2025-26 NHL Awards Betting Preview: Odds, Predictions, Best Bets

Hart Memorial Trophy Odds, Prediction, and Betting Pick

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon remains the frontrunner in the Hart Trophy race. Currently listed at -175, he carries a 63.6% implied probability to win his second league MVP, down from earlier in January, but still ahead of the field.

On January 8, MacKinnon was priced at -350, implying a 77.8% chance to take home the award. At the Olympic break, MacKinnon carried -180 odds, so there hasn’t been much of a change over the last two weeks. Nikita Kucherov’s odds to win the Hart Trophy have been on the run, though, as he has shortened from +500 to +250.

Meanwhile, young San Jose Sharks’ star Macklin Celebrini has watched his odds slip. Celebrini’s price has regressed sharply from +225 to +750 over the last month. It’s been a great year for Celebrini, but Kucherov and MacKinnon are rising to the occasion at the right time.

The Avalanche went on a cold run with a record of 4-5-1 heading into the break but have regained their footing with eight wins in their previous ten games. Currently, they are first in the NHL with an overall record of 43-10-9 and 95 points. MacKinnon remains the player to beat for the Hart as well.

The 30-year-old Nova Scotia native leads the NHL with 43 goals, six more than Cole Caufield, who sits second, and Kucherov with 34 goals in sixth.

McDavid currently holds the edge in total points, 108 to MacKinnon’s 104, but MacKinnon’s +56 rating dwarfs McDavid’s +12 and is ahead of Kucherov at +33, underscoring the impact he’s having at both ends of the ice.

Nazem Kadri ➡️ Nathan MacKinnon

Just like old times 🚨 pic.twitter.com/gtNxSoi9S4

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 8, 2026

With Nazem Kadri back on a line with MacKinnon, only expect his production to increase. Kadri is on the wing and already has chemistry with the Hart Trophy favorite. That connection should continue to blossom in the coming weeks.

Looking ahead, I expect the Avalanche to finish the second half of the season strong. Even during their mini-slump before the break, MacKinnon produced 19 points in 13 games. Given the value at -175, you are unlikely to find a much better price on MacKinnon the rest of the season.

James Norris Memorial Trophy Odds, Prediction, and Betting Pick

Cale Makar has inched ahead in a tightly contested James Norris Trophy race. All season he has traded places with Columbus Blue Jackets standout Zach Werenski, while Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard has recently emerged as a serious contender.

At +115, Makar’s odds are exactly where they were a month ago. Werenski, however, has drifted from +115 to +155, while Bouchard has rocketed from +3500 to +400, a jump in implied probability from about 2.8% to 36%.

Bouchard’s surge makes him a factor, and Makar’s dominance on a powerhouse Avalanche team is hard to ignore. Still, Werenski’s performance on a far less talented Blue Jackets squad is what ultimately sets him apart for me.

Makar benefits from playing on a loaded Colorado roster, which inflates his plus/minus. Strip that away, and his stat line is almost identical to Werenski’s: both have 66 points, with Makar owning a slight edge in assists and Werenski leading in goals.

Zach Werenski gives the @BlueJacketsNHL the lead with a wicked wrister! 👏 pic.twitter.com/HDwMymXCze

— NHL (@NHL) January 14, 2026

Columbus’s 33-21-10 record and their presence in the playoff chase owe a great deal to Werenski. If Makar were to go down, it would dent Colorado’s Stanley Cup hopes, but the Avalanche would remain a top-tier contender. The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, are not a 33-win team without Werenski on the ice.

Given that context and the current odds, the value in my 2026 NHL awards predictions is on Zach Werenski to win the Norris.

Jack Adams Memorial Trophy Odds, Prediction, and Betting Pick

Lindy Ruff has gone from afterthought to frontrunner in the Jack Adams race, mirroring the Buffalo Sabres’ dramatic turnaround. As Buffalo has rocketed to the top of the Atlantic Division, Ruff has climbed to the top of the Jack Adams betting board.

Now priced at -230, Ruff carries a 69.7% implied probability to capture his second Jack Adams Trophy. During his first stint in Buffalo, he won the award in 2005-06 and was a finalist in both 2006-07 and 2015-16. After several quiet years, this season has firmly put him back on the radar.

The case for Ruff is straightforward. The Sabres sit at 40-19-6 with 86 points and are riding an eight-game winning streak. Since January 20, they’ve taken 13 of 16 games. A franchise that hasn’t clinched a playoff berth since 2010-11 is now comfortably on pace to end that drought.

"That's my kind of hockey." 👊 pic.twitter.com/iuOSHfrZfs

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 9, 2026

Buffalo is coming off a 36-39-7 campaign and has already hit the 40-win mark by mid-March. That kind of year-over-year jump, combined with more than a decade without this level of success, makes Ruff the logical favorite. While Jon Cooper and Jared Bednar also deserve serious consideration, Buffalo’s transformation under Ruff is the deciding factor.

Given the Sabres’ surge, Ruff at -230 to win the Jack Adams is a solid number where I see him as a -450 favorite, and one of the strongest NHL awards betting picks on the board.

Vezina Trophy Odds, Prediction, and Betting Pick

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has overtaken the New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin for the top odds to win the Vezina Trophy. According to the latest NHL awards betting markets, Vasilevskiy now owns a 56.5% implied probability to win his second Vezina.

He was +1000 to win the award in January, then surged to +125 by the Olympic break. That move represents a jump from an implied 9.1% to 44.4%, and now to above 50% for the first time this year. Sorokin remains firmly in the race for the league’s top goaltender award, but I’m sticking with my Vasilevskiy Vezina pick.

Vasilevskiy has posted a 2.32 GAA and .913 save percentage in 43 games this season. The veteran Russian netminder has allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of his last 18 starts for the Lightning. That recent form gives Vasilevskiy an edge over Sorokin, who has some work to do in March and April.

VASI… WOW 😱

📺: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/TAlegCKACU

— NHL (@NHL) March 8, 2026

Sorokin owns a 2.51 GAA and .913 save percentage in 40 games, while Vasilevskiy also holds the advantage in wins, 29 to 24. It’s a tight race, but I have more confidence in Vasilevskiy closing the season strong.

I’ve already bet Vasilevskiy at +1000 and +125 this season. While there isn’t as much value at -130, I’m still confident in his chances, and I think it’s a reasonable price to consider so late in the season.