With all 16 playoff teams now determined, it’s time to examine NHL futures odds on who will win the 2026 Stanley Cup.
The Colorado Avalanche are the consensus betting favorite at sportsbooks. The Avs, who face the Kraken tonight in their final game, captured the Presidents Cup Trophy as the regular-season champion.
Stanley Cup Futures at FanDuel
The NHL Playoffs start on Saturday, so let’s take a look at Stanley Cup futures at FanDuel:
- Colorado Avalanche +310
- Tampa Bay Lightning +360
- Carolina Hurricanes +500
- Dallas Stars +1100
- Vegas Golden Knights +1200
- Edmonton Oilers +1500
- Ottawa Senators +1600
- Minnesota Wild +1700
- Buffalo Sabres +1800
- Utah Mammoth +3500
- Montreal Canadiens +3500
- Pittsburgh Penguins +4000
- Anaheim Ducks +6000
- Los Angeles Kings +6000
- Philadelphia Flyers +6000
- Boston Bruins +7500
The Florida Panthers have won the past two Stanley Cups, but they failed to make the playoffs this year.
Top Stanley Cup Contenders
Can Colorado replicate its dominance in the postseason? The Lightning are dangerous with the best goaltender of all playoff teams. Can Carolina finally break through without Florida in its way?
Avalanche +310
The Avalanche are cruising into the playoffs after going 4-1 in their last five heading into tonight’s regular season finale against the Kraken.
Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 53 goals this season. Defenseman Cale Makar returned from an upper-body injury on Tuesday and tallied three assists in a 3-1 win over Calgary.
The Avs will have a difficult matchup looming in the second round, regardless of who wins Stars vs. Wild.
The only real question for Colorado involves a lack of playoff experience for both goalies. Scott Wedgewood (30-6-6) leads the NHL with a goals against average of 2.07, but has never started an NHL playoff game. Net mate Mackenzie Blackwood (23-10-2) only has seven playoff starts, all coming in last year’s opening round loss to Dallas.
Tampa Bay Lightning (+360)
The Lightning (50-26-6) posted its fifth 50-win season in franchise history.
Nikita Kucherov is one of the betting favorites to win the Hart Trophy as the regular season MVP. Kucherov has tallied 130 points on the season. Only a guy named Connor McDavid had more with 134.
Former Hurricane Jake Guentzel has playoff experience aplenty with Carolina and Pittsburgh, where he helped the Penguins win the Cup in 2017. He and Kucherov are a potent 1-2 punch, as Guentzel finished second in goals (38), assists (50), and points (88).
Lightning lynchpin Andrei Vasilevskiy ranks second among all NHL goalies with a 2.33 goals against average. The “Big Cat” is 39-15-4 this season.
The veteran netminder helped Tampa Bay win two consecutive Cups in 2021 and 2022. He still has the game to get the Lightning there.
Hurricanes (+500)
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour has carried the Canes to the playoffs for the eighth straight season. Carolina (53-22-7) faces Ottawa in the opening round after taking the top seed in the Eastern Conference with 113 points.
The Hurricanes won two of three games against the Senators during the regular season. Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Andrei Svechnikov are back to help the Hurricanes challenge for the second Cup in franchise.
Carolina has a balanced offense with seven players scoring 20+ goals. The Canes lost Martin Necas to Colorado, but helped fill that void with Nikolaj Ehlers. He finished the season with 26 goals and 71 points.
The big question comes between the pipes as rookie Brandon Bussi (31-6-2) will be making his playoff debut. Backup Frederik Anderson (16-14-5) has postseason experience, but has struggled this season with a 3.05 goals against average.
