Best Stanley Cup Betting Offers from Gambling.com-Tested Sites

Above, we’ve designed a quick comparison tool to help you find the best Stanley Cup betting site.

You can select up to three sites from the list above and click Add to Compare to compare their offers, features, payment methods, and more side-by-side.

If you’re unsure which online site suits you, this tool can help you quickly spot the right fit. Give it a try and see how the options stack up.

Note that betting offers vary based on your location.

How We Test and Rate Stanley Cup Betting Sites & Offers

We at Gambling.com have decades of combined experience testing and reviewing sports betting sites. After years of analyzing sites and reviewing feedback from real bettors, we’ve seen firsthand what makes or breaks a great betting site. Our goal is to connect you with books that aren’t just safe but offer great odds and a smooth experience from sign-up to payout.

Our team of industry-leading experts grades each of the betting sites they review on a scale of one to 10 across 10 different categories that we deem to be most important to sports bettors. To determine these scores, we don’t just sit behind a screen and rate sites—we test them, compare them, and dig into the user experience to see how they stack up. Our process ensures we only recommend betting sites that meet our high standards.

Promoting responsible gambling is at the heart of what we do. That’s why we only review fully licensed operators and are committed to offering tools and resources that address responsible betting practices.

How to Sign up for Stanley Cup Betting Sites

Choose a betting site: From our curated list above, select a betting site by clicking on the banner. You’ll be redirected to the betting site, where you can register.
Create an account: For verification, provide personal information, such as your name and age. If applicable, enter your promo code to claim your welcome bonus.
Fund your account: Choose a payment method and make a deposit.
Place your first wager.

How to Read Stanley Cup Odds & Betting Lines

Popular NHL betting markets feature numerous ways to wager on the final, including team and individual bets that allow bettors expanded opportunities to exploit their handicapping prowess. Stanley Cup betting is unique because you can bet on the entire series and individual games.

Moneylines

Moneylines are based on positive and negative figures and indicate how much money a bettor must wager to win $100 when betting on the favorite, or how much a $100 bet would win when betting on the underdog. Negative numbers indicate how much bettors must play to win $100.

Let's look at a few examples:

If the favorite has -140 moneyline odds, a $140 bet is required to win $100.
If the underdog has +160 moneyline odds, a successful $100 bet would yield $160.

Puck Lines

Puck lines are hockey’s version of the point spread and a means of leveling the odds between two opponents. If you’re betting on the puck line, the favorite must win by more than 1.5 goals (in most cases), or the underdog must keep the score within a goal to cover. For example:

A -1.5 puck line bet requires the favorite to win by at least two (the half goal assures no ties). Conversely, in this example, if you bet on the underdog (+1.5), you would need your team to win outright or lose by no more than one goal. A loss by two goals or more would cause you to lose the bet.

Totals

Betting on totals (also known as the over/under) involves wagering on how many goals will be scored in a single game by both teams combined. If the over/under for a Stanley Cup Finals game is set at 5.5 by the oddsmaker, a bet on the over would be successful if the teams combined for six or more goals.

Futures

Futures bets involve season-long goals for both teams and players. For example, these can be bets on whether a team wins the Stanley Cup, its division title, or enough games to make the playoffs. You can also make a futures bet on a particular player to win the MVP.

Live Betting on the Stanley Cup

NHL games are played over three 20-minute periods, and betting while the game is taking place or between periods can be an entertaining way to reassess your pre-game bet and try another strategy. It is, therefore, beneficial to know whether a team excels in a particular period in terms of scoring or has a good record when leading or trailing after a specific point in the game.

Any team would prefer to score early and often and clamp down for the rest of the game, but few can. Study a team’s trends. Numbers will present a picture of the mindset and patterns.

How do Stanley Cup Playoffs Work?

After an 82-game regular season, a Stanley Cup finalist will have played three best-of-seven series to reach the Final.

Playoff series are structured in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, meaning the team with the best regular season record is afforded four home games if the series goes to seven. That team with the best record hosts the first two games, before traveling to the other team’s city for two more games, with the remaining three games alternating between cities, if needed.

This format allows each team to host at least two games.

That’s at least 12 games (in the case of three straight sweeps) and up to 21 in a compressed amount of time.

That’s physically and emotionally grueling. Injuries and fatigue are a massive consideration when assessing which teams can win.

Stanley Cup Betting Tips & Strategies

Analyze Historical Trends & Context

The postseason is such a grueling trial that even teams that end the season as the odds-on favorites have lost early and often in recent years. Still, paying attention to trends can be helpful in Stanley Cup betting.

