NHL futures odds: Avalanche favored to win second Stanley Cup in five years

The NHL will not have a team win three consecutive Stanley Cup championships for the first time since the New York Islanders' four-year run from 1980-83, as the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers did not qualify for the postseason in 2025-26. But there's a strong chance the league will see the Presidents' Trophy-winning club capture the crown for the first time in 13 seasons.

The Colorado Avalanche were the best team in the NHL this season from start to finish and secured the Presidents' Trophy for the fourth time in franchise history. As a result, head coach Jared Bednar's team is the favorite to also win its fourth Stanley Cup and first since 2022.

Should the Avalanche accomplish the feat, they would be the first club to achieve glory after leading the league in points during the regular season since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. Only eight of the previous 39 Presidents' Trophy winners have gone on to lift Lord Stanley's Cup, but one of them was the 2000-01 Avalanche.

While the Panthers' run of three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances is over, the Edmonton Oilers will be hoping to extend their streak to three for the second time in franchise history (1983-85). The task will be extremely difficult, however, as they'll likely need to get past Colorado at some point with goaltending that is even more questionable than it was the last two postseasons.

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While the Avalanche are the top contenders from the Western Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning are running neck and neck as favorites atop the Eastern Conference. Carolina won its third Metropolitan Division title in five years and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference for the first time, while Tampa Bay represented the East in the Stanley Cup Final three straight times (2020-22) before Florida's string and won the Cup twice.

NHL futures odds at the major sports betting sites see the Avalanche as the favorites to win the 2026 Stanley Cup, with odds at about +300. The distinction of being the second favorite is split between the Hurricanes and Lightning based on which sportsbook you visit. DraftKings Sportsbook has Carolina second at +475 and FanDuel Sportsbook lists Tampa Bay second at +360, while the teams are even for the spot at both Caesars Sportsbook (+400) and BetMGM Sportsbook (+500).

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Best Value Pick: Stars (+1400, Caesars)

Since the Avalanche were the cream of the crop in 2025-26, it stands to reason that finding the team that gave them the most trouble is key. Colorado, which concludes its regular season Thursday night against the Seattle Kraken, lost only 27 of its first 81 games -- with 11 of those defeats taking place in either overtime or a shootout.

Twelve of the Avs' 27 losses were to Eastern Conference teams, and five of those came against clubs that didn't make the playoffs. Less than half of the Avs' 16 regulation setbacks (seven) were to opponents from the West, and only two of those were at the hands of postseason teams (Wild, Oilers).

The Wild also edged Colorado in a shootout, so they could be considered a problem for the Avalanche. But Minnesota will need to get past Dallas in the first round to have an opportunity to knock off the Avs, and I don't see that happening.

I actually give the Stars the best shot at defeating Colorado. Dallas took the Avalanche to a shootout in three of their four regular-season meetings, winning two, and dropped a 2-0 decision on April 4 as Colorado snapped a scoreless tie midway through the third period and added an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Dallas enters the postseason as the hottest team in the NHL having won its final five regular-season contests. Its 26-11-4 home record and 24-9-8 mark on the road were among the best in the league, and the team had a pair of 45-goal scorers in Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston. 

Despite posting numbers that weren't earth-shattering this campaign, Jake Oettinger is still one of the top goaltenders in the league and has helped get the Stars to the Western Conference Final each of the last three postseasons. This just might be the year he takes them all the way.

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Best Dark Horse Pick: Sabres (+1800, FanDuel)

Winning the Stanley Cup is a lot to ask of a team that is appearing in the postseason for the first time since 2011, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs often have a Cinderella team, and the Sabres very well could grab that title this time around.

Buffalo racked up 109 points during the regular season, its highest total since winning the Presidents' Trophy in 2006-07 with a franchise high-tying 113. As a result, the Sabres won their first division title since finishing atop the now-defunct Northeast Division in 2009-10.

Not much was expected of Buffalo this campaign, yet it has been one of the best teams in the NHL since early December when it began a franchise record-tying 10-game winning streak. The club suffered back-to-back regulation losses only once after that run and ended the regular season with a five-game point streak (4-0-1).

Tage Thompson reached the 40-goal plateau for the third time in four seasons and Alex Tuch eclipsed the 30-goal mark for the third time in his last four campaigns. Josh Doan (25) and Jack Quinn (20) both set career highs, so the Sabres have offensive firepower. Meanwhile, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finished in the top 10 in the league in both save percentage (.910) and goals-against average (2.52).

As I mentioned, winning a championship -- the first in franchise history -- is a tall order for a team that just ended a 14-year playoff drought, but it's been proven time and time again that if you get hot, you can make a deep run in the postseason. And the Sabres enter the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs as one of the hottest clubs in the NHL, so Buffalo winning it all isn't as far-fetched as you might imagine.

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