A nine-month journey to find the next Stanley Cup winner begins this week as the NHL returns for its 109th season. Check out our 2025-26 NHL season winner odds analysis and betting tips below before the competition begins.
The Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks will meet in the first NHL match of the 2025-26 season at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday. Florida are two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and will play in-front of their home crowd against a Blackhawks side that will celebrate their centennial campaign this season.
NHL fans will get to experience the 82-game format for the last time before the competition moves to a 84-match schedule in 2026-27. Teams will get a mid-season break for the 2026 Winter Olympics in February and return to action in April. Utah will feature as Utah Mammoth for the first time after their off-season rebranding.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | National Hockey League (NHL), Season 2025-26 |
| 🏀 Venues: | Different arenas across the US and Canada |
| 🗓️ Dates: | 7 October 2025 – June 2026 |
The best bookies for ice hockey have rolled out their 2026 NHL Finals winner odds. Here are the top five contenders:
Sportsbooks have assigned the Edmonton Oilers the shortest odds to win NHL 2026, even though they have suffered back-to-back Stanley Cup final defeats in the last two seasons. The prolific pairing of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, alongside defensive stalwarts Evan Bouchard and Matias Ekholm make them favorites for another championship run.
Vegas Golden Knights are another team that features heavily in 25-26 NHL season predictions. The off-season addition of Canada international Mitch Marner makes their already impressive offensive line even more formidable. Marner will partner Jack Eichel in the center and captain Mark Stone is also a part of their brilliant attack.
Carolina Hurricanes still have some roster issues to figure out. Logan Stankoven still has many to convince that he is good enough for the No.2 center for the team. That said, the Hurricanes are still one of the strongest challengers for the Stanley Cup this season.
Dallas Stars have fallen short of making the Stanley Cup final in recent seasons, but they have come close. New coach Glen Gulutzan might give them the motivation to go all the way this time. The Stars should not be overlooked in NHL 2025-26 betting tips conversations by any means.
Colorado racked up 102 points last season despite early goal-tending issues. With improved depth in net and Gabriel Landeskog returning for a full year, Colorado looks set to build on that tally. That’s why sportsbooks are showing great faith in them, and many betting experts are giving Avalanche a mention in the best ice hockey betting tips.
Every NHL team plays 41 home and 41 away games across an 82-game regular season. The breakdown includes 26 divisional, 24 intra-conference, and 32 inter-conference games, meaning every club meets all 31 others at least twice.
The NHL Eastern Conference is split into the Atlantic Division and Metropolitan Division. Here are our NHL 25-26 divisional predictions for both:
| Atlantic Division Participants | Predicted Finish After Regular Season |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 1st |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 2nd |
| Florida Panthers | 3rd |
| Ottawa Senators | 4th |
| Montreal Canadiens | 5th |
| Buffalo Sabres | 6th |
| Detroit Red Wings | 7th |
| Boston Bruins | 8th |
| Metropolitan Division Participants | Predicted Finish After Regular Season |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 1st |
| New Jersey Devils | 2nd |
| New York Rangers | 3rd |
| Washington Capitals | 4th |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 5th |
| New York Islanders | 6th |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 7th |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 8th |
Now, let’s move on to the 25/26 NHL divisional betting picks for the Central and Pacific Divisions, which are part of the Western Conference.
| Central Division Participants | Predicted Finish After Regular Season |
| Colorado Avalanche | 1st |
| Dallas Stars | 2nd |
| Winnipeg Jets | 3rd |
| Utah Mammoth | 4th |
| Minnesota Wild | 5th |
| St Louis Blues | 6th |
| Nashville Predators | 7th |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 8th |
| Pacific Division Participants | Predicted Finish After Regular Season |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 1st |
| Edmonton Oilers | 2nd |
| Anaheim Ducks | 3rd |
| Los Angeles Kings | 4th |
| Calgary Flames | 5th |
| Vancouver Canucks | 6th |
| Seattle Kraken | 7th |
| San Jose Sharks | 8th |
A total of 16 teams reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs – eight from the East and eight from the West. Each division’s top three finishers – in the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, and Pacific – earn automatic qualification.
