2026 NHL Presidents’ Trophy Odds and Predictions

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The NHL regular season does more than shape the playoff bracket. It also crowns the league’s best regular-season team with the Presidents’ Trophy, and in 2025-26 that race turned into one of the most interesting futures markets on the board. Colorado ultimately finished on top, but the path there said a lot about how bettors should approach this market moving forward.

Unlike the Stanley Cup odds and predictions market, the Presidents’ Trophy is less about surviving four playoff rounds and more about which team can stack points over the full 82-game grind. That usually makes it one of the cleaner NHL futures to handicap because structure, depth, and goaltending consistency matter just as much as star power.

Now that the regular season is complete, this updated page looks back at the 2026 NHL Presidents’ Trophy odds, the top contenders, the best value bets, and how the season actually played out. If you are still tracking hockey through the postseason, our NHL picks hub is also worth keeping open every night.

What is the Presidents’ Trophy in the NHL?

The Presidents’ Trophy is awarded each season to the NHL team that finishes with the best overall regular-season record. The award has been in place since the 1985-86 season, and while it does not guarantee a Stanley Cup run, it remains one of the clearest markers of true regular-season dominance.

Teams earn two points for a win and one point for an overtime or shootout loss. If two teams finish tied in points, the tiebreaking process moves to regulation wins first, then regulation-plus-overtime wins, and then total wins. That matters because the Presidents’ Trophy is about more than just raw points. In a tight race, clean wins still matter.

Colorado captured the 2026 Presidents’ Trophy after finishing the season with the league’s best record, adding another regular-season banner to a franchise that has consistently remained among the NHL’s elite. That also secured home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, which is one of the biggest practical edges tied to this futures market.

NHL Presidents’ Trophy Odds

Check out the notable 2025-26 NHL Presidents’ Trophy odds from the main futures board entering the season, courtesy of the top sports betting sites.

The board told a pretty familiar story at the top. Carolina, Vegas, Edmonton, and Colorado all opened in the front tier, which made sense because each team had enough roster depth and coaching stability to win big over 82 games. What made this market fun was that the season still created room for a few real surprises beyond the obvious names.

That is part of what makes Presidents’ Trophy betting different from shorter-run futures. Talent still matters, but this award tends to reward the teams that stay healthiest, defend the best, and avoid long cold stretches. If you want to compare that futures logic against day-to-day form, you can also track the latest NHL odds throughout the week.

NHL President’s Trophy Contenders

The following NHL teams stood out the most in the 2025-26 Presidents’ Trophy race:

Colorado Avalanche (+850)

Colorado ended up proving it had the strongest all-around regular-season profile in hockey. The Avalanche had enough firepower to overwhelm teams, but what really separated them was balance. They won the Central, secured the top seed in the West, and eventually locked down the best overall record in the league.

That is why Colorado turned into the winning ticket that made the most sense in hindsight. The roster had star-level scoring, dependable goaltending, and the kind of game-to-game professionalism that usually shows up in this market. When a team can survive injuries, handle back-to-backs, and still keep banking points, that is a Presidents’ Trophy formula.

Carolina Hurricanes (+650)

Carolina was a fair favorite because the Hurricanes once again looked like one of the most structured regular-season teams in hockey. They stayed near the top of the league all year, finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference, and gave bettors exactly what they expected: a team with a very high floor.

That is always the Carolina appeal in this market. Even when the offense is not spectacular every night, the Hurricanes still drive play, suppress chances, and avoid extended losing streaks. That kind of profile keeps them live in the best-record race almost by default.

Vegas Golden Knights (+750)

Vegas still fit the regular-season blueprint on paper. The Golden Knights had the system, veteran depth, and top-end talent needed to make a serious push, and they remained one of the safer names near the top of the futures board.

Even so, the best-record market can be unforgiving when a team does not fully separate from the field early enough. Vegas remained competitive, but this race ultimately leaned harder toward the clubs that were able to stack wins more consistently from the middle of the season onward. That is a key reminder for bettors who are choosing between solid playoff teams and true regular-season point machines.

Best Presidents’ Trophy Value Bets

These NHL teams offered the strongest value profile relative to their opening odds:

Dallas Stars (+1000)

Dallas looked like a smart value play from the start because the Stars consistently profile well over a full season. They defend, they score enough, and they rarely beat themselves. In a market like this, that gives them a much higher floor than a lot of flashier teams.

The Stars did not win the trophy, but they still fit the exact kind of value case bettors should be looking for in this market. If the favorite tier feels too expensive, a balanced team like Dallas often makes more sense than a bigger longshot with less regular-season stability.

Buffalo Sabres (+15000)

Buffalo was one of the best value stories on the entire board. At +15000, the Sabres were nowhere near the conversation when the market first opened, yet they turned into one of the best teams in the league by the end of the season and pushed their way into the upper tier of the standings.

That is exactly the type of team that can create massive futures value. You are not always going to land a 150/1 ticket, but Buffalo was the reminder that this market can still reward bettors who spot a real leap before the books fully catch up. That also makes this kind of futures market a natural fit with the deeper strategy ideas in our Expert Betting Guide.

Top Presidents’ Trophy Longshots

The following teams were the most interesting longshots to follow in the 2025-26 Presidents’ Trophy market:

Montreal Canadiens (+5000)

Montreal turned into a much more serious regular-season team than its opening number suggested. At +5000, the Canadiens carried enough upside to matter if things broke right, and by the end of the season they had clearly outperformed those expectations.

That does not mean every longshot with a promising young core is worth a futures ticket, but Montreal showed why it pays to identify teams that can rise faster than the public expects. In the Presidents’ Trophy market, a team does not need to be a Cup favorite to become profitable. It just needs to outperform its number.

Detroit Red Wings (+20000)

Detroit was always going to be a true longshot, but at +20000 the case was simple: if the goaltending stabilized and the team took a real step forward, that number was too big to ignore completely. The Red Wings never became a true threat to finish first overall, but they still had enough upside to justify deeper consideration than the market initially gave them.

These are the kinds of numbers that should only be used as small speculative plays, but they can still matter for portfolio-style futures betting. If you are looking for stronger consensus and premium daily guidance once futures turn into playoff matchups, that is where our best handicappers page can help narrow the field.

NHL President’s Trophy Predictions

Looking back at the 2025-26 board, Colorado stands out as the strongest all-around ticket. Carolina deserved respect as the favorite, and Dallas made a lot of sense as a value play, but the Avalanche had the right blend of top-end scoring, regular-season depth, and game-to-game reliability to finish the job.

That is what makes the Presidents’ Trophy market so different from playoff futures. It is less about who is built for four playoff rounds and more about who can sustain quality for six months. Colorado did that better than anyone else, which is why the Avalanche were able to turn a very fair preseason number into a winning futures result.

If you are the kind of bettor who likes connecting regular-season futures to playoff value, this is also a good page to pair with our Stanley Cup odds and predictions article and the full NHL archive.

Bet: Colorado Avalanche (+850)

NHL Presidents’ Trophy Winners

The following teams were the most recent winners of the NHL Presidents’ Trophy: