Stanley Cup odds are different than regular NHL betting lines in that the playoffs provide new types of bets.
The traditional betting of hockey moneylines and puck lines remain for those seeking to bet on just a single game. Ditto totals wagering, also known as NHL over under odds where you bet whether the total number of goals scored in a game is more than or less than a certain number (usually 5 or 5.5 goals in the NHL).
But new types of wagering emerge such as series prices. At the start of each series, online sportsbooks such as Sports Interaction will offer betting odds on who will win the series.
Sportsbooks also offer exact series odds whereby fans can wager on who will win and how many games the series will last. Typically a sweep is the underdog position at 10/1 odds or higher whereas picking one team to win in five or six games may pay only 2/1 or 3/1 (because that is a more likely outcome for the series).
In addition to these types of Stanley Cup playoff odds, player prop odds are expanded. Normally in the regular season you can bet on how a player will perform in a game. In the playoffs, sportsbooks offer over under points lines on players. That means you may see Alexander Ovechkin with a 6.5 points number for his first-round series.
In this case, you handicap the matchup and if you think the Great Eight will score 7 points or more, you bet over. If you think the opposing goalie will stone him, you can wager under 6.5 points. At the end of the series, you look at the stats and collect your winnings.
At all times during the playoffs, sportsbooks update their overall ‘who will win the Stanley Cup’ odds. If the favorite team loses two games in the first round, their odds will go way up. If a star player gets hurt, that will affect the Stanley Cup future betting odds as well.
Shops like Bodog also offer unique props on ‘will a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup’ and ‘will the captain of the winning team be a Canadian’ and more.
All in all, NHL playoff betting offers a lot more variety than regular season action. And there are often trends that can help you handicap games with teams playing each other so many times in a short period of time.