NHL Betting Online - Best Hockey Betting Sites for 2024-25

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Top NHL Betting Bonuses You Can Claim Right Now

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Sportsbook	Bonus Value	Bonus Code	Crypto Deposit	Sign Up
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	50% up to $500	XBET50	✅	Bet Now
	50% up to $1,000	MYB50	✅	Bet Now

Make sure to take advantage of these offers to get more out of your NHL bets this season!

Best Sportsbooks To Bet On NHL

The NHL regular season is long. Typically, it runs from October to June — eight whole months of hockey. If you’re going to be capitalizing on all the betting action, you’ll need a reliable sportsbook to endure you all nhl regular season long. So which ones will best do the job? One thing we should say is that it’s essential that the bookmaker you select offers a hockey betting app, so you can access the odds on-the-go.

The upcoming NHL season offers plenty of opportunities for new users and beginners to explore the best sportsbook apps. With welcome offers and bonus bets, fans can easily place their first bet on online sports through top platforms like Bet365 and Fanatics Sportsbook. These apps provide competitive odds and features like same-game parlay and live streaming to make the betting experience more engaging. New customers can also benefit from odds boosts, giving them better chances of winning real money on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Bettors will appreciate the user-friendly interfaces of popular apps, making it simple to manage their bet slip and take advantage of bonus codes. With secure withdrawals and real money options, these platforms ensure a smooth experience for everyone, including Canada-based fans. Many sportsbooks, like BetRivers, also offer rewards programs and support convenient payment methods, such as credit card, to enhance the overall betting experience. Whether you’re tracking your bets or exploring the latest best odds, the new season has something for everyone.

Below we’ve earmarked the “best of the best” NHL sportsbooks based on different factors. Let’s jump right into our list:

The Best NHL Betting Site Is Bovada

We would call NHL Bovada the “Canadiens” of online betting but that’s only partly accurate. Hockey bettors will know, the Montreal Canadiens have the most Stanley Cups in league history (24). Similarly, NHL Bovada might be the most successful sportsbook in the offshore industry. However, whereas Montreal hasn’t won the championship in three decades, Bovada’s success is recent. Since opening in 2011, Bovada has become the go-to online NHL sports betting destination — not just for hockey, but all sports.

But for the purpose of this page, let’s only focus on the NHL bet offering. Trust us, it’s massive — and we mean massive — in NHL Bovada. All 32 NHL teams will be available to bet on Ice Hockey at nhl bovada and not just in the standard betting fare (e.g. moneylines and over/unders), but also props and NHL futures. It will be rare to have an NHL wager that’s not carried at nhl bovada.

Another thing that must be said about Bovada is your money is in good hands here. Of course, the online betting industry as a whole doesn’t always have the best reputation. But it’s safe to say nhl bovada isn’t one of the “bad apples” that gives the whole space a tainted name. No, quite the opposite actually. In the decade that Bovada has existed, it’s been a top-used site because it’s built trust with bettors across the United States.

Bovada is an ideal sportsbook for both new and hardened bettors. That’s because its entire betting experience is easy to figure out and not ridden with distractions. This isn’t the type of website where you’ll get stuck. Everything just works like it’s supposed to and that’s worth highlighting because it’s not always this way elsewhere.

Why MyTopSportsbooks loves NHL Bovada:

• Extensive betting menu
• Simple-to-understand user interface
• Trusted reputation inside the industry

Bonus:

50% up to $250

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The Best NHL Betting Lines Are At BetOnline

It’s not that BetOnline has more NHL betting lines than Bovada. No, the two are rather equal in that regard. With either one, you’re getting the full gamut of NHL bets available league-wide. However, where BetOnline differs — and for the better — is in its betting prices. More times than not, it feels like BetOnline will offer the lowest betting odds on the market, whether these are futures bets or regular game betting. That’s no small thing either. Even a line that’s -5 better at nhl bovada makes a huge difference to your profit-loss statement, especially over the long haul.

So if you plan on betting NHL from preseason to the Stanley Cup Finals, it would behoove you to bet at a sportsbook that doesn’t shortchange players with its odds. That’s BetOnline to a tee. Here, you’re always “maximizing your value” per se.

Why MyTopSportsbooks loves BetOnline:

• Extremely fair-priced odds
• Variety of bonus offers
• Supports a variety of payment methods

Bonus:

50% up to $1,000

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Can’t Beat The Bonuses At MyBookie

Sign-up bonuses effectively accomplish two things — earn players a boat load of free money and allow them to “test” the site on the sportsbooks dime. Both of those are very much in play over at MyBookie.  

