2026 NHL Western Conference Winner Picks

With the NHL trade deadline in the rearview mirror and just over a month left in the regular season, rosters are set for the greatest tournament in professional sports.

What Western Conference team will make the Stanley Cup Final? Let's take a look at the latest futures and make our picks. Odds are subject to change.

2025/26 Western Conference Futures
Colorado Avalanche	+150	+150	+150
Vegas Golden Knights	+450	+450	+450
Edmonton Oilers	+550	+550	+550
Dallas Stars	+800	+800	+800
Minnesota Wild	+800	+800	+800
Utah Mammoth	+1400	+1400	+1400
Anaheim Ducks	+2000	+2000	+2000
Los Angeles Kings	+3300	+3300	+3300
Winnipeg Jets	+6600	+6600	+6600
Nashville Predators	+10000	+10000	+10000
San Jose Sharks	+10000	+10000	+10000
Seattle Kraken	+10000	+10000	+10000

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Avalanche a heavy favorite

Colorado (+150) cooled off considerably following a blistering start to the season, but Nathan MacKinnon's club still leads the NHL with 95 points. At the deadline, the Avalanche added Nick Blankenburg and Brett Kula to their blueline, fortified their centre depth with Nicolas Roy and reunited with old friend Nazem Kadri. If they could only fix their 30th ranked power-play, they'd be unbeatable.

Nathan MacKinnon received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for goaltender interference on Connor Ingram 🤕😬 pic.twitter.com/XEAqoAMylr

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 11, 2026

Fade Vegas

Vegas (+450) was uncharacteristically quiet at the deadline. The Golden Knights are also just 4-6-0 in their past 10 games and have only one victory over teams currently in a playoff position since late November.

Heavyweight Round 1 matchup

Dallas (+800) is coming off a 10-game winning streak but is locked into playing Minnesota (+800) in the first round thanks to the often-ridiculed NHL playoff divisional format. The Stars only made a few small deadline additions and could be without Roope Hintz for awhile following his recent lower body injury.

Meanwhile, the Wild have looked like a different team since acquiring superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Canucks. Kirill Kaprizov is second in the NHL with 37 goals and sixth in points (78), and Mat Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek continue to shine on the second line.

For the last three seasons, a traded captain has ended the season lifting the #StanleyCup...

Will the trend continue this year with three new candidates in the running? 👀 #NHLTradeDeadline pic.twitter.com/eHg6DZjnHJ

— NHL (@NHL) March 6, 2026

What about the Oilers?

Edmonton (+550) is an underdog to make their third-consecutive Stanley Cup Final but they still have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who are respectively first (110) and fourth (94) in the league in points. Not to mention Evan Bouchard, who tops all defensemen with 75 points. Unlike Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota, they also have a much easier Pacific-division path to the Western Conference finals.

However, the Oilers are an even bigger mess in net than usual. After swapping Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry earlier in the year, the latter has been awful in his last 10 games, posting an .862 save percentage.

2026 NHL Western Conference Winner Picks

Minnesota (+800) is looking like the best value on the board as their acquisition of Quinn Hughes hasn't been fully baked in the odds. If Filip Gustavsson can continue his stellar play (.914 SV%) in the playoffs, the sky's the limit for Bill Guerin's well balanced squad.

Minnesota Wild to win Western Conference

+800

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