NHL Stanley Cup Odds

The NHL playoffs and the subsequent Stanley Cup finals occur at the end of the regular hockey season. It’s a showdown between the best teams in the game and presents keen sports bettors with great odds and many markets to take advantage of.

So, read on to find out what you need to know about NHL Stanley Cup odds and betting options to maximize your chances of profiting from this season’s action out on the ice. You might fancy the Columbus Blue Jackets because they are your local team, but experience shows the odds will favor other teams to win the cup.

Understanding the NHL Stanley Cup Odds

Before planning your Stanley Cup betting strategy, you must understand how the NHL playoffs work. The NHL playoffs take place between April and June of each year, with 16 teams qualifying for the post-season showdown.

The three top-ranked sides from each division are joined by two wild card teams from each conference. The teams are then split into brackets based on their seeding and division. 

They then compete against each other across several rounds before the conference finals. The winner of the Western Conference then goes up against the winner of the Eastern Conference to compete for the coveted Stanley Cup. Up to seven games are played in the Stanley Cup finals to determine the winner. In other words, there are lots of games and markets to bet on.

Stanley Cup odds

Hockey fans can pick a Stanley Cup winner before the season begins or at any time during the season, thanks to the futures betting market. Here’s what pre-season NHL Stanley Cup odds might look like: 

• Colorado Avalanche +400 
• Toronto Maple Leafs +700 
• Florida Panthers +900 
• Carolina Hurricanes +1,100 
• Tampa Bay Lightning +1,200

Pre-season odds are heavily influenced by a team’s performance on the ice the previous year and their off-season recruitment. While you often get better odds at the start of the season, it sometimes pays to wait until the action gets underway, so you can get a good idea of how well a team performs before backing them for Stanley Cup victory. 

Stanley Cup betting options

While it can be fun and rewarding to place a futures bet on the Stanley Cup winner early in the season, it’s not the only way that you can bet on ice hockey’s most coveted prize. Another option is to back a team to be one of the sixteen teams to make the playoffs at the end of the season, which is a super popular market. 

Alternatively, you can wait until the sixteen playoff teams are confirmed before building your Stanley Cup betting slip. Then, throughout the duration of the playoffs and the ultimate Stanley Cup finals games, you can place a whole host of different bets, including the moneyline, puck line, totals, props, and parlays, depending on the fixture in question. The beauty of Stanley Cup betting is that you have so many options to take advantage of, making it an enjoyable proposition for all sports fans. 

Recap: NHL Stanley Cup odds

Betting on the NHL playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals is an excellent way to maximize your winning potential this season. You now have all the information you need to build your Stanley Cup betting slip, and we wish you luck as you make your selections.