NHL futures odds: Hurricanes, Avalanche favorites to win 2027 Stanley Cup
It took 20 years for the Carolina Hurricanes to climb back to the top of the mountain and win the Stanley Cup. They now hope to become the second straight team and third in eight years to repeat as champions.
The Hurricanes posted a 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final on Sunday to capture the NHL championship for the first time since 2006. Jackson Blake, who led Carolina in scoring during the postseason with 20 points, recorded a goal and an assist while Brandon Bussi made 22 saves in just his third career playoff start — all wins — as the team began and ended its run to the Cup with shutouts.
Rod Brind’Amour, who was the captain of the 2006 Hurricanes, became the seventh individual to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and head coach with the same organization. The last to accomplish the feat was Toe Blake, who captured the championship twice as a player for the Montreal Canadiens before winning the first of his eight Cups while behind the team’s bench in 1956.
Brind’Amour guided Carolina to the Eastern Conference Final three times during his first seven seasons as the club’s head coach before finally achieving the ultimate goal. He now looks to follow in the footsteps of Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-21) and Paul Maurice of the Florida Panthers (2024-25), who are the last two NHL bench bosses to lead their teams to back-to-back championships.
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Several of the major sportsbooks believe Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes have a strong chance of repeating, as they are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup in 2027 at both DraftKings Sportsbook (+700) and FanDuel Sportsbook (+650). However, Caesars Sportsbook (+800) and BetMGM Sportsbook (+750) have Carolina as the second favorite, with the 2026 Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche their top choice with odds of +600 and +700, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights — who reached the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in their nine-year history in 2026 — are the third favorite at DraftKings and BetMGM, the fourth favorite at Caesars and even with two other teams as the fifth favorite at FanDuel. Vegas likely won’t be receiving much immediate help via the 2026 NHL Draft, as it traded its first-round pick to the Calgary Flames in March 2024 and was stripped of its second-rounder by the league for “flagrant violations” of the Stanley Cup Playoffs media regulations following Game 6 of its second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks last month.
ODDS TO WIN 2027 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
The Golden Knights’ draft situation likely has no bearing on their odds to win the Cup next season, since picks rarely step right into the lineup and make the type of impact that could take a team to the championship. Even if Vegas had its first two selections, the cream of the crop already would have unavailable as the club would have been drafting near the bottom of those rounds.
Winning the Stanley Cup is not the only reason the Hurricanes are favored to repeat at some of the major books. The fashion in which they did it likely plays a large role, as the team went 16-3 overall during the 2026 postseason, 8-1 on the road, swept two of its four series and recorded four of the seven shutouts that occurred throughout the playoffs.
Colorado was the heavy favorite to win the Cup this year as it earned 121 points to capture its fourth Presidents’ Trophy and swept the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the postseason before knocking off the Minnesota Wild in five games. But defenseman Cale Makar missed the first two games of the Western Conference Final with an upper-body injury and clearly was not himself upon his return, and the Avalanche were shockingly swept by the Golden Knights.
With two-time Norris Trophy winner Makar, reigning Maurice Richard Trophy recipient Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas leading the charge, Colorado should once again be a major factor in the West and a strong contender for the Stanley Cup next season, and several major sportsbooks agree.
