How To Bet On The NHL: Hockey Betting Guide & Tips

American bettors can wager real money on hockey games as long as online betting is legal in their state.

There are over 30 legal sports betting states, but just over half of them offer online services.

All major online sportsbooks will offer various National Hockey League options once the fall season rolls around. While hockey betting is less popular than football and basketball, it is a staple of all leading online betting sites.

The moneyline is a popular hockey wager thanks to its simplicity, as you simply pick the winner of the game (including overtime and shootouts). 

The plus and minus betting odds tell you who is the favorite and who is the underdog. Home teams tend to be favored, as hockey has one of the strongest home-field advantages (close to 60%) in professional sports.

Though the NHL has its fair share of contenders and basement-dwellers, hockey can be unpredictable. Upsets are fairly common, as it only takes a few puck bounces for an underdog to win.

Keeping track of recent player performances, injuries and winning/losing streaks is important for moneyline betting. It’s also important to see whether a team is using its starting goalie or backup goalie, as backups tend to be less effective.

Another popular way to bet on hockey is the puck line. In other sports, it’s referred to as spread betting, where you’re wagering on whether you think a team will win or lose by a certain number of goals.

Similar to baseball, hockey is relatively low scoring and has a lot of one-point games. Accordingly, the standard puck line is 1.5 goals, meaning the favorite must win by at least two goals to cover.

After the spread is listed, teams are given their odds to cover. For example, you may see something like the New York Rangers being 1.5-goal favorites over the Montreal Canadiens with -115 odds to cover the puck line.

At a sportsbook, it might look like this:

• New York Rangers -1.5 (-115)
• Montreal Canadiens +1.5 (-105)

A simple internet search such as “New York Rangers betting trends” will bring you results that show how they’ve performed against the spread (ATS).

Teams that win many games don’t necessarily perform well ATS if they have a high number of one-goal victories, whereas bad teams may do well ATS if they frequently lose by one goal.

Some bettors prefer not to wager on the winner and loser of a hockey game. That’s why Over/Under betting—also known as totals markets—is an alternative that lets you wager on the total number of goals that will be scored.

Hockey is one of the more unpredictable sports for totals betting. One team could be involved in a 2-1 contest one night and a 7-5 shootout the next.

Like other forms of hockey betting, researching a specific team is crucial for wagering on the over/under. Various factors determine the number of goals that will be scored, including offense, defense, power play success rate, penalty kill and goaltending.

Similar to betting on the first inning or five innings of a baseball game, hockey bettors can gamble on the first period.

At most sportsbooks, three condensed markets (typically around 1/3 of full-game markets) of the three aforementioned options will be available for the opening frame: moneyline, puck line and total.

For the moneyline, bettors must decide which team will win the first period. If there’s a tie, the bet pushes.

That’s where the puck line comes into play. Whereas full-game puck lines are typically 1.5 goals, first-period puck lines are often 0.5 goals. If the first period ends in a tie, the underdog (+0.5) automatically covers.

Finally, bettors can wager on the first-period total, which is typically set at 1.5 or 2 goals depending on the full-game total. The higher the full-game total, the higher the first-period total will be.

In addition to the first period, sportsbooks also offer pre-game markets for the second and third periods. Further, at the conclusion of each period, books will adjust lines and create live markets for the following period (see below).

Sometimes life gets in the way, and you forget to wager on a game before the puck drops. Fortunately, most legal sportsbooks offer live betting, allowing you to make wagers after the puck has dropped.

Live hockey betting odds will change constantly as the game progresses depending on the score, amount of time left, who has the puck, etc.

There isn’t much difference between pregame and live betting. The markets are typically the same, just with different odds. 

There are also live betting markets that are only available in-game, like which team will win the next face-off or score the next goal.

Live betting has pros and cons. Predicting the final outcome may be easier, but with less favorable odds. Conversely, you might get better odds on a favorite that falls behind early.

You can also use live betting to hedge a pre-game wager that gets off to a bad start, potentially cutting your losses.

While it can be profitable to wager on individual games, some bettors want more. That’s where NHL futures markets add some variety and occasional chances to win larger payouts.

Futures betting is what it sounds like: wagering on events that will happen in the future. It’s a good way to make simple bets without needing to know the ins and outs of the hobby.

NHL futures are always changing. Situations that impact futures include free-agent signings, trade deadline deals and injuries.

Participating in futures betting can also give you a reason to pay more attention to the league as the lengthy season rolls on.

While futures can be fun, they don’t pay out until the end of the season and are hard to hit, so avoid investing too much of your betting bankroll in these markets.

Team Futures

Most NHL futures betting revolves around the league’s 32 teams and how they perform over the campaign. Here are some of the more popular futures markets you can find on most major online sportsbooks:

• President’s Trophy Winner: Betting on which team will finish the regular season with the highest point total
• Worst Regular Season Record: Predicting which team will finish with the lowest point total
• Stanley Cup Winner: Betting on which team will win the Stanley Cup
• Conference/Division Winners: Wagering on which team you think will win their respective division or conference
• To Make/Miss Playoffs: Placing action on a team that you think either will or won’t qualify for the NHL playoffs
• Regular Season Points: Wagering on which team(s) you think will pass a given point total. In these instances, the book will set lines for individual teams, and bettors can wager on whether that team will surpass that benchmark (over) or fail to eclipse it (under). 

