Achieving a “three-peat” as champion in any major professional sport is challenging, especially in the modern NHL. The league hasn`t seen a team win at least three consecutive Stanley Cups since the New York Islanders secured four titles from 1980 to 1983. Since the salary cap was introduced in 2005, only three teams have even managed to repeat as champions.
Thus, the two-time reigning champions, the Florida Panthers, are aiming to become the first three-time Stanley Cup winners of the salary cap era. Initially, according to ESPN BET, bookmakers favored their chances, setting odds at +700 immediately after their 2025 victory, making them co-favorites for the 2026 title.
These odds improved over the summer after the Panthers locked in team-friendly, long-term extensions with Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand, and Sam Bennett, making them solo favorites at +600 by the end of September. Even an offseason groin surgery for superstar Matthew Tkachuk couldn`t halt their upward momentum. Adrian Horton, ESPN BET`s Senior Director, noted a “significant influx of Panthers action,” as bettors understood that the injury wouldn`t sideline him for the entire season.
However, the situation worsened: on September 25, captain Aleksander Barkov suffered a knee injury requiring surgery, which almost certainly rules him out for the entire regular season, possibly longer. Several sportsbooks immediately lengthened Florida`s Stanley Cup odds. ESPN BET raised them to +1000, placing the team sixth on the odds board.
Yet, betting activity supporting the Panthers remains robust. ESPN BET reports its highest share of Stanley Cup bets (17.1%) and handle (21.4%) backing the “Cats.” BetMGM also noted 13.8% of the handle, making it the second-best in the market.
ESPN BET has since shortened Florida`s odds back to +900 (tied for second-best), and some establishments, like Caesars Sportsbook, never removed the team from favorite status at all. Karry Shreeve, Head of Hockey at Caesars Sportsbook, stated that while his oddsmaking team considered Barkov`s injury for markets like the Presidents` Trophy winner and total team points, he believes the Panthers are always a Stanley Cup threat if they can just reach the playoffs.
“They`re really tricky. For us, it`s definitely dependent on what the market is. So those injuries, in my opinion right now, really just affect the regular season and everything that comes with that,” Shreeve told ESPN. “But we`re not ready to drop them in price significantly, at least for the Stanley Cup, simply because I`m not convinced who`s going to fill their spot [in the playoffs].”
“Last season, they faced a full gauntlet in the playoffs, eliminating tough opponents in Tampa, Toronto, Carolina, and Edmonton on their way to a second title,” Horton added via email. “Even if they struggle during the regular season, they`ve proven over the last two years that they need to be considered a favorite when gearing up for the postseason, especially if Barkov can return.”
A Crowded Field of Stanley Cup Challengers
Naturally, the Panthers are far from the only team vying for the Stanley Cup, and there`s a strong group of contenders at the top, with seven teams showing odds of +1000 or shorter at ESPN BET.
The favorites, all sporting +800 odds, include the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, and Edmonton Oilers, who have been Cup runners-up for two consecutive years. Just beyond them are the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, and Panthers at +900, with the Tampa Bay Lightning coming in at +1000.
Odds fluctuate significantly from one sportsbook to another. BetMGM, for instance, lists Vegas as a co-favorite with Edmonton, while DraftKings positions Carolina as the sole favorite. ESPN BET priced the Hurricanes competitively, seeing this as potentially the year their talented core finally breaks through.
“Carolina is one of the most consistently dominant teams we`ve seen in recent years, having recouped some talent over the summer as they look to make another deep run,” Horton said. “Patrons will likely keep their postseason struggles in mind, but it took a full-steam Panthers team to eliminate them. We fully expect Carolina to be battling in the playoffs again.”
The Hurricanes haven`t attracted as much public attention, with BetMGM ranking them fifth (6.5%) and ESPN BET ranking them seventh (5.7%) in Stanley Cup bet share. Instead, bettors are largely backing the Avalanche and Golden Knights within the favorites tier.
However, beyond the top contenders, American bettors are largely turning their attention north of the border. The Toronto Maple Leafs have unequivocally been one of the most-bet teams for the Stanley Cup across the sportsbook market, accounting for a leading 10.6% of tickets and 15.0% of the handle at BetMGM, which lowered their odds to +1600 from +2000 at open. They aren`t the only Canadian team attracting public interest.
“Following a late-season surge last year, there`s also betting interest in the Canadiens,” stated BetMGM Senior Trader Matthew Rasp in a press release. “We anticipate Montreal taking another step forward, and the liability on the team will grow.”
