Legal Stanley Cup Betting Sites
Betting on the odds and lines to win the Stanley Cup is one of the most historic and popular wagers you can make on the NHL.
The Stanley Cup is arguably the most prestigious trophy given to a champion in all of sports, having been first awarded in 1893 and holding the record as the world’s oldest trophy to be awarded to any major professional sports team – meaning wagers on the NHL championship series date back over a century.
For betting on both the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Finals, it is our goal to provide you with the best information for legally betting on the NHL and which club will lift the most iconic sports trophy in the world at the end of the pro hockey season.
Is It Online Stanley Cup Betting Legal In 2024?
Offshore: It is legal and safe to place bets on the Stanley Cup at any of the sports betting sites we review and recommend. US law only regulates sportsbooks operating inside the country, but any sportsbooks that operate outside America are legal and can accept wagers from people living in the United States.
Domestic: The legality of Stanley Cup betting within US borders is dependent on whether the state in question has legalized sports betting. Since the PASPA overturn in 2018, many states have started licensing local sports betting operations. But even so, domestic options are severely limited, and many states do not allow online sports wagering.
Bovada Sportsbook
#1 Rated Legal Online Sportsbook For 2024
If you're looking for a championship-caliber sportsbook to place your NHL bets, Bovada is the best option. At Bovada, betting on the Stanley Cup is a yearly tradition, and there are thousands of lines to choose from for each contest of the series. If he were still around, you can be sure Lord Stanley himself would be betting on hockey online at Bovada LV!
Site Rating
Compability
Pros
US Friendly - Most US States Accepted
Most reputable name in online sports betting
Licensed by Curacao - Operates within Costa Rica
Generous 50% bonus up to $1,000 for new members
Easy deposits using credit cards or Bitcoin/crypto
Fast and reliable payouts guaranteed
Cons
Only US, Mexico and Brazil players accepted
Excluded States: CO, CT, DC, DE, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, WV
Limited deposit options compared to other sites
Top Legal Stanley Cup Betting Sites for the USA
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Stanley Cup Playoffs – NHL Format for Postseason and Finals
Before you bet on hockey and go all in on various Stanley Cup Playoff odds, you'll need to understand the league's postseason structure. In the NHL Playoffs held most years, the top eight teams from the Eastern Conference and the top eight teams from the Western Conference are seeded on a double-sided bracket.
The highest seed plays the lowest seed at the start, and each round is a best-of-seven series with the winner needing four wins to advance to the next round.
After two rounds, the two remaining teams in both the Eastern and Western Conference play in the NHL Conference Finals, and the two winners from the third round advance to the fourth and final round.
The final round, known as the Stanley Cup Finals, is the last best-of-seven played and determines the NHL champion for the season and which team will be allowed to touch and lift Lord Stanley’s Cup.
The NHL Playoffs represent the longest postseason of any of the major US professional sports, largely due to the fact that each series is a best-of-seven and there are usually very few games contested on back-to-back nights. Further, the NHL has among the most parity of any professional sports league, and the majority of series go to six or seven games. Typically, the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs last about two months.
2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Format
The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs features the top 8 pro hockey franchises from the Eastern and Western Conferences being included in the 16-team bracket.
Each round will consist of best-of-seven series matchups where the first team to win four games will move on to the next round with the loser going home.
Current NHL Odds To Win Stanley Cup
One of the most common bets placed on the NHL is who will win the Stanley Cup at the end of the season. Below are the current odds for the 2024 NHL Playoffs (via Bovada Sportsbook). These futures bets will be available all season long, and the sooner you place your wagers, the better your payout potential will be.
For individual game lines and player and team props, please visit your chosen sportsbook daily for fresh odds and updates.
Mobile NHL Stanley Cup Betting Apps
Anytime a championship series is happening, there's a great chance that viewers will be watching the game in a social setting. No matter where you are in the United States, you can legally bet on the Stanley Cup Finals using any of the mobile sportsbook apps that we recommend. Mobile betting doesn't require downloading an app or software to your iPhone, iPad, or Android. All you need is a mobile web browser and a connection to the web to get in on the NHL betting action.
Any Stanley Cup odds that are posted on the desktop sportsbook will also be offered on the mobile betting app at each site we link to in this guide. As long as your tablet still gets iOS or Android Operating System updates, it is likely recent enough to pull up any NHL betting application listed in this guide.
Top 10 Stanley Cup Fun Facts – Did You Know?
- In total, there are currently three Stanley Cups on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame: The Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the Presentation Cup, and the corrected spelling trophy known as the Permanent Cup.
- The Cup most commonly seen and used today is made of silver and nickel alloy, weighing in at 34.5 pounds along with being 35.25 inches tall.
- The Montreal Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times and have made the finals a total of 34 times – both more than any other NHL team. The Detroit Red Wings have won the trophy more than of any team based in the United States, winning 11 times in total.
- Since the 1914-1915 season, the Stanley Cup has been awarded every year except in 1919 due to the Spanish flu epidemic, and in 2005, due to the lockout in the NHL.
- The Cup is not owned by the NHL but has an agreement with two groups that own it and are known as the Canadian Trustees of the Cup. This group hires round-the-clock security to ensure the Cup is safe, and these individuals are known as the “Keepers of the Cup.”
- Along with keeping the Stanley Cup safe, the Keepers of the Cup are to make sure no one touches the trophy after the winning team gives it back to the trustees. All members who work on the trophy to keep it polished and even the presenter of the trophy to the latest winning team must use gloves because of the tradition that only the winning team should be the first to touch the trophy.
- Since 1958, the NHL has used five silver rings or bands underneath the Cup to engrave the winning teams on the trophy. When a ring fills up, the oldest is take off the trophy and put into Lord Stanley’s Vault in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a new blank ring is put on and filled with the names of future champions.
- Since becoming the de facto official trophy of the NHL in 1926, there have only been four engravers of the Stanley Cup. The current engraver sanctioned by the NHL is Louise St. Jacques.
- When a team wins the Stanley Cup, the team gets to keep the trophy for 100 days during the off-season and players, coaches, staff, and owners can spend time with it.
- Winners of the trophy have done some crazy things to the trophy over the years when they get a day or so with it, and it’s known to have been used for drinking alcohol, baptizing a baby, eating spaghetti, soup, and ice cream, playing with an octopus, planting flowers, taking a shower, traveling the world, and much more we don’t know has been done to the bowl of the Cup.
Previous Stanley Cup Winners & Results
- 2024: The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 for their first-ever Stanley Cup.
- 2023: The Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Florida Panthers in five games.
- 2022: The Colorado Avalanche avenged their 2021 Finals loss with a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- 2021: Tampa Bay Lightning win series 4-1 against Colorado Avalanche.
- 2020: Tampa Bay Lightning win series 4-2 against Montreal Canadians.
- 2019: St. Louis Blues win series 4-3 against Boston Bruins.
- 2018: Washington Capitals win the series 4-1 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
- 2017: Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup 4-2 against Nashville Predators.
- 2016: Pittsburgh Penguins win the series 4-2 against San Jose Sharks.
- 2015: Chicago Blackhawks win series 4-2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- 2014: Los Angeles Kings win the series 4-1 against the New York Rangers.