The National Hockey League (NHL) is the best hockey competition in the world, with teams from Canada and the United States. As you might expect, ice hockey is a very physical sport, which adds to the overall hype of each contest. Betting on hockey games has spread to several countries around the world thanks to the entertainment value of each game along with its potential to pay off. The NHL consists of 31 hockey teams from 6 conferences across North America. Each team competes to qualify for the playoff round, which is a Stanley Cup Final waiting to happen. Check out our comprehensive guide if it's not your usual betting guide. Our experienced experts have compiled the latest NHL betting lines, odds and statistics from past championships.
Best NHL Betting Sites 2025
|
Operator
|
Bonus
|
Features
|
Claim Now
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
100% Match
Up to $100 |
|
|
|
50 EXTRA
SPINS |
|
|
|
Bet €10 Get €30
|
|
|
|
Deposit Bonus
|
|
|
How Do You Bet on Hockey?
Feel the excitement with betting on the NHL, where the potential for anything to happen is real. The most important thing for bettors to remember about betting on NHL games is that nothing is ever a sure thing. You can go by the book and take your cues from the online pros. But if you don't know the basics, it's all for naught. So the best place to start is with us, as we lay out the basics of betting on NHL games that you can use from the first drop of the puck in the preseason to the presentation of the Stanley Cup.
- NHL Futures - You can place an NHL bet on the hockey team with the best odds to win the Stanley Cup before the competition even starts.
- The team's performance in the previous season's competition should support this bet.
- Moneyline Explained - When betting on specific NHL games, you can pick the team with the strongest roster to win.
- NHL Picks and Parlays - each online bookmaker will offer odds on the most competitive games of the round.
- Choose a number of hockey games you want to bet on and select them all to be part of a single betting ticket. When you do this, you are essentially raising the stakes. Of course, this also means that you increase the potential return on this bet.
- Puck Lines - this is the version of hockey handicapping where oddsmakers try to balance the scales by predicting the winner of the game as well as the score.
NHL Betting Tips
The National Hockey League runs from October to June every year. Players have plenty of time to make up for lost bets. The upside of betting on the NHL is that you can get a good insight into the betting habits of other gamblers. This is thanks to the many dedicated online NHL betting forums that exist solely to break down, dissect, and serve up for public consumption the bet-worthy (and bet-not-worthy) aspects of tonight's slate of games. Our expert puck line tipsters have come to the conclusion that some bets are just too likely to win to not bet on them. They pass these bets along to us, and we share them with you free of charge. To be continued ...
- For starters, bettors should focus on one conference and develop an understanding of the various teams in that league.
- The most popular of all the bets you will find are NHL point spread bets. Place your bets on the NHL and watch them pay off. Bet on the NHL point spread and watch your money grow. It's as simple as that.
- Players need to understand the different segments of the overall contest. A hockey game consists of three periods of 20 minutes each. Bets can be placed on any segment or on the segments as a whole.
- When placing your bets, keep the NHL schedule in mind. Some teams can't buy a win when they're on the road, while others rack up the wins with the home crowd behind them.
NHL Betting Odds
Betting online on hockey is far superior to betting in physical facilities. Those betting on the NHL will naturally prefer decimal odds when betting at top sites in the United Kingdom. If you are not familiar with how they are calculated, fear not, we will break it down in the example below.
Pittsburgh Penguins (2.00) vs. Los Angeles Kings (1.50)
This indicates that the Kings are seen as the team most likely to win the division against the Penguins. If you had $10 to bet on such a win, you would calculate your potential return by taking that $10 and multiplying it by the odds against it happening, with the understanding that you could lose that $10 if the outcome was different.
Here's a complete listing of the divisions in the NHL that you'll deal with at NHL online sports betting sites:
- Eastern Conference
- Eastern Conference Metropolitan
- Western Conference Pacific
- Western Conference
- Eastern Conference Atlantic
- Western Conference Central
Past Stanley Cup Winners
Here’s a list of the most recent winners of the Stanley Cup Championship:
| Season | Winner | Conference |
| 2022 | Colorado Avalanche | Western Conference |
| 2021 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Eastern Conference |
| 2020 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Eastern Conference |
| 2019 | St. Louis Blues | Western Conference |
| 2018 | Washington Capitals | Eastern Conference Metropolitan |
| 2017 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Eastern Conference |
| 2016 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Eastern Conference |
| 2015 | Chicago Blackhawks | Western Conference Central |
| 2014 | Los Angeles Kings | Western Conference Pacific |
| 2013 | Chicago Blackhawks | Western Conference Central |
| 2012 | Los Angeles Kings | Western Conference Pacific |
| 2011 | Boston Bruins | Eastern Conference Atlantic |
| 2010 | Chicago Blackhawks | Western Conference Central |
| 2009 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Eastern Conference |
| 2008 | Detroit Red Wings | Eastern Conference Atlantic |