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2026 Stanley Cup Odds: Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes lead the way

The field is set for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs and the team that has been leading the league essentially since Day 1, the Colorado Avalanche, are favourites to host Lord Stanley.

But, as always, it will be a competitive playoffs and anything can happen. The Carolina Hurricanes are top contenders from the East and younger teams like the Montreal Canadiens could have an attainable path toward the Stanley Cup Final.

Let’s get into it with the some Cup favourites, contenders and dark horses.

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Stanley Cup favourite: Colorado Avalanche (+300)

It’s no surprise to see Colorado enter the playoffs as the Cup favourites. They ran away with the Presidents’ Trophy, posting a league-best 119 points with one game remaining on their schedule and they’re absolutely stacked with talent from the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog and Martin Necas.

However, it’s the Avs’ depth that makes them true Cup contenders. They get contributions from throughout the lineup, with Brock Nelson, Valeri Nichushkin and Nazem Kadri providing crucial depth scoring, while Scott Wedgewood leads the NHL in goals-against average (2.07) and save percentage (.920).

The only drawback for Colorado is a flawed playoff format that will see them play a juggernaut of either Dallas or Minnesota in the second round should they advance. Still, it’s hard to find any weaknesses on this elite Avalanche squad.

Stanley Cup contender: Carolina Hurricanes (+500)

The Carolina Hurricanes have reached the Eastern Conference Finals in two of the last three years and they have a clear path to make it back this year. Carolina has dominated the East this season, locking up the conference’s top seed with 113 points, second only to the Avalanche.

The Canes have a nice blend of talent throughout the lineup with Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Nikolaj Ehlers leading the way, but there are definitely question marks regarding their playoff performance as they only won one game in those two conference finals appearances.

Carolina has a pretty straightforward path through the East as they’ll play Ottawa in the first round and the winner of Pittsburgh-Philadelphia in the second round. Barring a major upset, that puts the Hurricanes on a path to face the Tampa Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals. If the Canes can solve Tampa, they should have a ton of confidence against whichever West team they would face in the Cup Final.

Stanley Cup dark horse: Montreal Canadiens (+2500)

The West is an absolute gong show this year, so let’s look at an East team for our dark horse pick. The Montreal Canadiens are set up arguably better than any team in the NHL for now and into the future. They have a ton of young talent locked up long term and they have the prospects and draft picks to as trade chips add veteran players.

But, are they ready to contend now? I would say after Cole Caufield scored 50 goals this season and Nick Suzuki hit the 100-point mark, the Habs are ready to do some damage in the playoffs. It all starts with a first round matchup against a stacked Lightning squad, but if they can get past the Bolts, that would likely be their toughest opponent in the East.

If Montreal’s goaltending holds up between Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler and players like Juraj Slafkovsky continue to elevate their game, this Habs team could do some major damage.