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NHL Player Awards: Odds and Expert Betting Predictions

by Ryan Cobbett - 10/7/2025

NHL player awards predictions Leon Draisaitl Edmonton Oilers

After a long offseason, the 2025/26 NHL season will officially be underway. The Florida Panthers will be on the hunt to bring the Stanley Cup back home for the third consecutive season while the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights are going to try and usurp the Panthers. Nikita Kucherov is set to repeat as the league’s top point scorer while Connor Hellebuyck will look to defend his Hart and Vezina trophies. With the season on the horizon there is no better time to finalize your NHL future bets, so let’s dive into some interesting Player Awards futures.

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Hart Trophy

  1. Connor McDavid +200
  2. Nathan MacKinnon +430
  3. Nikita Kucherov +600

Last year Hellebuyck took home the Hart Trophy after putting up historic numbers for the Winnipeg Jets. The likelihood of a goalie repeating as the league’s MVP is slim to none. McDavid headlines a list of today’s superstars that have a shot at winning the Hart Trophy. McDavid had 100 points in just 67 games last season. That ranked sixth in the league despite missing over 20% of the season. MacKinnon trails after finishing the season tied for a league best 84 assists while finishing with 116 points, the second most in the league. Rounding out the Top Three is Kucherov who was last year’s leader in points with 121 despite missing four games. One dark horse candidate is Kirill Kaprizov (+1100) who was having an excellent season before being injured. However, McDavid has the best “Robin” in the league with Draisaitl on top of being the best skater in the NHL. Hard to go against the favorite here.

My Pick: Connor McDavid +200

Calder Trophy

  1. Ivan Demidov +180
  2. Michael Misa +1100
  3. Jimmy Snuggerud +1100

Demidov has been penciled in as the favorite for much of the offseason. The 19-year-old winger will provide some much-needed depth for the Canadiens this season, especially on the power play. His two playoff points came on the man advantage while he did tally two points in the regular season in two games. Misa will be looking to break onto the scene and totally dismantle Demidov’s odds. Misa tallied 134 points (62 goals and 72 assists) in 65 games in the OHL last season. He will spearhead the Sharks second line and will run with veteran Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund who both finished in the Top Three on the team in points.  As for Snuggerud, he is an incredible dark horse to follow. He had four points in seven games for the Blues last postseason while posting four points in seven regular season games. He has the best supporting cast of the rookies mentioned as the favorites for the award and his +1100 odds bring some value. However, I am going to bet on Misa having an incredible emergence for the Sharks and give this team a lot of hype with him and Celebrini.

My Pick: Michael Misa +1100

Vezina Trophy

  1. Connor Hellebuyck +310
  2. Igor Shesterkin +650
  3. Andrei Vasilevskiy +750

Though Hellebuyck may not repeat as the Hart Trophy winner, it is hard to see him give up the Vezina Trophy to anyone else unless he is injured. He has appeared in 60 or more games in each of the last four seasons, has allowed just 2.20 GA/G over the last two seasons and a .922 S% over the last three seasons. He also is coming off a career best eight shutouts while leading his Jets team to claiming the Presidents Trophy with a league best 116 points. Shesterkin’s numbers were down last season as he ranked just 35th in the league in GA/G (2.86) and I would not buy in on his value until he proves he is back amongst the league’s best netminders. Vasilevskiy is an intriguing name as well to usurp Hellebuyck. He matches the workload as he and Hellebuyck started 63 games last season, and Vasilevskiy allowed just 2.18 GA/G which ranked fourth. His +750 odds may be worth some couch change, but it is hard to envision anyone taking the Vezina away from Hellebuyck this season.

My Pick: Connor Hellebuyck +310

Norris Trophy

  1. Cale Makar +145
  2. Quinn Hughes +210
  3. Zach Werenski +1000

Again, this one is a hard one to see going to anyone else. Yes, Hughes is deservedly in the conversation, but Makar is the best defenseman in the NHL. He is by far the biggest offensive threat, and his production may see an increase with the absence of Mikko Rantanen. Makar had 30 goals last season which led all blueliners while his 92 points ranked ninth in the league and were 10 better than the next defenseman (Werenski). As for Werenski, he may have had a career year last season and there is not a lot of confidence on him being able to repeat that production. He is a solid goal threat and a dangerous weapon on the power play, but he is no Makar.

My Pick: Cale Makar +145

Rocket Richard Trophy

  1. Leon Draisaitl +310
  2. Auston Matthews +340
  3. Kirill Kaprizov +550

Last year, Draisaitl won this award, and it wasn’t close. His league best 52 goals happened in just 71 games. Matthews finished second with 45 goals, while Alex Ovechkin and Tage Thompson finished tied for third with 44 goals. Kaprizov finished with just 25 as he was limited to just 41 games, but that would have put him on a 50-goal pace. There are a lot of goal scoring threats and 50+ goal potential guys in the NHL. The Top Three doesn’t list, Thompson, Ovechkin, or guys like David Pastrnak, Brayden Point, or Kyle Connor. This will be another exciting race to follow, but I am going to follow-up with Draisaitl again to win this award. Though he has some injury issues seemingly every season that costs him a few games, it is undeniable that he is the best in the league at scoring as he has averaged 50 goals per season over the last four years.

My Pick: Leon Draisaitl +310

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