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2025-26 NHL Futures: Top Point Total Bets and Winning Strategies
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The 2025-26 National Hockey League drops the puck on Tuesday, Oct. 7, and we're off and running toward another run to Lord Stanley's Cup in June 2026.
After a lot of personnel movement in the offseason, including free agency, trades and the draft, we now have enough information to make some educated plays in terms of point totals.
Playing Over/Unders on a team's point total takes a lot of patience. It's like investing in stocks. You need to set it, then forget it, and not worry too much about winning or losing streaks, depending on which way you bet. It can be a little frustrating, but if you're worrying about it every day, it isn't fun. Make your pick before the season, then enjoy the games like you normally do. If it works out, great. We're here to help you make the right picks.
Let's get started with this season's best Over/Under point total picks.
CAROLINA HURRICANES - UNDER 106.5 POINTS (-112)
*all odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Let's get this out of the way first. I live just outside of Raleigh, NC, and occasionally I even skate at the Carolina Hurricanes practice facility. I see and hear about this team all of the time. In fact, it's probably the team I know best, top to bottom, than any other team in the league.
That being said, I am not a Caniac or biased in any way. I love to see the Canes do well, as I like to see my hockey friends are happy, especially from my teams Rusty Blades and Ice Aged, but I preferred when the barn was two-thirds full and I could get lower-level tickets for $40. That ship has sailed long ago. Carolina is now a perennial playoff contender.
However, while the team made a giant splash by landing the biggest free-agent fish in Nikolaj Ehlers, while acquiring K'Andre Miller as an upgrade on defense over Dmitry Orlov and the aging Brent Burns, the team still didn't address its biggest, glaring need -- goaltending.
I like Frederik Andersen. He seems to be a generally good guy, and someone you can really root for. But, he is also made of glass. Just when he seems to be getting into a groove, an injury always seems to pop up, usually at the most inopportune time. He also had a terrible non-hockey health situation, which was very unfortunate, and it's good that it's in the rear-view mirror. Anyway, when those injury issues crop up, the team is left scrambling. Pyotr Kochetkov is a nice alternative, but it's clear the team doesn't feel he is a clear-cut 1A. And, to be fair, there really weren't any better options on the open market for general manager Eric Tulsky to go get.
In any event, the Canes are going to be fine. They're likely going to go for a triple-digit point total, and they're going to challenge for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. But, 107 or more points? That's quite a tall order.
CALGARY FLAMES - OVER 81.5 POINTS (-110)
The Flames just missed the postseason in 2024-25, going for 41-27-14 while posting 96 points. It's stunning to see their point total projection drop so precipitously.
This is a young team, with a young core, and general manager Craig Conroy didn't really make any splash moves to make the team better. However, the Flames didn't do anything to make the team worse, either.
Young players like Kevin Bahl, Adam Klapka, etc. got some hands-on training, and they're going to be a big part of the youth movement in Cowtown. The team did move backup tendy Dan Vladar to Philadelphia, while inking Dustin Wolf to a long-term extension. It appears Ivan Prosvetov will be his backup for the foreseeable future, as the team commits to young, promising players.
Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri remain, giving the team some high-priced talent. Mikael Backlund, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and Yegor Sharangovich aren't the worst group of forwards you'll see, either. And, on D, they still have MacKenzie Weegar, too.
The cupboard is anything but bare. Is this team going to total 16 or fewer points in 2025-26? I say no way! This is one of my favorite futures plays, and I plan on going rather aggressively on this one.
FLORIDA PANTHERS - OVER 100.5 POINTS (-118)
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champs are looking for the three-peat. The last time we saw a team win it all in three or more consecutive seasons was 1980-83 when the New York Islanders won four consecutive Cups before being denied "one for the thumb" in 1984 by the Edmonton Oilers.
How hungry will the Panthers be for that third straight Cup? That's the question. The team managed to keep the band together in this day and age of the salary cap, bringing back Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand on contract extensions, so they really didn't lose anything.
Well, they did lose Aleksander Barkov. He suffered torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee at practice in late September in a collision with Niko Mikkola, and he is expected to miss 7-9 months. That's a big blow, losing the captain to the surgeon's table. Matthew Tkachuk was already expected to be out until December, as he recovers from a torn adductor muscle.
I feel for Barkov and Tkachuk, as I had both a torn MCL and a torn adductor muscle in the past year due to hockey. Being a fourth-line try-hard pylon, I know how hard the PT was. I can't imagine how rigorous the comeback is for a professional athlete.
Anyway, those two injuries are why the target number is so low for the Cats. But this team still has a strong core, and Sergei Bobrovsky isn't going anywhere. The biggest question is whether the bottom drops out, should another injury pop up. This is the most risky play on the board, but Florida easily gets to 101 or more points as long as Tkachuk's return doesn't get pushed back.
WINNIPEG JETS - OVER 98.5 POINTS (-110)
We'll keep the analysis short, but sweet here. Connor Hellebuyck didn't go anywhere in the offseason. This is a Jets team that went 56-22-4 last season, winning the Presidents' Trophy with 116 points. Hellebuyck won his third Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league's best goaltender, with a 37-19-4 record, 2.39 goals-against average and .921 save percentage with five shutouts in 60 games.
Yes, the Jets lost Ehlers to free agency to Carolina. The team added Jonathan Toews, a Winnipeg native, while also getting Gustav Nyquist. The Jets added some depth players, but nobody special. Still, if anything, losing Ehlers is worth a loss of five or six points. And yes, let's account for maybe a 10-point regression. That still puts the Jets at 100 points.
Again, Hellebucyk didn't go anywhere. He is the league's premier backstop, and it's hard to imagine he suddenly becomes average.
Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.
BOSTON BRUINS - OVER 79.5 POINTS (-112)
It's weird seeing the Bruins scraping the bottom of the NHL barrel. In the better part of the past two decades, this is a team that was looking to secure Stanley Cups, not secure lottery picks. It's a strange new world.
When the team had Jim Montgomery on the bench, and Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman alternating starts, this team was unstoppable. It started to unravel when Ullmark left for Ottawa, the goaltending became a bit unstable, and things kept falling apart like a cheap suit. For fans in Montreal and Toronto, among others, it was a beautiful thing to see. There is no love for the black and gold.
There is no Marchand, as he is in Florida. Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic are elsewhere. The team is trying to get younger and quicker. They restocked the cupboard with the likes of Viktor Arvidsson, Tanner Jeannot and Sean Kuraly, while giving Morgan Geekie an extension. It isn't a terrible roster. It isn't a good one, either. But Jeremy Swayman is still there, and this team should be good for 80 points, right?
