NHL Futures

Find the best NHL futures bets with Dimers’ Stanley Cup probabilities

A Stanley Cup future is a long bet on a short piece of information: a price. Picking a Stanley Cup winner is a breeze. Finding a price worth betting on is the hard part. 

It’s tempting to back the team you like, chase a preseason long shot, or jump on the biggest payout without checking what the odds actually imply.

Dimers gives you another way to look at the futures market. Our Stanley Cup probabilities show how likely our model thinks each team is to win the Cup, so you can compare that probability with the best available price and find futures bets where the numbers line up in your favor.

Futures bets reward patience: you are not picking a winner so much as buying a number, and the number is either generous or it is not. 

Compare Stanley Cup odds across sportsbooks and prediction markets

Use the NHL futures table above to shop the price before you place your bet.

Each row shows a team, our probability, and the best Stanley Cup odds we can find across the major North American sportsbooks and prediction markets. 

Shopping for a futures price costs one extra minute, and you only pay it once.

What are NHL futures and Stanley Cup odds?

Bets on NHL futures are long-term wagers made before or during a season. Stanley Cup odds are the biggest NHL futures market, betting on which team will be the NHL Championship winners for the 2026-27 season.

A Stanley Cup futures bet means you can back any team, from the bottom divisional underdogs to the usual suspects, to be crowned NHL champions at the end of the Stanley Cup Final. 

Two things separate a futures bet from a game bet. Your odds are fixed at the moment you place it, so a team that shortens from +3000 to +600 does not change what your ticket pays. Your stake is tied up until the market settles, which on a Stanley Cup bet can mean eight months.

Learn more about how to make long-term bets in our how to bet futures guide. 

How to read Stanley Cup odds

Stanley Cup odds are quoted in American format, with a plus (+) or a minus (-) in front of the number. Almost every team carries plus odds.

A plus number is what a $100 stake returns in profit. A minus number is what you have to risk to make $100 in profit.

• +700 returns $700 on a $100 bet, plus your $100 back.
• +5000 returns $5,000 on a $100 bet, which is the shape of a long shot near the bottom of the board.
• -200 means risking $200 to win $100. You will only see minus odds on a Stanley Cup market late in the playoffs, once fewer teams remain.

How does Dimers calculate Stanley Cup win probabilities?

Our Stanley Cup win probabilities are our model's estimate of each team's chance of winning the Cup from where the season stands today.

Our NHL futures model runs the entire season 10,000 times to see all the different ways it can play out. We simulate the real regular season schedule and give every team a rating based on form, history, strength of opponent, and whether they’re playing home or away.

Each simulation plays out standings, playoff brackets, and even seven-game series where needed. The model captures as much detail as possible, from power plays and overtime wins to shootouts, accounting for both favorites and upsets.

When we finish all the simulations, we see how many times each team wins the Stanley Cup. If the Boston Bruins win in 900 of those 10,000 seasons, we give them a 9% chance of lifting the Cup. Our futures model updates throughout the season, adjusting for real-world results so you always have the latest probabilities.

These are estimates, not forecasts. A team at 12% is far more likely to lose than to win, and one of the 88% will lift the Cup instead. Over a full board of 32 teams, the point is not to be right about one of them; it is to be closer than the price you are being offered.

When to bet on NHL futures

Futures prices move on a predictable schedule, and when you bet matters nearly as much as who you bet.

There is no fixed time for when the best moment to act is, but here are some general tips on what to consider when line shopping for Stanley Cup winner odds:

• Before the season: Prices are at their longest, and the information is at its thinnest. Nobody has played a game, so the board is built on last season plus the offseason, and that is where the biggest mispricings live. 
• First twenty games: The market overreacts to starts. A team that opens 4-12 gets dumped further than the standings justify with 66 games left, and a hot start gets bought harder than it should.
• The trade deadline: A contender that adds at the deadline shortens immediately. If you like a team's chance of being a buyer, the price before the deadline is better than the price after it.
• Once the playoffs start: Sixteen teams, four rounds, and prices that reset after every series. A first-round upset moves the entire bracket, not just the two teams in it.
• On hedging: If a team you backed at +4000 reaches the Final at -150, you can bet the other side and come out ahead whichever team wins, instead of riding one result. Whether that is worth doing is arithmetic, not instinct: work out both payouts before the puck drops, not during the third period.

One thing to weigh at all times: a futures stake is money you cannot use again until the market settles. A $100 Stanley Cup bet in October is $100 you are not staking on the other 82 games. Some providers offer options to cash out, like regular bets, and can be a valuable option, depending on the futures odds for the remaining teams at the time.

Key dates for the 2026-27 NHL season

For the 2026-27 regular season, the NHL expanded the schedule from 82 to 84 games.

For timing around major season moments that can impact your futures bets, mark these dates on your calendar:

• Preseason: September 19-26, 2026
• Regular season opening night: September 29, 2026
• First 32-team game slate: October 13, 2026
• Thanksgiving showdown: November 28, 2026
• NHL All-Star Weekend: February 5-6, 2027
• Trade deadline: March 1, 2027
• Regular season final day: April 10, 2027
• Stanley Cup Playoffs: Date TBC April 2027
• Stanley Cup Final: Date TBC June 2027 

The dates for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final are currently TBC, with the 110th NHL season due to end in June 2027. 

Get more from NHL futures with Dimers Pro

Want to take a deeper, more data-driven approach to NHL futures betting?

Dimers Pro gives you access to additional betting tools and insights designed to help you research opportunities across the NHL futures market.

• Identify potential value: Compare projected probabilities with available NHL futures odds to find bets that may offer positive expected value (+EV).
• Follow changing markets: NHL futures prices can move throughout the season. Track updated probabilities and odds as the outlook changes.
• Research more markets: Explore opportunities for who will win the Stanley Cup in 2027.
• Use data alongside your own analysis: Combine projections, probabilities, and odds with your own research before making a betting decision.

You also gain access to the full Dimers experience:

• Real-time research tools: Access on desktop or the iOS/Android app.
• Dimebot AI assistant: Get instant answers powered by Dimers' data.
• Private Discord: Connect with other bettors and Dimers experts.
• 15,000+ events annually: Picks, props, parlays, and more across major sports.

Make the coldest bets on the ice by becoming a member today.

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Discover more NHL betting tools

Our NHL futures and Stanley Cup odds help you with the long game. 

For everything else, see Dimers’ complete lineup of NHL betting angles: 

• NHL Predictions: Daily NHL probabilities and picks for every game all season.
• NHL Best Bets: Top daily +EV NHL bets priced in your favor. 
• NHL Props: Best NHL player props for goal scorers, shots, points, and assists.
• NHL Trends: Track NHL prop hit streaks with prop sample sizes.
• NHL Parlays: Build automatic NHL parlays with high-upside multi-leg picks.
• NHL Odds: Compare NHL betting lines with instant odds shopping. 
• NHL News: Daily NHL game previews and betting tips from our experts. 

Responsible gambling

Futures betting carries a risk that game betting does not. The stake is gone from your bankroll for months, the ticket looks alive long after the bet has gone wrong, and a long shot at +5000 is easy to talk yourself into precisely because the stake feels small. Decide what your futures exposure is for the season before you place the first one, and treat that as the ceiling rather than the starting point.

If gambling is causing harm for you or someone close to you, our responsible gambling page has support services and self-exclusion options.