NHL futures odds: Avalanche still favored to win 2026 Stanley Cup

When the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs began, the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche were the favorites to win the championship for the second time in five years. Less than a week into the postseason, nothing has changed.

Despite a lack of offense from a squad that produced a league-leading 298 goals during the 2025-26 NHL season, the Avalanche won the first two games of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings. Both were 2-1 victories, and Maurice Richard Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon, who netted a career-high 53 tallies this campaign, recorded just one assist.

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Colorado is now 14 wins away from becoming the first club to capture the Stanley Cup 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.

One team Colorado may have to go through on the road to achieving that goal is the Edmonton Oilers, who are looking to reach a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final for the second time in franchise history (1983-85). The Oilers must first get past the Anaheim Ducks, who evened their first-round series Wednesday with a 6-4 victory.

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While the Avalanche are the top contenders from the Western Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes are the favorites from Eastern Conference. Carolina, which won its third Metropolitan Division title in five years and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference for the first time, also has had difficulty scoring after finishing second in the regular season with 291 goals as it owns a 2-0 lead over the Ottawa Senators in their first-round showdown despite tallying a total of five times.

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 +250. The Hurricanes are the second favorites with prices between +325 and +400 while the Tampa Bay Lightning -- whose series against the Montreal Canadiens is even at one win apiece -- are third, as they are listed from +550 to +650.

Best Value Pick: Golden Knights (+1300, FanDuel)

Replacing head coach Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season has done wonders for the Golden Knights. The club went 7-0-1 the rest of the way under Tortorella and won the opener of its first-round series against the Utah Mammoth before being edged 3-2 in Game 2.

Tortorella has had playoff success as a head coach in the past, leading Tampa Bay to the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history in 2004. The Golden Knights have 11 players on the current roster that were on their championship team in 2023.

Even though it suffered its first regulation loss with Tortorella behind the bench last time out, Vegas should knock off a Utah team that is making the first postseason appearance in the franchise's brief history and whose top offensive players are making their playoff debuts. The Golden Knights would then face either Edmonton or Anaheim in the second round, which won't be easy considering they went a combined 1-3-3 against those clubs during the regular season.

But the Ducks' most talented offensive players are young and inexperienced, as is netminder Lukas Dostal, and the Oilers' goaltending situation is just as questionable as it has been in years past. Vegas also had unfavorable regular-season records against potential Western Conference Final opponents Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota, going a combined 2-4-3, but whatever team it would face likely will have gone through an exhausting second-round series. And with the exception of Tampa Bay, I like the Golden Knights' chances versus any team from the East in the Final.

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Best Dark Horse Pick: Wild (+3500, DraftKings)

I didn't like the Wild's chances entering their first-round matchup against Dallas, but I feel better about them after three games even though they're trailing 2-1. They pounded the Stars 6-1 in the opener to steal home ice and were less than 10 minutes away from taking the lead in the series but dropped a 4-3 decision in double overtime on Wednesday.

Jesper Wallstedt had a superb regular season, finishing second in the NHL with a .916 save percentage, but I expected the rookie to wilt in his first postseason. The 23-year-old Swede has proven me wrong thus far as he is sixth in goals-against average (2.27) and eighth in SP (.916) through three contests.

Minnesota also has received strong offensive performances against the Stars. Joel Eriksson Ek entered Thursday tied for the postseason lead in both goals (three) and points (five), while Matt Boldy (two goals, two assists), Kirill Kaprizov (one, three) and defenseman Quinn Hughes (four assists) all have recorded four points.

The road to the championship will be extremely difficult for the Wild, but it never is easy for any team. And with veterans such as two-time Stanley Cup winners Vladimir Tarasenko and Nico Sturm, as well as 2020 champion Zach Bogosian and veteran brothers Nick and Marcus Foligno, Minnesota just might have the right mix to get to the finish line.

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