The NHL and its players have agreed to return to the ice for games on Aug. 1, with training camps opening on July 13. The unprecedented 24-team postseason tournament agreed upon will take place in two hub cities in Canada.
Hockey fans last saw teams on the ice on March 11, the day before the NHL suspended play indefinitely due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. March Madness was canceled entirely, leaving sports bettors with little to watch outside of eSports, Korean baseball, and golf.
The NHL, NBA, and MLB all have plans to resume near the end of July. Unlike the NBA, the NHL has canceled the remainder of the season entirely and will begin five-game series for 5-12 seeds in each conference. Western Conference teams will convene in Edmonton while Eastern Conference teams face off in Toronto. The conference finals will then take place in Edmonton followed by the Stanley Cup Final.
The NHL will make up for the lost time by providing hockey fans with jam-packed days of games. The Stanley Cup Qualifiers will begin with roughly 15 consecutive hours of action on the ice. If you aren’t excited yet, just look at the first day of games scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 1:
12 PM ET: Rangers vs. Hurricanes
3 PM ET: Blackhawks vs. Oilers
4 PM ET: Panthers vs. Islanders
8 PM ET: Canadiens vs. Penguins
10:30 PM ET: Jets vs. Flames
JAM. PACKED.
Follow along as we break down the unique NHL Playoff format, show where to bet on the NHL playoffs, review NHL futures and Stanley Cup betting odds, and look at some NHL betting tips as we get closer to Aug. 1.
Legal Online Sportsbooks Where You Can Bet the NHL Playoffs
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
- BetMGM
- Caeasras
NHL Playoff Format
Instead of its standard 16-team bracket, NHL will include 24 teams this postseason, giving teams like the Montreal Canadiens an unexpected opportunity.
With standings and stats frozen as of March 11, the top four teams in each conference, ranked by points percentage, will get a first-round bye. These teams won’t be getting additional rest or practice, though. While the other 16 teams will be competing in a best-of-five qualifying round, the top four teams in each conference will play each other to determine seeding. After the play-in round, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will proceed with 16 teams battling in best-of-seven series. There will be re-seeding after each round, as the highest seed plays the lowest seed in each conference.
Eastern Conference Byes
- Boston Bruins
- Tampa Bay Lighting
- Washington Capitals
- Philadelphia Flyers
Western Conference Byes
- St. Louis Blues
- Colorado Avalanche
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Dallas Stars
Eastern Conference Play-in Matchups
- No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens
- No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 11 New York Rangers
- No. 7 New York Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers
- No. 8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets
Western Conference Play-in Matchups
- No. 5 Edmonton Oilers vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks
- No. 6 Nashville Predators vs. No. 11 Arizona Coyotes
- No. 7 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 10 Minnesota Wild
- No. 8 Calgary Flames vs. No 9 Winnipeg Jets
Even more exciting for sports fhans
NHL Futures: Updated Stanley Cup Betting Odds
An NHL futures bet is a wager made on the future results of an NHL season. For example, shortly after the St. Louis Blues polished off the Boston Bruins to win the 2019 Stanley Cup, the odds rolled out on a few of the most popular NHL futures bets: the 2020 Eastern Conference winner, the 2020 Western Conference winner and of course, the 2020 Stanley Cup champion. Odds have changed over the course of the season, and so have the circumstances. Sportsbooks initially suspended NHL futures action once the season came to a halt. However, that has changed now that the NHL is coming closer to finalizing a plan to deliver the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Online sports betting sites quickly adjusted odds for the format when it was first released nearly a month ago. Here’s what the updated Stanley Cup odds look like at PointsBet:
Odds are accurate as of July 7, 2020.
- Tampa Bay Lightning +600
- Boston Bruins +625
- Colorado Avalance +825
- Vegas Golden Knights +850
- Washington Capitals +1000
- Philadelphia Flyers +1050
- St. Louis Blues +1100
- Dallas Stars +1500
- Pittsburgh Penguins +1600
- Edmonton Oilers +2500
- Toronto Maple Leafs +2500
- Vancouver Canucks +3500
- Calgary Flames +3500
- New York Rangers +4000
- Carolina Hurricanes +4000
- Nashville Predators +4000
- Minnesota Wild +4000
- New York Islanders +4000
- Arizona Coyotes +4000
- Florida Panthers +5000
- Winnipeg Jets +5500
- Columbus Blue Jackets +6000
- Montreal Canadiens +7000
- Chicago Blackhawks +7500
- Use Promo Code RG2K
- Name Your Own Bets
- NJ-CO-MI-IN-IL-WV-IA-VA-NY
2018-2019 Futures Recap
No one can forget the St. Louis Blues’ improbable run in 2019 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship.
While they entered the season with Stanley Cup buzz surrounding the team, in large part to the Ryan O’Reilly heist from the Buffalo Sabres, the optimism certainly did not last long. Futures bettors who bet on the Blues in the offseason at +2500 were ready to rip up their futures tickets and start looking at draft rankings for their lottery pick. Even the O’Reilly trade was being questioned with the Sabres off to a hot start without the ‘locker room cancer’.
