Stanley Cup Futures

Who do you think will win the next Stanley Cup? You can bet Stanley Cup futures at online sportsbooks at any time of the year. Stanley Cup futures are on the board before the current NHL season begins and they continue to be available right up until the Stanley Cup Finals. Wagering on Stanley Cup futures is easy to do, as the odds are moneylines where you simply bet on a team to win the title. Let’s look at Stanley Cup futures, some examples, and some things to keep in mind.

Stanley Cup Futures

When you bet a Stanley Cup future you are betting that a particular team will win the Stanley Cup. For example, you might have the Tampa Bay Lightning listed at odds of 6-1 to win the title. You could wager any amount and get a 6-1 return on your wager if the Lightning ended up winning the Cup. Let’s say you bet $100 on Tampa to win the title at odds of 6-1. You would win $600 plus get your original $100 returned. Let’s say a team with odds of 20-1 won the title. You would win $2000 plus get your $100 returned. You can wager any amount on a team to win the title and get the fixed odds in return. It might be you just want to wager $10 on Tampa to win the title. You would win $60 if the Lightning ended up winning the Stanley Cup. In a recent season you could have gotten odds of more than 100-1 on the St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup and that bet would have paid out $10,000 for a $100 wager.

Updated Stanley Cup Odds

It is important to remember when betting Stanley Cup futures that the odds can change throughout the season. In the previous example on the St. Louis Blues, the odds on the Blues were actually higher than 100-1 early in the season after the Blues got off to a poor start. The odds on the Blues were much lower than that before the season began. Oftentimes the best time to bet a Stanley Cup future is during the season, especially if a team you like got off to a rough start. Or you may see a favored team struggle early in the season and their odds rise. The time to bet that time would be after the season is underway.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you can still wager on Stanley Cup futures once the playoffs begin. Most online sportsbooks will still offer odds to win the Stanley Cup during the playoffs. You might be able to find some good bargains in terms of the odds if a team you like loses the first game of a series. For example, if a team like Tampa Bay lost their first game their odds would rise in terms of winning the Cup and instead of getting 6-1 you might get 8-1. If they were down 2-0 in a series you might get much better odds in the range of 15 or 20-1.

Normally when you bet Stanley Cup futures you are expecting an 82-game season, but recently the seasons have been shorter because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The length of the season does not affect your Stanley Cup future bet, as you still get paid, but it could affect which teams you decide to wager on. There may be a lot more value on some longshots in shorter seasons.

Hedging Your Bets

In terms of Stanley Cup futures, you may have the chance to hedge your bet once the playoffs begin. If you happen to take one of the longshots to win the title then you may be able to hedge a little bit if that team makes a long playoff run. It happened recently when the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup. Bettors who took the Blues could have decided to hedge their bets and take the other team(s) to win the series against St. Louis to lock in a profit. When you make a Stanley Cup futures bet you may be able to do more than wait for the outcome.

Check out the latest Stanley Cup futures odds at top online sportsbooks.