NHL Betting News This Month | Stanley Cup 2027 Best Bets, Market Watch & Betting Analysis | July, 2026

By Bob Duff, Updated on: Jul 2, 2026 12:00 AM

There’s a new favorite in the NHL to win the 2026-27 Stanley Cup final? Actually, in reality, it’s an old favorite.

Oddsmakers are seeing the Florida Panthers returning to the mountaintop following a year in which the team was lost in the wilderness. Following back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2023-24 and 2024-25, injuries riddled the Panthers’ lineup, and Florida missed the playoffs last season.

Projected #FlaPanthers lineup after signing D Radko Gudas.https://t.co/WlNRWsIj6H

— NHL Rosters (@NHL_Rosters) July 1, 2026

Instead of rebuilding, the Panthers are simply reloading, and they are getting plenty of love in the Stanley Cup odds. It’s Florida that is now set as the +700 chalk to be the 2027 Stanley Cup champions.

Already this offseason, Florida has traded for Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk and New Jersey Devils goalie Jakob Markstrom. The Panthers signed abrasive free-agent defenseman Ratko Gudas.

Barely removed from winning the 2026 Stanley Cup, the Carolina Hurricanes were set up as the opening betting choice to repeat as the 2027 NHL champion in Stanley Cup futures for the 2026-27 season.

In the latest NHL betting lines, the Hurricanes are the +750 betting choice to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. They opened as the +700 favorites. It’s the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners as the NHL’s top regular season, the Colorado Avalanche, who are established as the +800 third betting choice.

Even at that, the betting odds on the Avalanche are already lengthening. The Avs opened with a line of +750 in this betting market.

Vanquished in the final by the Hurricanes, the Vegas Golden Knights are the third pick in this market at +850. The Golden Knights opened with a line of +900, so their odds have shortened.

Next at +1100 are the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton lost the Stanley Cup final in 2024 and 2025.

At +1200 are the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 and lost the 2022 final to the Avalanche.

The Minnesota Wild (+1500), Dallas Stars (+1500) both have Stanley Cup odds shorter than +2000. Losing Eastern Conference finalists, the Montreal Canadiens are set with a betting line of +2200 to win the Cup. Even after losing Tkachuk, Ottawa is also locked in with a +2200 betting line to be the NHL champions.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames share the longest odds to win the Cup at +30000.

The Cup win was a long time coming for the Hurricanes. Carolina previously won the title in 2006.

The Golden Knights have advanced to the Stanley Cup final for the third time. Vegas (2023) is a recent Stanley Cup winner. The Golden Knights were beaten by Washington in the 2018 final.

Best NHL bets for Stanley Cup final matchups

Each spring, the grueling four rounds of competition for the Stanley Cup not only make for compelling entertainment, it also offer bettors a bunch of wagering opportunities. It starts with the traditional standard fare of game betting on moneylines, puck lines, and total goals. There are also player and game prop options, as well as regular and same-game parlay plays.

Beyond that, NHL bettors can wager on the outcome for each of the eight first-round series. Longer range wagers include future book betting on the winners of the Eastern and Western Conferences, as well as the Stanley Cup. Exact final matchups and precise series outcomes are other betting choices. And there’s also the chance to bet on which player will take home the coveted Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup MVP.

Before making a deeper assessment of which way to lean in the NHL playoffs best bets, why not take a look at our handy best NHL betting sites list to make the most out of your bets, including the latest props and futures wagering. It’s never too early to get a wager down on which of these NHL teams is going to win the title. Have a look at our NHL futures page to see what other wagering options are available during the NHL regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Best Stanley Cup playoff future bets

Panthers are favored to win the Stanley Cup

Hurricanes facing the agony of repeat

Injuries scuttled the Avalanche

Vegas is always a Cup contender

When will Canada’s drought end?

Stanley Cup keeps going Southeast

With captain Aleksander Barkov and gritty winger Matthew Tkachuk returning from injury, things figured to get better for the Florida Panthers. But no one imagined that it would get this good this quickly. Adding Matthew's brother, Brady, in a trade, and trading for rugged Garnet Hathaway and nasty defender Ratko Gudas, the Panthers are going to be the toughest team in the league to play against. That's a vital quality in surviving the grind to win the Stanley Cup. Sure, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky left for Toronto, but adding Jakob Markstrom from New Jersey gives the Panthers another world-class netminder. To no one's surprise, Florida is the +700 chalk to win the Stanley Cup.

The Carolina Hurricanes are the +750 second betting to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, but that can prove to be a tall order. Last season's defending champion, the Florida Panthers, won for the second year in a row. They were just the fifth team to win consecutive Cups since 1990. Carolina won the Cup in 2006 and waited 20 years to win it again. Already, the challenge of winning again is proving daunting. Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen left the team as a free agent, signing with the Edmonton Oilers.

