contests may have different names depending on the product, but at the end of the day, they are all about picking the over/under on a specific stat for a player. The more picks a customer makes in one entry, the higher their payout will be. Some daily fantasy sports apps may also offer different iterations of Pick’Em contests, such as Versus contests, which involve a customer picking which player will have more of a specific stat, like shots on goal, points, saves, and more.

As far as DFS apps go, Underdog and Prize Picks continue to dominate the market, but there are plenty of other options for NHL fans to consider. OwnersBox is a product that could certainly be of interest to NHL fanatics, as it offers three different contest styles along with a simple layout that makes filtering contests a breeze.

What kind of NHL bets can you place?

With the NHL being such a prominent league, the number of markets a bettor can wager on for a given game or season is immense. Sportsbooks are constantly seeking new markets to offer to NHL bettors, but three markets have been around since the inception of sports betting, and they typically generate the most handle. These markets include moneyline wagers, point totals, and puck lines.

Each of those markets typically offers prices for the full game and each individual period, allowing for even more betting opportunities. Betting on hockey actually brings two separate markets for moneyline betting, as bettors can wager a 60-minute line, which means there is an option to bet on a tie in regulation, or they can wager on the full game, which allows a bet to be deemed as a win if a team wins in overtime or in a shootout.

When it comes to puck line betting, this market is very much like the run-line in baseball, where the spread is almost always set at (+/- 1.5), but the only thing that changes is the price. For example, if a team is a heavy favorite, their puck line might be (-1.5) at (-250).

Bettors can also find alternate puck lines and totals depending on the shop. Now, there are plenty of other bets still available for individual games. These bets include team totals, the team to score the first or last goal, race to X amount of goals, correct score, player props, and more.

Team futures

A lot can happen over the course of an 82-game regular season and the playoffs, and with all the ups and downs, fans can place futures bets to capitalize on momentum shifts. Most, if not all, sports betting apps will offer a variety of NHL futures markets, including win totals, conference winners, whether a team will make the playoffs, Stanley Cup Champions, and plenty more.

For those new to sports betting or to the world of futures, these bets can be placed anywhere from the preseason to during the Stanley Cup Finals. Building a futures portfolio is a good idea for all bettors, and to start, we always suggest line shopping each future to get the right price.

Price shopping is important for all sports bettors, especially when shopping for futures. For example, entering the 2024-25 season, the LA Kings are (+1900) to win the Stanley Cup on FanDuel, so a $10 bet pays out $200. However, that same $10 bet on Bet365 Sportsbook would pay out $260 because they have the Kings priced at (+2500).

Stanley Cup Champion

The Stanley Cup is one of the most iconic trophies in sports, and betting on which team will raise it at the end of the season can be done anywhere from the offseason to the finals. One of the more interesting facets of the Stanley Cup is that there have been multiple teams to win it more than once over the past few seasons.

Since the 2009-10 season, five different franchises have won the Stanley Cup at least twice. A team has also not completed a sweep of the Stanley Cup Finals since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.

READ MORE: Stanley Cup Odds

To make the playoffs

After a long and grueling regular season, 16 NHL teams secure a trip to the postseason and begin a brand new season. Whether a team will make the playoffs is a very popular futures market, as fans can bet either "yes" or "no" throughout the season, allowing them to hedge other futures bets or find value in a team they think might be trending in either the right or wrong direction.

Other team specials

Markets like Stanley Cup winners, conference winners, and win totals can all be found on most sports betting apps. However, a mix of futures may only be offered by one or two sportsbooks. These markets include the highest-scoring team in the league, the team with the best or worst record, and the team that allows the most points during the regular season.

Additionally, during the playoffs, NHL fans will be able to find series-specific futures that include markets like the number of road wins, the correct score of the series, and the over/under on the number of games in a series.

Player futures & awards

The NHL hands out four awards for regular season performers, along with one award for the Stanley Cup, and bettors can wager on all of them before and during the season. Over the course of a season, players will experience hot streaks, cold streaks, injuries, and more, so the odds for each award are constantly changing and provide potential value to bettors, depending on the price they can find.

Awards that fans can bet on include the Hart Trophy, Conn Smythe Award, Vezina Trophy, Norris Trophy, and Calder Trophy. Much like betting on team futures, wagering on these awards should always begin with line shopping across multiple sportsbooks.

Outside of awards, fans will also be able to place future bets on the over/under for different players' regular-season stats. These categories include points, goals, assists, saves, and possibly more, depending on the sportsbook.

The Hart Trophy (MVP)

Many former NHL players have stated that the league now boasts more high-end talent than it has ever had. This revelation makes the Hart Trophy race a contested one each season. With more top-tier scoring threats coming into the league, the ability to win multiple Hart Trophies has become increasingly difficult, as Connor McDavid is the only player to win the award multiple times since 2010.