The top three from each division directly qualifies for the playoffs, and the remaining four go to wildcard entries.
After two initial playoff rounds, Round Three is the Conference Finals – Atlantic vs. Metropolitan in the East and Pacific vs. Central in the West. The winners from each conference move on to the Stanley Cup Final.
There is no official date as of yet, but popular bookmakers for NHL are expecting the playoffs to begin on April 25, 2026. It will run until some time in June, 2026.
The NHL started as an all-Canadian affair in 1917 after the National Hockey Association was suspended. Since then, the league has expanded several times, and with the addition of the Seattle Kraken in 2021, it now features 32 teams.
Here’s how the last five Stanley Cup finals unfolded:
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The Carolina Hurricanes have produced some excellent performances under Rod Brind’Armour, but their championship drought continues. They are one of the favorites in the early 2026 NHL Finals winner odds. Still, a sense of hesitation lingers among fans and bettors since the Hurricanes did not win the Stanley Cup since 2006.
On paper, they have a stellar team. There are proven veterans like Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho and Nikolaj Ehlers besides exciting young stars like Stankoven, Jackson Blake, Alexander Nikishin, and Bradly Nadeau.
GM Eric Tulsky has shown ambition by adding Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall last season. He also has enough cap space to make one more marquee addition before the Trade Deadline.
We feel confident that the Hurricanes can end their 20-year wait for the Stanley Cup this season.
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Toronto Maple Leafs don’t exactly sound like a surprise package since they have won the Stanley Cup 13 times. But their odds to win NHL 2026 are long enough to mention them in this category.
It’ll be interesting to see how they cope with Marner’s departures this season. It would be a significant step-back for the team, but Auston Matthews return to MVP form can offset that setback.
They also have reliable performers like Matias Maccelli, Scott Laughton, Nicolas Roy, and John Tavares in the roster. A title challenge from the Maple Leafs seems far from certain at this point, but we won’t be surprised to see Matthews hoisting the trophy next summer.
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The Anaheim Ducks showed great improvement last season. They recorded the Western Conference’s largest improvement from one season to the next, jumping to 80 from 59 points. GM Pat Verbeek is keen to build on the success, so he appointed three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Joel Quenneville as the team’s new boss.
The Ducks will have to make another big leap to make this happen, but the momentum is on their side, so we will back them to make it to the playoffs this season.
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The race might go down to the final day, but a team that failed to make significant summer acquisitions and will be without Mats Zuccarello for a large portion of the season might fall behind Utah.
There is quality in the side, nonetheless. Rookie defenseman Zeev Buium is one of the most exciting rising talents in the NHL. Kirill Kaprizov is also expected to post remarkable personal stats, but we don’t believe it’s good enough for a playoff run this season.
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It wasn’t easy to let go of a proven performer like Ranaten. However, the Colorado Avalanche hierarchy decided to prioritize the long-term goals of the team, and it seems to be a smart decision now.
In came Martin Necas and Brock Nelson, and now the team looks set to mount a solid challenge in the Central Division and beyond. Of course, they would need some injury luck to make the most of this squad. Still, we believe the Avalanche have great potential to outperform their Central Division rivals.
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Matthews doesn’t have the shortest 25/26 NHL MVP odds, but he will have to shoulder even greater responsibilities with Marner leaving the Maple Leafs.
Marner’s absence is expected to take a toll on Matthews’ attacking output, but the Maple Leafs captain will look to contribute more on both ends of the pitch. If he can do that and guide his team to a solid finish, Matthews can expect to win the Hart Memorial Trophy for the second time in his career.
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Matthews is still the primary source of goals for the Maple Leafs. The same can’t be said for Leon Draisaitl, who will share goalscoring responsibilities with Connor McDavid this season.
Best sportsbooks have also assigned short odds for Minnesota Wild’s Kaprizov in this category, but the Russian has fitness issues. We believe the Wilds did not make enough off-season moves to boost his scoring potential.
So, we’re putting our money on three-time Rocket Richards winner Matthews to take the award home once again.
The Hurricanes have one of the shortest 2025-26 NHL season winner odds, which we believe is quite justified. Rooting for the Ducks to make the playoffs is another sensible NHL betting call to make heading into the new season.