To that end, Toronto has garnered the most bets (17.4%) to win the Eastern Conference, while Montreal has received the largest handle (20.1%) in that market at the sportsbook.
Generally, though, bookmakers aren`t concerned about Canada`s 33-year Stanley Cup drought finally ending, with the possible exception of Edmonton accomplishing it. Shreeve expressed comfort with the price he`s offering on the Leafs despite the betting action, while DraftKings Sportsbook Director Johnny Avello expects the winner to emerge from the cluster of favorites.
“The way I look at it, there`s no real clear-cut, short favorite,” Avello told ESPN. “This year, it`s more wide open at the top, and then you have a whole second tier of teams in the 20-to-40 odds range. There are another 10 teams there. Could the Stanley Cup winner come from there? Absolutely. But the top tier has eight teams that we believe will contend for the title.”
The last preseason Stanley Cup favorite to win the title was the Avalanche (+600) in 2022.
Can Money Buy His Hart?
The 2025-26 NHL season will mark the 100th awarding of the Hart Memorial Trophy to the league`s most valuable player, making it fitting if a multi-time winner of the award, who is well on his way to becoming an all-time great, enters the campaign as a huge favorite.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid is listed at +200 on ESPN BET, holding a relatively significant lead over Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (+475) and Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (+650), both former Hart Trophy winners themselves.
While McDavid`s preseason odds aren`t unprecedented—they were actually shorter to open the previous two seasons—they are noteworthy given the hockey world is watching him both on and off the ice. On the eve of Opening Night, McDavid signed a two-year, $25 million extension to remain with the Oilers beyond this season, following much speculation about his free agency after the team`s second consecutive Cup Final defeat.
“With McDavid, it just helps that he`s inherently already going to be the favorite for a lot of these awards,” Shreeve said. “So just because of who he is already… we don`t have to make him even more of a favorite.”
Speaking of new contracts, Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov signed a record-setting eight-year, $136 million deal at the end of September, which may have generated some buzz around him in the Hart betting markets. The winger has attracted the most wagers at ESPN BET and BetMGM, also securing the largest handle at the former (17.6%). He holds +1200 odds at ESPN BET, placing him fifth on the board.
Bettors are also entertaining the idea that a goaltender could repeat for the Hart Trophy after Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck claimed the award last season. Bookmakers at BetMGM, DraftKings, and ESPN BET all report liabilities on goalies like Hellebuyck (+3000), Tampa Bay`s Andrei Vasilevskiy (100-1), and the New York Rangers` Igor Shesterkin (100-1).
Shreeve views such a repeat as “unlikely,” and the statistics certainly support his stance: out of 99 Hart Trophy awards, only nine have gone to goaltenders, and only once in consecutive years—both to Dominik Hasek in 1997 and 1998.
Calder Betting: Get to Know Ivan Demidov
The betting market for the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the league`s rookie of the year, can be quite unusual.
Shreeve notes that the overall handle for the Calder winner is relatively small compared to other NHL futures markets, likely due to unfamiliarity with the names in question. “We just don`t know as much about these guys as we would in the NBA or NFL because we don`t grow up with them,” he said. “Many of them are European, many just play in leagues we`re not familiar with.”
Thus, the markets often result in a situation where one standout name rises above the rest to become the preseason favorite. Sometimes, the favorite goes on to win—such as Connor Bedard (-135) in 2023-24 and Auston Matthews (-130) in 2016-17—and sometimes not, due to mitigating circumstances or otherwise. For example, when McDavid entered the 2015-16 season at +130 but lost the award to Artemi Panarin (+2200) after sustaining an injury.
This year, that name is Ivan Demidov of the Canadiens, who is an overwhelming +165 favorite at ESPN BET. The next closest players—Oilers forward Isaac Howard, San Jose Sharks forward Michael Misa, and Wild defenseman Zeev Buium—are in a three-way tie for second at +1200.
Due to the lack of name recognition, bookmakers attribute Demidov`s favorite status to bettor activity rather than expert consensus. At ESPN BET, Demidov accounts for a whopping 73.1% of the handle for this award, and he also has the most tickets and money at BetMGM.
“Demidov is an interesting case as he made a splash at the end of last season and is still eligible for the Calder this year,” Horton explained. “The media frenzy around his debut is a leading factor in the early opinion of him being a standout favorite.”
The only other name garnering notable attention is Blackhawks defenseman Sam Rinzel (+2500), whom Avello notes has become a liability at DraftKings due to his long odds.
