How many games must a team win before they earn the Stanley Cup?

It takes 16 wins for the NHL championship team to earn the Stanley Cup title. To go all the way requires winning four rounds of a best-of-seven series.

When was the first Stanley Cup final played?

The first Stanley Cup championship series was played in 1894. The first team to win the Cup was the Montreal AAA in 1893. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans were the first American-based Stanley Cup championship squad. Eight years later, in 1925, the Victoria Cougars were the final team from outside the NHL to be Stanley Cup champions.

Which team was the most recent to win back-to-back Stanley Cup finals?

The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup Final series. They were the first club to win successive Stanley Cups since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. The Pittsburgh Penguins won two in a row in 2016 and 2017. The Detroit Red Wings (1997, 1998) and the Penguins (1991, 1992) are the only other NHL teams to win back-to-back titles since 1990.

Which NHL team was in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2026 for the first time in 15 years?

The Buffalo Sabres were back in the NHL postseason this spring for the first time in 15 years. Buffalo’s 14-year playoff absence is an NHL futility record. Now that the Sabres have ended their drought, it’s the Detroit Red Wings (10 seasons) who hold the longest active absence from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Which player receives the Conn Smythe Trophy?

Since 1965, the Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded to the player determined to be the most valuable performer in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Carolina captain Jordan Staal, who scored six goals in the final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, was the 2026 winner. Captain Jean Beliveau of the Montreal Canadiens was the first winner of this trophy in 1965.

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

By Bob Duff, Updated on: Oct 1, 2026

Table of Contents›

Latest NHL betting news you need to know
Who’s got next?
Kane back in Blackhawks colors
Dylan Larkin next team odds
Previous NHL betting news you might've missed

The last two teams to win the Stanley Cup squared off on opening night of the NHL season, and one goal separated the clubs. It took overtime for the Florida Panthers, Stanley Cup champions in 2023-24 and 2024-25, to defeat the 2025-26 Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 1-0.

There’s no separating these two teams in the Stanley Cup futures. The Hurricanes and Panthers are set as +650 co-favorites to be the team lifting Lord Stanley’s mug aloft at the end of the 2026-27 NHL season.

However, there was plenty of movement in that betting market during August.

The Colorado Avalanche, 2022 Stanley Cup champions, are at +700 to win it all. Colorado was the NHL regular-season champion in 2025-26.

The Edmonton Oilers, losers to Florida in the 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup finals, are next in this betting line at +850. Last spring’s losing finalists, the Vegas Golden Knights, are sitting at +900.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are +1200, while the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild are both set with a betting line of +1400. At +1800, the Washington Capitals are the only other NHL team with odds to win the Stanley Cup shorter than +2000.

At the other end of the scale, you can get +30000 odds on any of the Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames, or Vancouver Canucks winning the Stanley Cup.

Before making a deeper assessment of which way to lean in the NHL 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.

Latest NHL betting news you need to know

Hard to defend Stanley Cup title

Big start for Avalanche

Will Florida's goaltending hold up?

Concerning start for Oilers

Should you be wild about Minnesota?

No one has to tell the Carolina Hurricanes how hard it is to win the Stanley Cup. Last season's title was the club's first in 20 years. Likewise, going two decades without a title makes the difficulty of repeating as Cup champions obvious. Already, there are issues afoot. Defenseman Alexander Nikishin, a restricted free agent, is holding out for a big contract, and the team is looking to trade him. Goalie Frederik Andersen left as a UFA in the summer, signing with the Edmonton Oilers

Colorado was the betting choice of the oddsmakers to win the Stanley Cup last season. However, the Avalanche were upset in the playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights. Signing Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Cale Makar to an eight-year, $163.2 million contract made him the highest-paid player in NHL history, with an AAV of $20.4 million. Colorado opened the 2026-27 NHL season with a vengeance. The Avs pumped eight goals in the Los Angeles Kings' net in their opening-night victory.

The Florida Panthers lost the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. Then they won back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025. And then, suffering through an injury-plagued campaign, they missed the playoffs last season. So what to think of the Panthers? Do they bounce back and win it all again? Florida has plenty of skill, size, and nastiness. It's a roster built to succeed in the playoffs. But is the goaltending going to be good enough? Multiple Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky left for Toronto in free agency. That leaves Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid between the pipes.

They have the NHL's best 1-2 punch at center in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, both of them Hart Trophy winners as league MVP. New coach Mike Babcock is known for winning and for his tough, occasionally unsavory ways of running a team. Andersen, the key offseason addition designed to fix the club's woes between the posts, is out with an injury. And one game into the Babcock era, the jury is out. The Oilers lost the season opener to the Vancouver Canucks. Last season, the Canucks finished as the NHL's worst team.