READ MORE: NHL MVP - Hart Trophy Odds

The Conn Smythe award (NHL Playoffs MVP)

Having a stellar regular season is one thing, but rising to the occasion during the Stanley Cup Playoffs is what separates good players from great ones. Prior to the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, 58 Conn Smythe Award winners have been recognized, and while most of them have been awarded to players who went on to win the Stanley Cup, five players have won the award despite not winning a championship.

READ MORE: Conn Smythe odds

Vezina Trophy

Making it to the promised land without a solid goalie between the pipes is unheard of. With the amount of elite scoring talents throughout the league, having a consistent goaltender is essential for competitive teams. That said, while more quick-release scoring phenoms are breaking into the NHL, there are plenty of experienced goaltenders who can make their lives difficult.

Much like the Hart Trophy, winning multiple Vezina Trophies is rare, as only Sergei Bobrovsky and Connor Hellebuyck have won the award more than once since 2010.

READ MORE: NHL Vezina Trophy Odds

Norris Trophy

Some of the best players in NHL history have been defensemen, and that has remained the case in today’s game as well. While young talents like Cale Makar aim to become the face of the position moving forward, there are still veteran players like Roman Josi who continue to play at a high level.

Even with all of the talent in today’s game, it may be next to impossible to beat Bobby Orr’s record of winning the Norris Trophy in eight consecutive seasons.

READ MORE: NHL Norris Trophy Odds

Calder Trophy - Rookie of the Year

Watching a young player come into the NHL and live up to incredibly high expectations is one of the most entertaining things to watch each season. In some seasons, there may not be a clear-cut favorite for the Calder Trophy, but on other occasions, we’ve seen players like Connor Bedard enter their first NHL season with expectations that surpass those of superstars from fans.

Prior to the 2023-24 NHL season, Bedard had (-155) odds to win the Calder Trophy, while the player with the second-best odds was priced at (+500).

READ MORE: NHL Calder Trophy - Rookie of the Year Odds

Other player specials bets

Much like team futures, NHL fans can find different player futures markets throughout the season, but especially during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. All of the top sportsbooks in the U.S. and Canada typically offer a wide range of markets for each playoff series. These markets may include the player who will record the most points, the player who will score the most goals, the player who will score X amount of goals in a given series, and many more.

Other markets could include head-to-head matchups on which player will record more of a specific statistical category. For example, during the 2024 Stanley Cup, the Bet365 Sportsbook allowed fans to bet on whether Matthew Tkachuk or Leon Draisaitl would record more points over the course of the series.

Other useful apps and websites for NHL bettors

We've already highlighted the recommended betting apps for NHL wagering, but plenty of other great applications, websites, and tools are out there for bettors and even casual hockey fans. Find 5 top choices listed below!

• The Score app: For those not impressed with the NHL's official app, The Score is definitely a top pick for scores, news, and more. Covering NHL and almost every US sport— from NFL and MLB all the way to PGA, WNBA, and MMA—the app is a comprehensive tool for sports fans.

  • Similar apps/sites: SofaScore, TSN

• NHL Edge: This site provides fans with detailed puck and player tracking data, once exclusive to teams and broadcasters. It offers unique stats like skating speed, shot metrics, and zone time, like Buffalo's Tage Thompson's 104.69 mph shot, the hardest measured in the NHL this season.

• Evolving-Hockey: Evolving-Hockey is a top resource for NHL advanced stats, offering detailed data presented through easy-to-read charts and graphs. A subscription (from $4.99/month) unlocks full access to stats and projections, which may be quite handy, for example, in DFS and even placing NHL bets online.

  • Similar websites: Natural Stat Trick, IcyData

• MoneyPuck: Speaking of stats and projections, MoneyPuck is a must for hockey fans, offering extensive stats, playoff odds, probabilities, and predictions, as well as current NHL Power Rankings. Despite its somewhat outdated look, the site delivers unmatched, top-tier content for deeper insights into the game.

• Puckpedia: Current lineups and depth charts for each NHL team, salary cap data, player contracts and cap hit breakdowns, transaction news, and all sorts of NHL stats on the side. Puckpedia is another "one-stop shop" for every National Hockey League fan.

  • Similar websites: Capwages.com, DailyFaceOff (lineups)

Betting off-ice distractions: How NHL trade deadlines, rumors, and locker room tension quietly affect outcomes

Emotions run high in hockey, and even when those emotions are carried off the ice, they still affect the game. Trade rumors, goalie problems, chemistry issues, and comments made by a coach are all factors that can disrupt a locker room and alter the team's outlook for the season. As reports of these issues hit the media, they not only raise tensions on the team but can also alter betting trends.

Bettors are constantly in search of an edge, as are the sportsbooks. This means these entities not only factor in recent play or algorithms, but they also try to assess whether a specific goalie will improve after being called out by his coach, or go in the other direction, causing the team to go on a losing streak.

The firing of coaches can also cause gambling shockwaves in multiple markets. For example, the Philadelphia Flyers fired coach John Tortorella during the 2024-25 season. After that decision was made, young star Matvei Michkov went on to record six goals and six assists over the next nine games. For bettors who noticed a change in Michkov's play after the coaching change, they were able to capitalize on potentially favorable numbers.