There is no bigger ice hockey competition in North America for wagering than betting on NHL. It’s the world’s top league and with big Canadian interest, it provides punters with plenty of exciting betting markets to get stuck into.
Drop by a sportsbook and you will see a wealth of NHL betting options to light up the evening. That will be everything from betting on NHL Moneylines right through to the in-depth markets that can be found in live betting.
There is no more popular market for NHL betting than the Moneyline. Why is that? It’s because it is a simple market for punters. A listing for an NHL match in a sportsbook will start with the Moneyline.
A punter just selects an option like the Edmonton Oilers +180 as a match outright selection, that is of course, if they fancy that the Oilers will defy some underdog odds.
The simple beauty of betting on the NHL through the Moneyline is that it can lead easily into a parlay bet for ice hockey wagering.
It’s common to see Parlay cards at a sportsbook for NFL football betting, and it’s just as easy to create them online for NHL betting odds. A Parlay is a bet that consists of different selections all linked together as ‘legs’ of a bet.
An example is backing the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals all to win their respective matches on a Saturday night of action. A Parlay means that all selections are included in the same bet.
Which in turn means that all the NHL betting picks have to win for the bet to be successful. But the thrill of parlay’s comes from the odds being cumulatively stacked up. A small stake can pick up a large return in parlay NHL betting.
NHL live betting can be explored by bettors as well, using not only online betting services on a computer, but a mobile device as well. Think sitting in front of a big screen watching a game and looking at the betting odds on the next team to score a goal.
NHL live betting has transformed how punters get their ice hockey wagers done. New markets can be found that won’t have been there in the pre-match options like the To Win Period and Period Totals.
Live betting is an exciting form of making ice hockey betting picks and tracking statistics from a match can help put betting strategies into practice.
Betting on the NHL is quick and easy and that’s from the Moneyline on individual matches, to longer futures picks like Divisional and Conference winners. Along with the Moneyline, there are a couple of other main NHL betting markets to consider.
NHL Totals betting is another of the big markets as this is where a punter picks over/under a set line of goals for NHL betting odds. It could be that a bettor expects a high scoring game and pushes things to an over 6.5 goals betting option. The great thing about Totals in NHL betting is that the result doesn't matter as long as the goals fly in, or don't if you have backed an Under Totals option.
The other big NHL odds market is spread betting, also known as the NHL Puck Line. A team that is favorite to win a match will usually be -1.5 in the spread, which means that they would need to win the match by at least two goals for the bet on them to win. You will see variations of Puck Lines depending on the matchup of teams in a fixture.
Prop bets are picking out the occurrence of something happening in a match, or on the flip side, a non-occurrence. That could be a simple pick like the First Team To Score in a match, or the Team To Win The First Period. This can also boil down to player performances, such as an individual over/under in goals.
As the name suggests NHL futures are long-term bets. Like picking out a selection in Stanley Cup betting before the first puck of a new season has been dropped. Some popular futures are the MVP award and Conference winners.
Look at statistics and fully understand everything that you can about a market before striking that NHL bet! The more you know, even about things like starting goalie and injuries, the better your NHL pick could be. Always bet at a highly reputable and regulated online bookmaker.
Season long totals, as an example Toronto Maple Leafs 91.5 (-115), is a market where a punter would back the Leafs to reach at least 92 points for the season. It covers the total points spread of a team for the NHL regular season.
| League | National Hockey League (NHL) |
| No. of teams | 32 |
| Most titles | Montreal Canadiens (25) |
| Countries | Canada (7 teams) United States (25 teams) |
| Founded | 1917 |