Last season, Minnesota GM Bill Guerin made the boldest move of the season when he dealt a package of players and picks to the Canucks in exchange for Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Quinn Hughes. All it got them last spring was one extra round of playoffs. Hughes will be a UFA at season's end and hasn't signed a new pact. There's speculation he wants to get to New Jersey and suit up for the Devils alongside his brothers, Jack and Luke. The Wild are also seen as the favorites to land disgruntled former Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. A 30-goal scorer in each of the past five seasons, Larkin has demanded a trade.

Who’s got next?

Already sitting with 32 teams, there was plenty of speculation about further NHL expansion over the latter part of the summer. An NHL special wager offered at BetOnline asks which city will be the next to land an NHL expansion franchise.

Austin, Texas, is a bit surprising as the +150 chalk in this wager. Houston is next in this betting market at +200.

Three cities that were all former homes of NHL teams hold down the next three places in this special bet. Phoenix is the +500 third betting choice. The Arizona Coyotes moved to Utah to become the Mammoth two years ago.

Atlanta is coming in with odds of +800. Will it be third-time lucky for the Georgia city? The Flames and Thrashers have both come and gone as Atlanta NHL teams.

At +1000, Quebec is the Canadian city with the shortest odds. The Nordiques were an NHL franchise from 1979 through 1996. Portland, the first American city to play for the Stanley Cup in 1916, is at a betting line of +2800. Indianapolis is offered at odds of +4000.

Two other former NHL cities – Hartford and Oakland – are in a group at +5000 that also includes Saskatoon, Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Green Bay. Cleveland and Kansas City were also briefly NHL homes, and it’s set at +7500 that either of them might be in the league again.

Kane back in Blackhawks colors

The feeling is that veteran forward and Hall of Famer in waiting Patrick Kane is back where he belongs: with the Chicago Blackhawks. He won three Stanley Cups and the Art Ross, Hart, and Conn Smythe Trophies with the Blackhawks, who drafted Kane first overall in 2007. He spent the past three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.

Kane scored a goal for Chicago in the season opener, and there are NHL props on how many points he will finish with this season.

Kane is -125 to go over 60 points, which he hasn't done since the 2021-22 season. He's +150 to top 65 points and +300 to exceed 70 points.

Dylan Larkin next team odds

It's been a rough summer for the Detroit Red Wings. Steve Yzerman was ousted as GM in July, and no full-time replacement has been named. That left no one to negotiate a contract with RFA defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who's back home in Sweden, awaiting something to be settled.

Dylan Larkin issued a trade demand to the team in July. He hasn't been moved yet, but he has been stripped of the captaincy.

With a full no-movement clause in his contract, Larkin originally gave the Wings a three-team list to which he'd accept a trade: Minnesota, Vegas, and Florida. With no action on the trade front, Larkin recently expanded his list to seven teams.

In a Larkin next team prop, the Minnesota Wild are the +245 chalk to land the 2026 U.S. Olympian. Buffalo (+488), Utah (+669), San Jose (+809), Vegas (+1011), and Florida (+1333) are other contenders. There are odds of +2400 available if you choose to bet on the rest of the NHL field.

It's +809 that Larkin will end up staying with the Red Wings.

Previous NHL betting news you might've missed

[September 2026]: As training camps open, the last two teams to win the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes, top the Stanley Cup futures book.
[August 2026]: Now that the roster shuffling caused by NHL free agency has settled down, the early 2026-27 Stanley Cup futures market was showing the last two teams to win the Stanley Cup - the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes - as the top betting choices to win in 2026-27.
[July 2026]: NHL free agency reshaped the early 2026-27 Stanley Cup futures market, with Sergei Bobrovsky joining the Toronto Maple Leafs and John Carlson signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
[July 2026]: The Toronto Maple Leafs added No. 1 overall draft pick Gavin McKenna and veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, strengthening their roster and shortening their Stanley Cup price at some sportsbooks.
[July 2026]: The Washington Capitals emerged as one of the NHL offseason’s biggest movers after adding several established players, forcing bettors to reassess their Metropolitan Division and Stanley Cup odds.
[June 2026]: The Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights and entering the offseason among the early favorites to repeat in 2026-27.
[June 2026]: The 2026 NHL Draft introduced a new group of prospects into the futures market, with Gavin McKenna selected first overall by Toronto.

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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...