Rumors of a complete tear down including trading franchise cornerstones Vladimir Tarasensko and Alex Pietrangelo made the rounds leading into Christmas. It was around this time that a Blues fan on holiday in Las Vegas plunked down a car payment on his hometown team at +25000 (yes, 250-1!) as they were mired in 31st in a 31 team league. As they made their climb from worst to first this bet began garnering attention from media. It became a topic for every news outlet covering the NHL playoffs and was mentioned throughout the Blues epic run. It might even be why you are reading about NHL futures bets now.
So what’s the lesson hockey bettors can take away from last year’s Stanley Cup champions?
NHL Futures Betting Tips
Historically, longshots in the NHL have had more success than those in other sports like the NBA. In fact, in back-to-back years bettors were able to grab 300-1 and 250-1 odds, respectively, on teams that made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.
As author Michael Maubossin points out in The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing, using data from the five major sports, hockey outcomes were the most reliant on luck. Nate Silver has echoed similar sentiments, saying hockey was the hardest to predict.
The chaos in hockey is what makes its playoffs one of the most exciting to watch. With 24 teams included this year and a long hiatus between competitive play, the Stanley Cup Playoffs could prove to be as chaotic as ever. This won’t scare sharp bettors from betting on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, though. Instead, they’ll embrace variance and harness uncertainty to use to their advantage.
Additional NHL Futures Bets
If your NHL Stanley Cup futures don’t go as planned, here are some other NHL futures you can start prepping for next season.
- Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference champion)
- Clarence S. Campbell Bowl (Western Conference champion)
- Presidents’ Trophy (NHL team with the most regular-season points)
- Conn Smythe Trophy (most valuable player to his team in the playoffs)
- Hart Memorial Trophy (most valuable player to his team in the regular season)
- Art Ross Trophy (player with the most points at the end of the regular season)
- Calder Memorial Trophy (best rookie during regular season)
- Vezina Trophy (best goalie during regular season)
- James Norris Memorial Trophy (best defenseman during regular season)
- Maurice Richard Trophy (player with the most regular-season goals)
2020 Stanley Cup Betting Picks
In particular, it might be worth throwing a dart at a team like the Montreal Canadiens +8000 (via FanDuel), who weren’t set to make the playoffs if the season had continued as scheduled, but are a formidable opponent and have the talent to take advantage of an unexpected playoff birth.
[Sign up at FandDuel Sportsbooks to bet on the Montreal Canadiens 80-1 to win the Stanley Cup!]
You can also use the new format to justify betting on the Toronto Maple Leafs +3000 at BetMGM. If the Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets and end up on the side of the bracket without the Tampa Bay Lightning, their path to the Stanley Cup Finals is a lot easier as they seem to match up better against the someone like the Boston Bruins. This scenario is increasingly probably in light of the NHL’s announcement to re-seed following each round.
[Sign up at BetMGM bet on the Toronto Maple Leafs 30-1 to win the Stanley Cup!]
- Use Code: GRINDERS1600
- Exciting Brand
- Beginner Friendly
Betting NHL Props
You can place your NHL Stanley Cup futures at U.S. sportsbooks right now but the hockey betting doesn’t stop there. Once the NHL officially returns there will be a plethora of options for sports bettors looking to get action on hockey games.
Sportsbooks will post moneylines, puck lines, totals (over/unders), and NHL props for each hockey game. There will also be moneylines for each individual series, allowing you to bet on the winner of the series without requiring you to bet on each game in the series.
What is an NHL Prop Bet?
An NHL prop bet, which is short for proposition bet, is defined as a bet based on almost anything other than the final result of a hockey game. NHL prop bets are usually offered on player or team performance in a given game.
For example, some common prop bets for Connor McDavid would be:
Connor McDavid– over -110 or under +130 2.5 shots on goal in his game
Connor McDavid to score a goal in his game – yes +110
Connor McDavid – over +165 or under -240 1.5 points in his game
An example for a team prop on the same night would be:
Edmonton Oilers – over or under 3.5 goals as a team
NHL prop bets like these give sports bettors the opportunity to place small wagers on the games they’re watching that aren’t based on the final outcome of the game. Limits are typically lower for bets like this compared to betting on a side or total because these lines are softer, meaning they’re easier for bettors to pick out inefficiencies.
How to Bet NHL Futures and Props
There has never been a better time to be a sports bettor in the United States. New markets are expanding every month, and the number of sites taking legal wagers is increasing as well.
If you are a sports bettor in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, West Virginia, or New Jersey, FanDuel Sportsbook and/or DraftKings Sportsbook are ready to accept bets on the Stanley Cup, Eastern Conference, and Western Conference winners.
Prop bets on first goal scorer, anytime goal scorer, and many others are being offered for each individual game as well.
During the regular season, DraftKings offered goal scorer props for every single player playing in each game as well as the opportunity to bet on either yes or no for 1+, 2+ or 3+ points select players will score in a game.
Make sure to check back as the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs near for more in-depth betting tips for NHL moneylines and totals.
Top Photo Credit: USA Today Sports