2025 NHL Stanley Cup Finals Odds As Free Agency Frenzy Begins

As you read this, there is a 99.9 percent chance that cheap, cold beer is still sloshing around inside the Lord Stanley’s Cup.

But only one team is partying. The rest of the league is determined to quench its thirst next season.

Here are the six best bets—three from the East and three from the West—to win it all in 2024–25.

Florida Panthers (+900)

Yes, it’s hard to repeat as back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. But it has happened twice in the past decade, with the Pittsburgh Penguins winning it all in 2016 and 2017 and the Tampa Bay Lightning doing the same in 2020 and 2021. Also, whereas other sports might feature the odds for a repeat champion at 2-to-1 or 3-to-1, you can get 9-to-1 value here. Florida will keep most of the core components of this year’s roster, which stormed to the Stanley Cup Final and held firm in Game 7 after nearly coughing up the series. Of course, a Cup hangover season is a real possibility, but now the Panthers know what it takes to win.

Colorado Avalanche (+950)

The Avalanche went home disappointed after they were eliminated in six games in the second round by the Dallas Stars. As attention now turns toward the 2024–25 season, Colorado should feel very confident about its chances to go further in the playoffs. The Avalanche won 50 games in the regular season and bounced the Winnipeg Jets in five games before things went sour against Dallas. Nathan MacKinnon had 140 points (!!!) in 82 games, and Mikko Rantanen chipped in 104 points in 80 games. Cole Makar is one of the best blue-liners in the league, and Alexandar Georgiev can bounce back in the net.

Edmonton Oilers (+1000)

Look out for the Oilers next season. They are going to be obscenely motivated to win after getting oh-so-close in 2024. Connor McDavid carried the Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, only to lose the decisive contest and fly back home while wondering what could have been. McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the best player in the playoffs, and he refused to come on to the ice and accept it after his team’s Game 7 loss. The Oilers found their footing under new coach Kris Knoblauch, and McDavid and Leon Draisaitl again will cause nightmares for opposing defenses next season as they look to seize the Cup.

Dallas Stars (+1000)

Like the three teams listed above, the Stars are among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. Maybe that makes these safe, lame predictions, but it’s hard to turn down 10-to-1 odds for such a talented team. So much of playoff success in the NHL depends on whether a team can ride a hot goaltender. The Stars have a great talent in Jake Oettinger, who has a career 2.51 goals-against average to go along with a .913 save percentage. He already has 45 playoff starts under his belt at age 25, and it seems completely reasonable to think that he can lead his team to a Stanley Cup in the near future.

New York Rangers (+1300)

No team finished with more points during the regular season than the Rangers, who went 55-23-4 and notched 114 points overall. It marked the most in franchise history, even better than the 1993–94 championship team that tallied 112 points in the regular season. Florida eliminated the Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference finals, but New York figures to be a sizable contender once again to win it all. Peter Laviolette has won it all before with the Carolina Hurricanes, and he has taken the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators to the Stanley Cup Final. Don’t count him or the Rangers out in 2024–25.

Toronto Maple Leafs (+1400)

This is not an attempt to troll Maple Leafs fans. This is not some grand plan to jinx next season for Toronto, whose recent playoff performances have been... well, not good. Imagine you are an alien who just landed on Earth. You have no knowledge of all of the Maple Leafs’ playoff duds over the years. You only see a talented (but flawed) roster combined with a fiery new coach in Craig Berube, who won a Cup with the St. Louis Blues. You also see 14-to-1 odds as a path to a nice little payoff if Toronto puts it all together. Would you give it a shot? What could go wrong? (Don’t answer that last question!)

Tom Musick covered the Chicago Blackhawks’ rise to Stanley Cup glory but checked out before being checked by Patrick Kane. He’s now tracking the Wild and the NHL in Minnesota.