Let’s begin with the former. Right now at MyBookie (and year-round for that matter), the site is offering up to $1000 in free play with your first deposit of the site. A cool grand — which bettors can use as they wish, whether that’s on NHL bets or another sport of your choosing. Not bad at all! As for the latter, you could “trial” MyBookie with this free play instead of dipping into your own funds too much. Though, if you’re doing that, it might be best to start with a smaller deposit and not get the max $1000 bonus.

Why MyTopSportsbooks loves MyBookie:

• One of the highest welcome bonuses around
• Deep sportsbook menu beyond NHL
• Several different banking options

Bonus:

50% up to $1,000

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XBet Features Best NHL In-Play Experience

The macro-trend right now is live betting — that goes for NHL and just about every other sport. The proliferation of smartphones and data has made this possible. Almost every betting site is “doubling down” on its in-play feature, but XBet is ahead of the game. This new site made real-time betting a priority early on and it shows with how fleshed out the feature is on-site.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find an NHL game, whether in the regular nhl season or playoffs, that doesn’t have live betting odds available at XBet. Not only that, but once you actually make bets, the whole experience is seamless. No lag. No errors. Nothing — just in-play betting at its very finest!

Why MyTopSportsbooks loves XBet:

• Nifty live betting system
• Modernized look and feel across website
• New sportsbook entrant gaining market share

Bonus:

50% up to $500

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How to Bet on NHL Hockey Games

For those looking to make the best NHL bets tonight, you will need to get started right away at safe and reliable online sportsbooks. Check out any of these sites for your hockey betting needs. Sign up is easy! Then you can get straight into finding the NHL best bets for tonight.

NHL Moneyline Betting on NHL Hockey

Much like baseball, hockey doesn’t offer quite as many betting options as football and basketball, given the close, usually low-scoring nature of the game. For that reason, NHL moneyline betting is the most common option for NHL wagers. So let’s start there.

Even if you’re not a huge hockey fan, you might enjoy betting on NHL action, as long as you’re a fan of winning. Hockey is a notoriously tough game to predict because the gap between the best team and the worst team in the league is not that big. While that makes it tough for bettors to pick winners, it makes it equally tough for bookmakers to set lines.

For instance, sportsbooks treat hockey like other sports when it comes to home-ice/home-field advantage, building it into the line. But statistics and history don’t necessarily justify it, as there’s much less benefit to playing in your own barn in hockey. If you do the research, it’s not hard to find value betting hockey on the moneyline.

When you bet on the NHL moneyline, you’re simply betting who will win the game.

Note: The Three-Way Moneyline

Side note: the NHL no longer has ties. But a large number of games settle in overtime and shootouts, and some books offer both a two-way and three-way nhl moneyline. The three-way nhl moneyline will rule a game a draw if it is tied after 60 minutes, while the two-way nhl moneyline will give you the win no matter when the game is decided. Let’s stick with two-way betting, for now, to keep things simple.

A Sample NHL Moneyline:

Below is the closing NHL moneyline for a NHL playoff game between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens.

There’s nothing complicated here. The Canadiens are on the bottom because they’re the home team. The -145 payout (bet $145 to win $100) indicates that they are the favorite, while the Rangers +135 payout (bet $100 to win $135) shows they are the underdog.

NHL Hockey Betting on The “Puck Line”

Puck line betting comes in handy on the rare occasions when there is a big favorite in the NHL, you may want to get more value than betting on a short NHL moneyline, which might only payout at -250 or so (i.e., bet $250 to win $100). In such cases, the NHL’s spread option might interest you. Akin to betting on the runline in MLB baseball, NHL games have a “puck line” (sometimes called a Canadian line), where the favorite has to win by 1.5 goals to “cover the spread.”

A Sample “Puck Line”

The table below shows what the puck line looked like for our Rangers vs Canadiens example.

The 1.5-goal puck line won’t change in the lead-up to the game, unlike spread betting in the NFL and NBA. However, if bettors wager a lot more money on one team than the other, the payouts will change. In our example, if bettors placed 75-percent of the betting money on the Canadiens in the lead-up, that +140 payout would likely shrink to +130 or thereabouts, while the payout on the Rangers would get a little better (perhaps moving from -150 to -140). (Why? Because, as we’ve discussed elsewhere, sportsbooks want to see equal betting on both teams. Changing the payouts in this fashion will encourage more wagers on the Rangers and fewer on the Canadiens.)

