Hard checks, rough stuff around the boards and the occasional fights are all part of hockey's physical appeal. The fact that world-class players deliver those checks while on skates makes the athletes even more impressive and it helps make NHL betting such an exciting option.
RotoWire.com wanted to know which NHL teams were the most and least aggressive in the league last season. We ranked teams based on total number of hits and fights from the 2024-25 season. The lower the average ranking, the higher the team was for both total fights and hits during the regular season.
Most Aggressive NHL Teams
Rank | Team | Average Ranking |
1 | Boston Bruins | 4.0 |
2 | Vancouver Canucks | 4.5 |
3 | Nashville Predators | 5.0 |
T4 | Florida Panthers | 8.0 |
T4 | St. Louis Blues | 8.0 |
6 | San Jose Sharks | 9.0 |
T7 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 11.5 |
T7 | Ottawa Senators | 11.5 |
T7 | Seattle Kraken | 11.5 |
T10 | Calgary Flames | 13.0 |
T10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 13.0 |
12 | Montreal Canadiens | 13.5 |
13 | Nashville Predators | 14.5 |
14 | New York Rangers | 15.0 |
T15 | Colorado Avalanche | 15.5 |
T15 | Utah Mammoth | 15.5 |
T17 | Carolina Hurricanes | 16.0 |
T17 | Minnesota Wild | 16.0 |
T17 | New Jersey Devils | 16.0 |
20 | Los Angeles Kings | 16.5 |
21 | Washington Capitals | 18.0 |
22 | Chicago Blackhawks | 19.5 |
T23 | New York Islanders | 21.0 |
T23 | Philadelphia Flyers | 21.0 |
25 | Anaheim Ducks | 21.5 |
26 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 22.0 |
27 | Winnipeg Jets | 22.5 |
28 | Vegas Golden Knights | 24.5 |
T29 | Detroit Red Wings | 26.5 |
T29 | Edmonton Oilers | 26.5 |
T29 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 26.5 |
32 | Dallas Stars | 30.0 |
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We gathered data from moneypuck.com on hits during the 2024-25 season and we consulted hockeyfights.com to find the most and least fights per team.
Stanley Cup Champs Hit Hardest
The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were the runaway leaders in hits administered last season, with 2,280, according to moneypuck.com data. The website's stats list A.J. Greer as the team leader with 222 hits, ranking No. 19 in the league.
Does that mean having a team full of big hitters is the key to success? Not necessarily. The teams in second (Vancouver Canucks, 2,065 hits), third (Boston Bruins, 2,053) and fifth (New York Rangers, 1,928) in hits all missed the playoffs. Canucks right wing Kiefer Sherwood had 462 hits to lead the NHL but only 35 penalty minutes, proving that you don't have to be dirty to be a hard hitter.
At BetMGM Sportsbook, the Panthers are the favorite to make it a three-peat in 2025-26, with +600 odds to win the Cup again. The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights are next with +800 odds.
Having Aggression Is A Mixed Bag
The teams that had the most fights, according to hockeyfights.com, in the 2024-25 regular season were the Nashville Predators (37 fights), the Boston Bruins (30), Utah (29), the Columbus Blue Jackets (28) and the San Jose Sharks (25).
Besides a willingness to drop the gloves at any time, those five teams had one other thing in common for anybody backing them at NHL betting sites: None of them made the playoffs.
Out of the top 10 teams in fights, only the St. Louis Blues (24 fights), Minnesota Wild (23) and Washington Capitals (23) qualified for the postseason. St. Louis and Minnesota were the last two team to make the playoffs in the Western Conference so, of the top 10 clubs for fighting, only the East-leading Caps were truly elite.
This analysis is from RotoWire.com, where you can compare sportsbook apps well before hockey season.
Our overall leaders in being aggressive (hits and fights combined) were the Bruins, followed by the Canucks and Predators. Nashville was probably the biggest disappointment in the league, missing the playoffs in the West by 28 points after acquiring Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei in the offseason. Veteran RW Michael McCarron led the Predators with nine fights in 2024-25 and had 102 penalty minutes on the season.
Anyone at online sports betting sites who thinks that a team with pugilistic tendencies will dominate in the standings might want to think again, at least based on last season.
Teams At Bottom For Aggression Can Still Succeed
The last-place team on our list is the Dallas Stars, who were at the bottom of the 32-team league in hits with 1,160, barely more than half of Florida's league-leading total. Dallas also ranked near the bottom in fights during the regular season with 10.
Yet the Stars made the West finals for the third consecutive season and were in a three-way tie for most goals scored in the conference (277) along with the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche.
And the Edmonton Oilers were also near the bottom of our list of aggressive teams, but they reached the Cup final for the second year in a row before losing to the Panthers in six games.
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