NHL Odds for Tonight
Whether you are looking for some regular season or playoff entertainment, or tracking Moneylines to figure out which Goalie has the best daily fantasy sports chances of winning their match, we've got your research covered with the odds above. To read odds it doesn't require any special calculus, you just need to nail a few basics that once you learn you'll be all set.
What is an NHL Moneyline
The Moneyline is the bread and butter of NHL betting, and when it comes to Daily Fantasy Sports, it's a critical part of figuring out which goalie and team have the best chances of winning tonight. With NHL money line's you are deciding straight up which team you think will win the game. The money line will typically look something like this:
Arizona Coyotes +270 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs -300
Let's start with the Coyotes first. Seeing +270 means that they are the underdog on the Moneyline. It means that if you were to bet $100 on the Coyotes, you would win a profit of $270 to motivate you to wager on a team that isn't very likely to win. On the other hand, if you take the Maple Leafs at -300 it means the oddsmakers and public are confident they'll win, and and you need to wager $300 in order to win a much $100 profit.
Whenever you see a negative number in front, that tells you how much you need to wager in order to win $100 in profit. Whenver you see a positive in front, that tells you how much profit you'll make on a $100 wager.
What is an NHL Puck Line (Point Spread)
The Puck Line is Hockey's version of spread betting or handicap betting. It's a term that is only used in hockey, similar to how the Run Line is used in Baseball. It actually looks and works very similarly to a Run Line. A puckline is always set to -1.5 goals for the favorite, and +1.5 goals for the underdog, and looks something like this:
New Jersey Devils +1.5 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins -1.5
Let's start with the Devils first. Seeing +1.5 means that they are the underdog. It means that odds makers are willing the give the Devils one free goal before the game even starts. If you were to take this bet, so long as the Devils either lose by 1 goal, or win, you'll win your bet. On the flip side, if you take the Penguins at -1.5 it means that as the favorites, you are starting with a 1 goal disadvantage before the game even starts. If you take this action, the Penguins must win by more than 1 to win this bet.
So what happens if the game goes into overtime or shootout? In this case it is the final score that matters. Shootout goals don't count against the total, it's the final score on the score board which decides the puckine. There are no such things as pushes or ties when it comes to the puckline in pro hockey.
What is an NHL Over/Under (Total)
This is also known as betting the game total, the Over/Under is a number set by sportsbooks that estimates the number of goals scored from both teams combined. Unlike NBA and NFL games with lots of volatility in game scores, in the NHL the over/under usually has a smaller range of outcomes. What an NHL over/under will typically look like:
Vancouver Canucks vs. Seattle Kraken - O/U 6
What this says is that sportsbooks think the game will end up at a score of 6. Let's suppose the game ended 6-1 for the Kraken, this gives us a game total of 7. In this case, an over wager would win, and an under wager would lose. If the game was a low scoring 2-1 game, an under would win.
So what happens in this case if the goals scored end up at exactly 6 goals? Suppose it was 4-2 Kraken as the final score. In this case it would be considered a push and your bet would be refunded.
How do NHL Stanley Cup Futures work?
Stanley Cup futures are actually quite simple as all the numbers are just some variations of +XYZ format. Bookmakers will set odds before the season starts, and adjust odds as teams start to rack up wins and get closer to or farther away from making the playoffs. What Stanley Cup futures will typically look like at the mid-point of a season:
Colorado Avalanche +500
Toronto Maple Leafs +900
Arizona Coyotes +50000
What this says is that the Avalanche have a relatively high likelihood of winning the Stanley Cup, while the Coyotes are extreme longshots, if not nearly mathematically eliminated from contention.
A $100 wager on the Avalanche would net a $500 profit, whereas that same $100 on the Coyotes would return a whopping $50,000 profit. The reality is that whenever you see such high futures values, it means the team has a really bad season record, and would need a borderline miracle to make it into the playoffs, let alone win the cup.
So what happens in this case if a team is eliminated from playoff contention? The odds will typically drop to +10000 and stay there.
How can NHL odds help you pick a starting goalie?
NHL odds are considered a critical factor to picking winning
NHL starting goalies. The reason why its so critical is due to how many fantasy points are awarded for a goalie win. DraftKings awards 6 fantasy points for a goalie win, with FanDuel awarding 12. Both offer rich shutout bonuses, which makes it a must do to start a winning goalie. Rostering a losing goalie most of the time means ending up below the cash line.
The most important betting proxy to calculate a goalie win is to look at the Moneyline. A Moneyline of -110,-130, or -150 means its a pretty close game that could easily go either way. A Moneyline that starts getting into -200 or higher is going to be a lopsided game where the opponent is likely a bad team. It's these matchups where if a low priced backup goalie gets a surprise start, you can swoop in to take advantage of the situation with odds comfortably in your favor.