Because these spreads don’t move, hockey doesn’t have teaser betting as an option. If you want to familiarize yourself with teasers and all kinds of multiple bets, check out our guide.

NHL Betting on the Total Score

NHL games do have a game total option, and that number is usually set around 5.5. If two great goaltenders are playing, it can go as low as 5, and an offensive clash may see the total up at 6, but there’s not a great deal of variance on a game by game basis.

The total in our Rangers vs Canadiens example would be displayed as follows:

Total betting for hockey works the same as any other sport. If six or more goals are scored in the Rangers/Canadiens game, the people who bet on the over win. If the teams combine for five or fewer goals, the under bettors win.

There is one wrinkle to keep in mind, though: should an NHL game go to a shootout (which is only possible in the regular nhl season), only one goal will count toward the total, even if multiple shooters score during the shootout. If the example above went to a shootout and tied 1-1, and all three Ranger shooters scored while one scored for the Habs, the total would only be three because the final score of the game is 2-1 in favor of New York.

Other NHL Bet Types

NHL Betting Strategies & Tips Advice

Having your favorite hockey team and knowing them like the back of your hand is a useful step towards developing an overall hockey betting strategy. But it is not enough. In fact, it can be an impediment if you obsess too much with your favorite team. So, be sure to remember our NHL betting tips when you’re next wagering.

Having specific knowledge about the teams and players is just one route towards hockey betting success. Let’s go over some of the NHL betting trends, strategies, and tips that will help you make the best hockey bets possible.

Bankroll Management for Hockey NHL Betting

NHL bankroll managementt in hockey betting is a totally different way to make great hockey bets today. Instead of focusing on which bet, spending hours comparing stats, analyzing schedules, and worrying about injury reports, you just make a bet. Here, the strategy comes in the form of how much you wager.

There are two basic approaches here. One is the unit approach, where you always risk the same amount of money, and this will allow you to compare how you do with different approaches or when betting on your favorite team. The other approach is the percentage, where you bet a fixed percentage of what you have in your hockey betting site account.

Both of these approaches to this hockey betting strategy will help you analyze your betting skills and make necessary adjustments.

Shop the NHL Betting Odds

It is recommended that sports bettors sign up with more than one NHL betting site. Why not? At the sites we recommend the signup process is quick and simple, so you should not spend too much time doing it. This will also give you the experience you need to decide which one you prefer. By line shopping you are able to successfully follow NHL betting trends and maximizing your chances of finding value in the odds.

Plus, you can compare lines across the sportsbooks where you have accounts quickly and simply. This will help you save money in the short and long-term, as you will always be getting the best deal. You can quickly maximize your payouts just by doing a bit of line shopping.

Be Careful with Your Favorite

While it is great to know your favorite NHL team well, it is more important how you use this knowledge. It is far too easy to see our team’s chance through rose-tinted glasses. Sometimes your team will lose.

In fact, it can be a good idea to ban yourself from betting on your favorite team. It is just difficult to be objective. If you do want to bet on your favorite team, because we all know how fun it can be, just keep an eye on your success rate. Are you willing to bet against your favorite team?

Live NHL Betting and the National Hockey League

Having an online hockey betting site you can trust has many advantages. One of them is live NHL betting. The internet facilitates the rapid transmission of stats and calculation of odds. Thank goodness for this. Live betting is a whole new world within the betting universe.

Live betting is more exciting for one. You can watch the odds go up and down in real-time and feel the adrenaline rush as the clock is ticking. The odds change fast, so you have to move fast if you want to make today’s best hockey bets.

It is also a great learning experience. Because you can see how specific stats or goals or happenings in the hockey game affect the betting markets, you will have a better sense of how hockey odds work. It is essentially a way of having hockey odds explained to you, but on a deeper level.

Plus, live hockey betting is great because you will have more options for each market available. Because the odds change many times throughout the game, you do not simply have to accept what you see. You can wait in hiding and pounce on your prey when you see fit.

You can find almost every type of hockey bet during live betting as well. Here are some examples:

• Over/Under
• Spread
• NHL Moneylines
• Hockey Parlays
• Will there be a hat trick?
• NHL Prop bets

Best NHL Bets, December 2024