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NHL Betting Guide: How to Bet on the National Hockey League in 2024

Eddie Griffin

Written by: Eddie Griffin

Last Updated:

Read Time: 9 minutes

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The NHL is one of the top sports leagues in the world, but it can get lost in the sports betting shuffle due to its place in the North American sports calendar. The meat of the NHL season takes place while other major leagues and events are going on around North America.

The NBA season starts shortly after the NHL season, and like the Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Finals take place in June.

The MLB playoffs and World Series take place in the first few weeks of the NHL season, while the new MLB season begins as the NHL season winds down.

The NFL and college football seasons take place throughout the fall and winter, while the college basketball season, which starts in November, extends into early spring.

But with several games taking place most nights, there are a lot of reasons to get in on the National Hockey League action whether you are a puckhead or a casual observer.

And to aid your chances of turning a profit with NHL betting, we have put together this handy betting guide.

If you are new to betting on the NHL, this betting guide contains a lot of the basic information that will help you make informed and confident betting decisions, including where to bet on NHL odds, types of NHL bets, NHL betting strategies, tips, and resources, and more.

But novices are not the only bettors who can benefit from the information here. As with our other NHL content and the other content we provide, even experienced bettors may learn a new trick or two here.

Best NHL Betting Sites: Where to Bet on the NHL in 2024

Basics of the NHL and NHL Betting

Like the NFL, the NHL currently consists of 32 teams. That includes the Utah Hockey Club, who will begin play in the 2024-25 season as an expansion team after acquiring all of the assets of the Arizona Coyotes.

Like the NBA, the NHL consists of an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference. And in each of those two 16-team conferences, there are two eight-team divisions.

Eastern Conference

  • Atlantic Division: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Metropolitan Division: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals

Western Conference

  • Central Division: Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Utah Hockey Club, Winnipeg Jets
  • Pacific Division: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights

The NHL regular season begins in early October and ends in April, and each team plays 82 games.

Following the regular season, eight teams in each conference qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the top three teams from each division and two wild cards with the highest total of points irrespective of division.

As with the NBA playoffs, the NHL playoffs play out over four best-of-seven rounds. The two teams who emerge victorious from the Eastern Conference finals and Western Conference finals meet in the Stanley Cup Finals, with home-ice advantage going to the team with the highest regular season points total.

Types of NHL Bets

There are many ways to bet on the NHL. As is the case with baseball, basketball, and football, sides and totals are the most popular types of NHL bets.

Please note that any references to sides and totals below are referring to bets on full NHL games and don’t involve other sides and totals, like period and team sides and totals.

Moneyline & Spread Bets

Moneyline and point spread bets, which are also known as sides, both involve betting on the outcome of NHL games.

If you are placing a moneyline bet on an NHL matchup, that means you are betting on one team to win.

In NHL betting, the spread is known as the puck line. If you are making a puck line bet on an NHL matchup, you are betting on one team to cover the spread, just like if you are betting on basketball or football.

As with run line bets in baseball, most puck lines you will see are -1.5/+1.5. That means that if you bet on the -1.5, the team you bet on needs to win by two or more goals, and if you bet on the +1.5, you need the team you bet on to either win outright or lose by one goal.

Most puck line bets are settled in regulation, even if the game goes into overtime. That is unless the puck line happens to be -0.5/+0.5. That is because you cannot win by more than one goal in a game that is decided in overtime or a shootout.

Total (a.k.a. Over/Under) Betting

If you are betting on an NHL game, total bets, which are also known as over/under (O/U) bets, are bets on how many goals will be scored. Over/under betting is not dependent at all on any part of the outcome itself, so who wins and who loses is not a factor.

Most NHL totals are listed as O/U 5.5, O/U 6, or O/U 6.5. If you place a bet on over 6.5 goals for a game, that means seven or more goals or need to be scored for your bet to win. And if you bet on under 6.5 goals, six or more goals must be scored for a successful bet.

Other Types of NHL Bets

Sides and totals are the main types of NHL bets if you are betting on NHL game odds.

However, many sportsbooks that have hockey odds also offer other types of NHL bets. Those include NHL prop bets and NHL futures bets.

The NHL player props market may not have the same popularity as NBA player props or NFL player props, but shot on goal props make a frequent appearance in our NHL expert picks.

When it comes to futures, Stanley Cup futures, NHL awards futures, and NHL regular season point total futures are some of the types of NHL futures markets you may find at sports betting sites like BetOnline.

NHL Betting Strategies and Tips

There are many valuable NHL betting strategies and tips, but whether you are new to betting on hockey or have been doing so for years, the biggest tip is to do your research.

If you are betting on NHL games, evaluating how two teams match up is can go a long way towards cashing your bets. And over the course of the season, combing through and keeping up with the latest NHL stats, standings, and performance trends can help you have both short and long-term success.

Also, while there are differences in how you bet on various sports, there are a lot of similarities that can come into play when betting on the NHL.

Keep up with the latest NHL injury news, always be aware of home and away records and splits and watch the schedule for possible fatigue situations.

NHL Betting Resources

Good resources are a significant part of a positive betting experience.

Bad beats and surprising results are going to happen, but using the resources at your disposal well will help maximize your chances to make winning days at the window a regular occurrence.

At Betting News, you can find daily NHL computer picks and NHL odds from several reputable sportsbooks, as well as frequent game and futures odds coverage.

There are many other great free and premium resources as well, and if you want to keep up with NHL stats, Hockey Reference and the NHL’s official stats are both great places to start.

Other NHL Betting Information

In addition to this NHL betting guide, you can find a host of NHL-specific betting content on the site, as well as plenty of general relevant content that can help with placing NHL bets.

If you find this guide helpful, bookmark Betting News so you can keep up with the NHL content we produce throughout the year.

Watch This Video to Learn More About NHL Betting

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Our NHL betting guide is just one of many betting guides we offer. If you want to learn about a type of bet or betting strategy or about how to bet on a particular sport, league, or event, check out our comprehensive selection of sports betting guides, which includes the following guides:

Learn How to Bet on Other Sports, Leagues & Events

Along with all of the betting information available on the site, the Betting News team is busy on a daily basis offering up betting news and views on social media.

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NHL Betting FAQ

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[su_spoiler title=”Is hockey easy to bet on?”]No sport is easy to bet on. But with good research and informed betting decisions, you can have success betting on sports.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”What is the moneyline in hockey betting?”]Moneyline odds are odds on a team or individual to win a game or event or accomplish something outright.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”What is the puck line in hockey betting?”]The puck line in hockey betting matches up with the point spread in sports like basketball and football, the run line in baseball, and the handicap or goal line in soccer betting. For the favorite to cover the puck line, they must win by at least a certain amount. For the underdog to cover the puck line, they must either win outright or not lose by the same amount the favorite must win by.[/su_spoiler]
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