The 2023-24 NHL season gets underway this week! It’s an exciting time of year here in Canada with the NHL returning on October 10th, 2023 and the season running until June with all teams playing 82 regular season games.
There are a couple Canadian teams that look like contenders this year. The Toronto Maple Leafs are still trying to get over the hump with their star studded roster, while the Edmonton Oilers are looking to win the Cup with the best player on the planet (Connor McDavid). Both the Maple Leafs and Oilers enter the season with 10-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup according to SportsInteraction.com behind only the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche. The Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators are the other two Canadian teams with an outside chance at winning the Cup with 40-1 odds entering the season, while the Jets (50-1), Canucks (50-1) and Canadiens (150-1) would be major surprises if they made a deep run in the playoffs.
The start of the season always brings a lot of new interest in betting on the NHL from Canadians who may not have placed an online wager in the past. If this applies to you then this page is for you. This page should act as a beginners guide to betting on the NHL for this 2023-24 season. I will look at the Stanley Cup odds to start and follow that up by looking at some popular NHL wagers you can make on each game throughout the season and finish up with a 3 step guide to start placing NHL bets online.
2023-24 Stanley Cup Betting Odds
Here’s a screenshot from SportsInteraction.com of the Stanley Cup odds for the 17 favourites leading into the season (screenshot also shows odds to win the Eastern and Western Conferences):
The Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche are the favourites to win the Stanley Cup, followed closely by the Oilers, Maple Leafs, and New Jersey Devils. The defending champion Vegas Golden Knights are the sixth favourites with odds of 12-1.
The Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, LA Kings, and New York Rangers are the next group of contenders for the 2024 Stanley Cup according to the oddsmakers.
The Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators just barely made the above screenshot with odds of 40-1 to win the Stanley Cup. The Canucks, Jets, and Canadiens are longshots, while the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks have the longest odds to win the Cup at 250-1 each at SportsInteraction.com.
Typical NHL Betting Options
There’s really two betting options that get the vast majority of NHL bets each night: the money line (straight up winner) and over/under bets. You will also see the puck line (spread) odds included with the other two in a typical display of betting odds for an NHL game, but it’s the first two that get the most action, so those are the ones I will break down below.
Money Line
The money line wager is simply betting on which team will win the NHL game. In the NHL there is always a winner thanks to 3-on-3 overtime followed by a shootout, so there are only two possible outcomes in each game: Team A or Team B winning. Let’s look at an example from Sports Interaction:
In this example we’re looking at a game between Montreal and Toronto. The Canadiens are the underdogs and a bet on them would payout at a multiple of 3.40 of the wager. So a $100 bet on the Habs would pay out $340 if they pulled out the win. That win can come in regulation, OT or the shootout. Just as long as they win the game, their money line wager is a winner.
The Maple Leafs are favourites with odds of 1.33, so a $100 bet on Toronto to win the game pays out $133 (wins $33) if they win the game as expected.
Over/Under (Total)
The over/under is a bet on the total number of goals scored in the game by either team. The over/under is typically set at 6 or 6.5 in an NHL game, but you can see the total set anywhere from 4.5 to 7 depending on which teams are playing. Let’s continue with the Montreal vs Toronto example:
The Montreal vs Toronto game has the total set at 6.5 goals. For the over to hit 67or more goals must be scored in the game, while for the under to hit 6 or fewer goals must be scored.
**In the cases where the total is set at a whole number such as 5, 6, or 7 then the bet would be a “push” and the wager would be returned if that exact number of goals were scored in the game.
***It’s also important to note that a goal given for a shootout win does count towards the total.
I’ve also broken down the puck line and regulation time betting options on our hockey betting page, so check that out to learn more.
Bet On The NHL From Canada – 3 Step Guide
Now that you know the bets you can make on an NHL game it’s time to actually place some of those bets. This three step guide will walk you through how to place your first NHL bet, from opening your sportsbook account to clicking the “Place Bet” button your first NHL wager.
#1. Open An Online Sportsbook Account
You will need to open an online betting account in order to bet on the NHL. Our #1 recommended betting site is SportsInteraction.com. I’ve used their sportsbook in all of the examples above.
Sports Interaction is solely focused on the Canadian sports betting marketplace and this results in a sports betting product and service that is completely catered towards Canadians.
Next it’s time to deposit. Sports Interaction accepts Interac e-Transfer, paysafecard, Online Banking transfers, and many more deposit options. Simply put you should have no trouble getting your money into or out of Sports Interaction thanks to their vast selection of banking options and great customer support.
#3. Place Your NHL Bets
To find the betting lines for your first NHL bet at SportsInteraction.com, click on ‘Sports’ in the top navigation bar and then select ‘NHL’ from the secondary menu in the top navigation. This will bring up the betting lines for upcoming NHL games. You can also select ‘Futures’ or ‘Specials’ to see the other NHL betting markets.
On the NHL page you will see all of the games for the night with betting options that look like the screenshots I included above outlining the various bets. When you select your wager it will show up in your ‘Bet Slip’ on the right side of the sportsbook. You should then enter your total stake amount and your “Potential Payout” will automatically be displayed.
This screenshot shows a $5 money line bet on the Canadiens to win in Toronto.
If everything looks good, go ahead and select ‘Place Bet’ below the payout.
Check out our hockey betting section for more information about wager on hockey online. And if you have any questions regarding betting on NHL games do not hesitate to contact me.
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