2025-26 NHL betting preview: Four futures to bet before Opening Night
The 2025-26 NHL season gets underway in less than a week, which means time is running out to put the finishing touches on your preseason portfolio.Luckily for all of us, there have been other things going on in the sporting world to distract bettors, which has allowed a handful of prices to slip through the cracks in the futures market as we hurl towards Opening Night on Oct.7.Below are four futures to move on before the rest of the betting world catches on:It’s hard to believe that Jon Cooper, who will coach in his 1,000th game for the Lightning this season barring a stunner, has never won the Jack Adams Trophy.Normally, the Jack Adams goes to the coach in charge of the biggest overachiever in the league, so you can see why Cooper never got the honor since Tampa Bay is always projected to be a heavyweight, but it does seem unfair that the Lightning’s consistency is being held against the man who has orchestrated it.Cooper has led the Lightning to two Stanley Cups, three conference championships, four division titles, and one Presidents’ Trophy during his decade in charge of the Bolts, and they’re a trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup this year.A big season in Tampa should see Cooper finally get rewarded with Coach of the Year honors.The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association votes on the Frank J.
Selke Trophy, given to the league’s best defensive forward, and it will be very hard for the scribes to ignore the romance of handing this award to Anze Kopitar in his final season.The surefire Hall-of-Famer built a career on being an elite two-way center, and this seems like a great way to honor the Slovenian as he rides off into the sunset. You don’t have to go back too far to find the last Vezina winner that came from nowhere.In fact, most sportsbooks didn’t even list a price on 2022-23 winner Linus Ullmark before that season started. And even though last year’s winner, Connor Hellebuyck, was the preseason favorite, three of the top five in the vo...