Breaking down the chances of a team to win the Stanley Cup for the first time during the 2025-26 season.
With the 2025–26 NHL season approaching, sportsbooks have posted season bets early on that betters can hop on now as the value of some teams will only get lower from this point on. One future bet that we wanted to explore and examine was a fun one: Will a team win the Stanley Cup for the first time?
Meaning do you think a team that has never won the Stanley Cup before, will do it in the 2025-26 season? Fortune favors a repeat winner as they are listed with massive -850 while a first-time cup winner is listed with +550 odds. Eligible teams that fall into the first-time winners category include the San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg Jets, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and the newly relocated Utah Mammoth.
The "No" side is supported by the deep field of past champions and future contenders in the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars and the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. With the field stacked against them, we explore some teams that could win the cup for the first time and have the highest chance of carrying this bet over the finish line.
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Winnipeg Jets - Stanley Cup Odds (+2300)
Last season's President's trophy winner continued the history of the top team in the regular season being ousted and not winning the Cup. Next season will be different for the Jets as they've made adjustments to their lineup by allowing forwards Nikolaj Ehlers and Mason Appleton walk in free agency while bringing in talent like three-time Stanley Cup Champion Jonathan Toews, Gustav Nyquist and Tanner Pearson.
Their defence is set up to repeat as the league's best backend for the third season in a row and will have back-to-back Vezina trophy winner and recent league MVP Connor Hellebuyck in net. They have all the pieces to make a deep run but will need a couple bounces their way to lighten up the elite competition in their way in the Central Division before making the Conference Finals.
Minnesota Wild - Stanley Cup Odds (+3500)
After years of solid-but-not-spectacular seasons, the Wild may finally be ready to make the leap. It has to be their year eventually as they came close to upsetting the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round but were ultimately downed in six games. With Kirill Kaprizov driving the offense and rising star Brock Faber stabilizing the blue line, Minnesota enters the season with one of the league’s most balanced lineups.
A deep run is a possibility if they can catch a couple breaks their way like the Edmonton Oilers to have a down year or experience injuries at the worst time and even then they'll have to get past a revamped Golden Knights team that just added another superstar talent in Mitch Marner.
Vancouver Canucks - Stanley Cup Odds (+6000)
The Canucks came close in 2024 and return with a roster built for another run. Star players in Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes lead the charge, while the net is more secured than ever with Thatcher Demko coming back healthy and Kevin Lankinen looking to have another stellar year after posting elite numbers in Demko's absence.
They'll have a different looking middle-six with new acquisitions in Evander Kane and a full season with Filip Chytil. The defence will be elite once again with an elite group including Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers, Marcus Pettersson, Derek Forbort and rising talent Elias Nils Pettersson
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