Player Awards

Wagering on individual player awards is a lot tougher than betting on team-based markets. There are over 700 players on the 32 teams’ opening night rosters for NHL seasons. Even though only a few of those players are good enough to win an award, it gives you an idea of how tough it can be to predict these outcomes.

Here are some notable player awards futures that you can find on most NHL betting sites:

• Hart Memorial Trophy: The Hart Memorial Trophy is the NHL’s MVP award, given to the league’s best player. A player’s importance to their team’s success is always considered, so remember that the individual with the highest point total doesn’t always win this award.
• Vezina Trophy: Awarded to the NHL’s best goaltender for that season. While statistics are important, it’s intended to go to the goalie most critical to their team’s success.
• James Norris Memorial Trophy: This award goes to the NHL’s top defenseman.
• Calder Memorial Trophy: The NHL’s Rookie of the Year Award.
• Rocket Richard Trophy: Wagering on which player you think will pace the NHL in goals for the season.
• Conn Smythe Trophy: Once the playoffs are set, sportsbooks will allow you to wager on the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is given to the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Some sportsbooks offer a 60-minute line. This line excludes overtime, allowing you to bet on a team to win the game in regulation. Accordingly, 60-minute moneyline odds often have better odds.

You can also bet on the game being tied at the end of regulation at plus odds.

Parlay betting involves combining multiple hockey wagers into a single bet. The only catch is that you need every bet (or leg) to hit to win your payout, making the bet riskier and harder to win.

On the plus side, parlays come with longer odds that can yield large payouts on small wagers. A parlay pays out better than wagering on the legs individually.

There are two predominant types of parlays in the hockey betting scene:

Same-Game Hockey Parlays

A same-game parlay combines wagers on various markets and prop bets from the same game. If you only want to pay attention to one game instead of multiple, this is the easier form of parlay betting.

Still, if you can find them, they’re a simple way to experience a parlay until you’re comfortable enough to move up in stakes. 

For reference, bettors can either select from a list of preset same-game parlays designated by the sportsbook (we advise against this as books will sometimes offer a worse price) or design one independently. In either case, you can include as many legs as desired, but the bet only wins if all legs cash. 

Multi-Game Hockey Parlays

Unlike their same-game counterparts, multi-game parlays (also known as traditional parlays) allow you to jump in on the action for multiple NHL contests.

Multi-game parlays can be built by combining moneylines, puck lines, Over/Unders and other markets across a variety of games. 

Some bettors prefer to wager on players as opposed to teams.

There are more than enough NHL prop bets to satisfy that hunger. These props can range from predicting if a player will score a goal to the combined number of saves made between two goaltenders.

Player Props

Popular player props reflect a player’s performance, such as the number of goals, assists, total points and shots on goal.

For goalscorer markets specifically, books will offer several unique markets. First, bettors can wager on players to score at any point in the game – defined as an “anytime goalscorer.” 

Alternatively, if bettors are angling for a higher payout, they can wager on which player will score the first goal of the game or whether a player will score multiple goals.

Goalie Props

You can also bet on goalie-specific props, like how many saves a goalie will record or whether he’ll have a shutout.

Team Props

You can bet on team props rather than specific players, including markets like how many goals a team will score and whether both teams will score.

Game Props

Game props include the correct score of the game, the first/last team to score and the race to X number of goals. Bettors can also wager on the winning margin and whether a game will go to overtime.

Alternate Lines

Earlier, we mentioned that the puck line is almost always set at 1.5 goals. In more lopsided matchups, however, bettors might see a 2.5-goal puck line. 

You can also bet on an alternate total.

Most of the above markets are also available throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including the Stanley Cup Final.

Wagering on the Stanley Cup winner is one of the more popular hockey futures markets out there. Sportsbooks offer numerous Stanley Cup-related props once the postseason arrives, so make sure to keep an eye out for those.

One of the most exciting parts of hockey is the annual NHL Entry Draft. You can watch young players realize their dreams and place wagers on the multi-day event.

NHL Draft markets are usually prop-centric, ranging from which prospect will be selected at No. 1 to who the fifth overall pick will be. There are even positional markets, like for which defenseman prospect will be taken first.

Watching the NHL Draft can sometimes feel dull if your favorite team doesn’t own a high pick. Fortunately, draft day betting can make it more interesting.

It’s no secret that the NHL is the biggest hockey league in the world, but online hockey betting isn’t limited to just one league.

The IIHF World World Junior Hockey Championship is one of the sport’s most popular tournaments, putting some of the best under-20 players from around the world against each other. Sportsbooks like FanDuel offer World Junior betting markets similar to those you can find for your everyday NHL game.

Bettors can also wager on Olympic hockey every four years as well.

Again, you can find your average gameday hockey markets here, along with futures where you can wager on which country will win the gold medal.