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.

Comparing online sportsbooks and their NHL betting markets

While the NHL has a following that is growing by the day in the U.S., 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 tend to stick out a bit more for the NHL include the BetMGM Sportsbook for their general pricing on games and DraftKings for their strong live betting layout and markets.

In Canada, bettors truly have a highly competitive market that they can use 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 about 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, like Versus contests, which involve a customer picking which player will have more of a certain 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 one 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 looking for new markets they can offer to NHL bettors, but three markets have been around since sports betting started, and they typically see the most handle. These markets include moneyline wagers, point totals, and puck lines.

Each of those markets typically has prices for the full game and each individual period, which allows 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)(-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, four 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 or not a team will make the playoffs is a very popular futures market, as fans can bet either yes or no throughout the season, which allows 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, which team will have the best or worst record, and the team to allow 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 go through hot streaks, cold streaks, injuries, and more, so the odds for each award are constantly changing and providing 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 team futures, betting on these awards should always start 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 said that the league now features more high-end talent than it ever has. 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, there have been 58 Conn Smythe award winners, and while most of them have gone to a player who won 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 not common, as only Sergei Bobrovsky has won the award multiple times 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 look to become the face of the position moving forward, there are still veteran players like Roman Josi who are playing 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. 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 beyond superstar expectations 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 will typically offer a lot of different markets for each playoff series, and these markets could include player to record the most points, player to record the most goals, player to score X amount of goals in a given series, and plenty 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.