Colorado came into the Stanley Cup playoffs as the NHL regular-season champion. The Avalanche entered the postseason as the chalk to win the Stanley Cup, and they looked like champs as they rolled through the first two playoff rounds. However, injuries to their Hart Trophy-winning center, Nathan MacKinnon, and Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Cale Makar put Colorado on the back foot in the Western Conference final against Vegas, and the Avs never recovered. They suffered a further blow since the season ended. General manager Chris McFarland left the club to take over as GM of Colorado's Central Division rivals, the Nashville Predators. At +850, Colorado is the third betting choice in 2027 Stanley Cup futures.

Since entering the NHL as an expansion franchise in 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights have contended for the Stanley Cup. That inaugural season, they finished first in the Pacific Division and reached the Cup final series before falling to the Washington Capitals in five games. Vegas beat Florida in the 2023 Stanley Cup final. The loss to Carolina was the club's third Stanley Cup final appearance. Vegas has also reached the conference finals in two other seasons. At a betting line of +1100, the Golden Knights are top contenders entering the 2026-27 NHL season.

The Montreal Canadiens (+2200) got to the Eastern Conference final before succumbing to the eventual Cup champion Hurricanes. They were the last Canadian NHL team to be ousted from the playoffs. When Montreal bowed out, it extended the lengthy drought for the league's Canadian clubs. It was the Canadiens who most recently won the Stanley Cup in 1993. There have been some close calls in recent years. The Edmonton Oilers (+1100) lost the Cup final series in 2024 and 2025. Montreal lost to Tampa Bay in the 2021 final. The Ottawa Senators also have +2200 odds among Canadian teams in 2027 Stanley Cup futures. Ottawa hasn't won the Stanley Cup since 1927, and hasn't played in the Cup final series since 2007.

If you're looking for an interesting Stanley Cup betting trend, check out the old Southeast Division. Before the NHL realigned to its current four-division format in 2013, the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Washington Capitals combined to form the league's Southeast Division beginning in 1998. Those four teams have combined to win six of the past nine Stanley Cup titles. Washington won in 2018, followed by Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021. Florida was the Cup champion in 2024 and 2025, and Carolina is the reigning Cup holder. At least one of those four teams has played in eight out of the past nine Stanley Cup final series.

Oddsmakers raising Canes in NHL East

Surprisingly, even though it's the Florida Panthers who are the +700 chalk to win the Stanley Cup, it's not the Panthers who are showing as the betting choice to win the NHL Eastern Conference title.

The reigning Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes are the +360 favorites to win the East. Florida is next at +400, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning at +625. Those three teams have combined to win five of the past six Stanley Cups.

The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, who've combined to win eight Stanley Cups since 1991, are the long shots to win the East title. Each club has a betting line of +4000.

Usual suspects favored in NHL West

The deep competitiveness of the NHL's Western Conference is evidenced by the fact that there are no fewer than five teams with odds shorter than +1000 to emerge as conference champions.

At the top of the heap is the Colorado Avalanche at +350. The Vegas Golden Knights are at +450, followed by the Edmonton Oilers at +500. Next up are the Minnesota Wild (+600), followed by the Dallas Stars (+800).

One of Vegas (two), Edmonton (two), Dallas, or Colorado has represented the West in six of the past seven Stanley Cup finals.

The Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks are the longest shots on the board. Each team is set with +15000 odds to win the Western Conference.

Dylan Larkin's next team odds

The surprise of the NHL offseason so far is that Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has issued a trade request to the team. The Wings have missed the NHL playoffs each of the past 10 years. That's the longest active drought in the league. Larkin has played all 11 of his NHL seasons with Detroit.

Elliotte Friedman: Re Dylan Larkin trade request: I don't think this is the last one we're gonna get this offseason, I've been working on some others - FAN Hockey Show (6/8)

— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) June 9, 2026

There are odds on Larkin's next team. The Minnesota Wild are the +200 favorites to land the Detroit captain in a deal. Next at +300 are the Canadiens.

They are followed by the Anaheim Ducks (+600), Philadelphia Flyers (+700), Boston Bruins (+800), and Los Angeles Kings (+800).

Complicating matters is the fact that Larkin has a full no-movement clause in his contract with the Red Wings. He'll get the final say in his ultimate destination.

Which teams will win NHL divisions?

There are also future book odds are out on the winners of each of the four NHL divisions. Oddsmakers are projecting repeat winners in three of the four divisions.

Carolina is the -105 odds-on choice to recapture the Metropolitan Division. The betting odds are setting Vegas as the +200 favorite to win the Pacific Division. It's Colorado that's the +135 pick to win the Central Division.

Only the Panthers, +190 pick as Atlantic Division champions, is new among this quartet.

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Meet the author

Bob Duff

Sports betting journalist covering NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC, NHL, and major global events since 2016. Former columnist for MSNBC.com, The Windsor Star, and Postmedia. Covered the Super Bowl, World Series, Olympic Games, and FIFA World Cup. Author of 25+ books and contribut...