NHL Outright Predictions For The 2025/26 Season

William Hill is home to a vast collection of ice hockey betting odds and markets, from individual stat lines in games to all of the major outright markets.

The 2025/26 NHL season is well underway. Over a month of ice hockey in the bag means that we can see which teams made the right offseason moves needed to improve and move up the standings.

Naturally, there’s a very long season ahead, and the open trade window means that any team can change their fortunes quickly, but the first month of competition has been quite telling.

Following on from the NBA outright predictions, here’s a look at the major outright markets and some predictions for the 2025/26 NHL season.

NHL Stanley Cup Favourites

The Stanley Cup is incredibly unpredictable, which is why even the favourites to win the championship have rather long odds even up to the start of the playoffs.

Right now, the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes lead the charge at 15/2, followed by the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers at 8/1.

These NHL odds reflect the depth of quality for the Avs, Canes, and Golden Knights, as well as the bankable elite-tier performances of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for the Oilers each season.

Without a major trade, however, the Oilers look primed to fall to the same frailties as in their last two losing trips to the Finals. There’s a superb core in Edmonton, but a lack of ability in goal could be their undoing again.

Could the Panthers Achieve the Three-Peat?

The standout story of the opening stanza has been the struggling Florida Panthers. After 13 games, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions are bottom of the Eastern Conference on a 6-6-1 record with a -7 goal differential.

We could look to their state rivals to see how this may play out. In 2019/20, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Cup, did so again the following season, and then lost in the Finals in 2021/22. Next season, they bowed out in the First Round.

The Panthers have followed a very similar path, going to three Finals in a row and winning the Cup back-to-back. Fatigue was always going to set in at some point, especially given their very physical style of play, and this may be a sign of that taking place.

Even so, the NHL odds right now see the Panthers as a 9/1 contender to win the crown again, ranking them fifth, and only just ahead of the currently 6-5-2 Lightning at 11/1.

On paper, the Panthers are poised to compete this year and for the next few, having locked down their core to team-friendly deals. In 2025/26, however, getting to the Finals four seasons running would be unprecedented in the modern league.

Dark Horse Contenders for the Crown

Looking further down the odds, two dark horse contenders from the Western Conference look to have the right mix of goaltending prowess, offensive skill, and defensive stability to push for the Stanley Cup in 2025/26.

Just as they did last season, the Winnipeg Jets are challenging for the top of the conference. With only 33 goals against in 13 games, a 9-4-0 record, and Mark Scheifele one point back of the top spot, the Jets have started very well.

A lot of Winnipeg’s potential success and ability to build on last season will come down to Connor Hellebuyck keeping his hot hand going into the playoffs and being given ample rest during the regular season.

The imposing shot stopper and reigning back-to-back Vezina Trophy winner put up a 2.31 GAA and .921 SV% through ten starts, but importantly, backup Eric Comrie has put up equally strong stats and three wins in three.

Another contender emerging from the Central Division worthy of a look is the Dallas Stars. A strong opening record of 7-3-3 has been taken with a pinch of salt, as only one win has seen the Stars lead the final scoreline by more than one goal.

They’re keeping games very tight, but given their roster and current collection of injuries, the Stars should start pulling away and winning by much more significant margins as the season progresses.

On top of this, the Stars have made it to three consecutive Western Conference Finals by riding a strong group of top developing talents.

Having held up well in the offseason, the natural development of these players, and some certain superstar additions to the lines, might just be enough to get over the line.

NHL Stanley Cup 2025/26 Predictions

As it stands, both on paper and in terms of performances, the teams that look to be the best placed to win the 2025/26 Stanley Cup are the Avalanche, Jets, Hurricanes, Golden Knights, and Stars.

It creates a crowded field of heavyweights in the Western Conference, with each being stacked with reliable world-class players and, often, one of the league’s best goaltenders.

In the Eastern Conference, a lot of the top-performing teams would be ones best considered to be up-and-coming, being in a rebuild, or drastically overperforming. The Hurricanes look to be the best equipped to get to the Finals.

The field is wide open for trying to predict which teams will meet in the final stage, let alone become the champions. Even so, the Stanley Cup prediction here will back the Dallas Stars to win the 2025/26 Stanley Cup.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*