NHL Betting Odds, Futures Predictions & Picks 2026

The Hurricanes hoisted the Cup in June. Two weeks later the Maple Leafs took Gavin McKenna first overall in Buffalo. Free agency has spent the weeks since reshuffling goalie depth charts across the league, including in Toronto and Edmonton, where both Canadian contenders walked away with a different name in net than they started the summer with. That's the backdrop heading into 2026-27, a season that's also adding two games to the schedule for the first time since 1993-94.

This page covers the season the way you would bet it: Stanley Cup and award futures, where hockey betting is legal, the dates worth marking on the calendar, and the sportsbooks that price the NHL best. If you have never bet a puckline before, start with Kurt Long's video walkthrough.

NHL Futures Predictions

NFL futures behave differently from other sports because the sport itself is noisy. A single hot goalie can carry a wild card team through two rounds, which is why Stanley Cup favorites sit at longer prices than title favorites in the NBA or NFL, and why the market rarely settles for long. Prices move on goalie signings, injuries, and hot streaks that mean less than the odds suggest.

Our usual menu covers the Cup, both conferences, all four divisions, the Presidents' Trophy, and the individual awards, and each one prices off a different set of assumptions. All of which can be found at best US sportsbooks. Our futures pages track where those numbers opened, where they are now, and when a price is no longer worth taking.

Hockey Betting Video Guide

WSN's Kurt Long breaks down NHL betting basics in this video, worth a watch before your first wager.

Best NHL Sportsbooks and Bonuses

Where you bet the NHL changes what you get out of it. One book might offer shots, saves, and anytime goalscorer props on every game while another stops at sides and totals. Pricing on the same market differs too, since not every book treats a Regulation Time bet the same way. Then there is the offer itself: the best US sportsbook bonus for NHL is not always the biggest number, it is the one you can clear, since some pay in cash and others in bonus bets you have to bet through before you can withdraw. That is what our NHL sportsbook rankings and bonus reviews look at.

[YERA] NHL Season Key Dates

The new four-year CBA runs from 2026 through 2030 and does more than add two games. It creates a full-time emergency backup goalie position to end amateur fill-ins mid-game, cuts the preseason to four games per team, and closes the LTIR loophole teams used to activate players just for the playoffs.

The league published the full schedule on July 16. Here is the calendar:

• Season start: September 29, 2026. Carolina raises its banner against Florida in an ESPN tripleheader, the earliest NHL opening night since 2007.

• Games: 84 per team, 1,344 total, the first expanded season since 1993-94. The two extra games are divisional.

• Heritage Classic: October 25, 2026. Winnipeg hosts Montreal at Princess Auto Stadium.

• Global Series Finland: November 12 and 14, 2026. Carolina vs Seattle at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki.

• Global Series Germany: December 18 and 20, 2026. Ottawa vs Chicago in Düsseldorf.

• Holiday break: December 23 to 25. No games until Boxing Day.

• Winter Classic: December 31, 2026. Utah hosts Colorado at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, the Mammoth's first outdoor game.

• All-Star Skills: February 5, 2027 at UBS Arena. Ten players age 25 and under across eight events.

• All-Star Game: February 6, 2027. Five teams, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the US, and a World side, in a 3-on-3 round robin. First All-Star Game since 2024. The schedule pauses February 4 to 7.

• Stadium Series: February 20, 2027. Dallas hosts Vegas at AT&T Stadium.

• Trade deadline: March 1, 2027, a Monday rather than the usual Friday.

• Regular season ends: April 10, 2027, with all 32 teams playing. Same on October 13.

• Playoffs: 16 teams, four rounds, all best of seven. Start date not yet announced, though the last three postseasons opened within a week of the regular season finish.

• Stanley Cup Final: expected to finish by mid to late June 2027.

No mid-season Olympic break this year. The next Winter Games are in 2030.