Don't overvalue home-ice advantage: While home-ice advantage was once a prime determinant of success, road teams have begun to negate those norms. The 2018 Stanley Cup champion Capitals lost the first two games of their first-round series against Columbus at home and won the next four games to advance.
Newer or less-experienced playoff teams are not automatic fades: Historically, it was generally accepted that teams that had played together for seasons were supposed to possess the proper resolve for a postseason grind. However, in 2018, the Vegas Golden Knights became the first expansion team to advance to the Cup final in their inaugural season (before falling to the Caps in six games).
Underdogs can thrive: There have been 28 teams that have come back from 3-1 or 3-0 deficits to win series, with 26 of those comebacks occurring since 1987 and seven since 2010.
Be wary of favorites: The team with the most points in both conferences wins the Presidents' Trophy and is viewed as the "champion" in the sense of the regular season. But since the 2002-2003 season, only two Presidents' Trophy winners have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. Ending the regular season at the top of the standings does not carry a distinct advantage in the NHL.

Evaluate Team Chemistry & Coaching Tactics

Lines can change anytime, depending on the matchup, health, or performance.

Track line pairings and adjustments: Coaches often shift them throughout playoffs to maximize their lineups and capitalize on mismatches. Familiarity among linemates brings crucial chemistry throughout the season, as a line's chemistry can make all the difference in a team's season.
Top scorers always play together: Since playing an entire 60 minutes is impossible, there are no guarantees that the top scorers on a team will all be on the same line. A coach may split up his most gifted players to make his team deeper.
Note defensive or checking lines: There are often four different offensive lines and three defensive pairings. Some lines, known as checking lines, are defensive-based and meant to slow down an opponent's particularly deadly line.

Emphasize Special Teams

One unique statistical category in hockey that often provides distinct advantages is teams' power plays and penalty kill percentages. When a player commits a rules infraction during a game, he is sent to the penalty box for two or five minutes, depending on the severity of the infraction.

This results in a 5-on-4 advantage for the other team, known as a power play, while the other team's shorthanded "penalty kill" unit attempts to thwart the opponent defensively.

Mastery in either category is a significant factor in a game's ebb and flow. Scoring on a power play or completing a successful kill are key momentum-shifting moments.

Expect the Unexpected

Stanley Cup betting is often trickier than regular-season betting because players who were pedestrian in the regular season often up their game a notch, knowing that a long rest is just around the corner. There are also clutch players who rise to the occasion.

For example, Washington Capitals right wing Devante Smith-Pelly, a career journeyman, needed 75 games to net seven goals in the 2017-2018 regular season but just seven games to reach the same mark—including two game-winners—in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Hope is not a plan, and momentum and positive energy don’t seem like sound metrics when analyzing a matchup, but they are all part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs' enigma. Sometimes, betting with your gut isn’t a bad idea if you think you’re watching a team of destiny.

Recent Stanley Cup Winners

Year	Winner	Runner Up	Result
2025	Florida Panthers	Edmonton Oilers	4-2
2024	Florida Panthers	Edmonton Oilers	4-3
2023	Vegas Golden Knights	Florida Panthers	4-1
2022	Colorado Avalanche	Tampa Bay Lightning	4-2
2021	Tampa Bay Lightning	Montreal Canadiens	4-1
2020	Tampa Bay Lightning	Dallas Stars	4-2
2019	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins	4-3
2018	Washington Capitals	Vegas Golden Knights	4-1
2017	Pittsburgh Penguins	Nashville Predators	4-2
2016	Pittsburgh Penguins	San Jose Sharks	4-2
2015	Chicago Blackhawks	Tampa Bay Lightning	4-2
2014	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers	4-1
2013	Chicago Blackhawks	Boston Bruins	4-2
2012	Los Angeles Kings	New Jersey Devils	4-2

Responsible Gambling with Stanley Cup Betting Sites

We at Gambling.com take responsible gambling very seriously. Our main goals are to connect you with reliable betting operators while maintaining a safe gambling environment for all users.

NHL betting sites must follow strict protocols to spot, prevent, and reduce gambling-related harm. These aren't optional measures; they're legal requirements and essential safeguards that protect vulnerable players from developing problematic habits.

We always keep these requirements in mind whenever we review and rate a betting site, and we only partner with licensed operators that adhere to legal standards. Moreover, all betting sites that we review here have responsible gambling tools and resources to help you stay in control of your betting.

Looking to place your Stanley Cup bets? Choose from our top-rated betting sites and get started today.

Best Stanley Cup Betting Offers