Which NHL Teams are Profitable to Wager on?

NHL Team Betting Strategies

We are going to be focusing on the NHL teams in this blog and look to see if there are any circumstances where having a wager on them has proved profitable in the past for us to use in the new NHL season.

The three markets we will be looking at will be Moneyline, Puckline, and Total Goals, which are available with the major NHL Sportsbooks. Most will include any OT and Pens but do check with your sportsbook to mark certain.

We have another NHL blog where we have looked at profitable scenarios when a team is coming off winning or losing streaks which may be of interest to you.

In addition, we have looked in detail at how often NHL favorites win, how to make a profit on NHL teams, and why to back NHL teams on the road on a Sunday.

Below you can find NHL betting strategies for the following teams, why not see if our expert NHL handicappers are also using these systems for their picks?

• Calgary Flames
• Minnesota Wild
• Nashville Predators
• New York Rangers

Straight Up Profitable Teams when Hosting

Could you have made a profit from simply wagering $10 on the Moneyline and backing the hosting team over the last five seasons? The answer to that is Yes, nine of the thirty-two teams show to be profitable when wagering on them at home.

Let's take the Boston Bruins, they top the list with a profit of $128.80 when staking $10 on them each time they play at home, that would have been $1,860 invested for a return of $1,988.80 and an R.O.I of 6.92%.

You would have seen a profit returned in the 2018-19 season of $56.40, however, the following three seasons were not so productive with -16.10, +9.10 & -11.20 season returns and the 2022-23 was much better with a profit of +90.60.

Straight Up Profitable Teams on the Road

Winning on the road is much tougher than you would expect, you are going to someone's backyard and trying to beat them but that also means you might find a bit more value for teams on the road too.

Having said that, it is therefore surprising then that the same number of teams, thirteen, show a profit on the road for the Moneyline market with the Edmonton Oilers seemingly enjoying their time on the road with an impressive profit of $222.40.

Not only do they have a good profit but to have a 55% win rate on the road is also very good. Digging deeper, had you wagered on them for the past four seasons on the road, you would have made a profit in three of the four seasons.

Calgary Flames Betting Strategies

Based in Atlanta, Georgia until 1980 when the Flames moved to their new home in Calgary, Alberta. They won their only Stanley Cup in 1989, they are eight-time divisional champions and three-time conference champions.

They haven't had a particularly great home record with a 55% win rate over the last five seasons and backing them to a $10 stake would have returned a loss of -$199.90.

However, we can use this in our favor as their games which start at 9 PM (EST or 7 PM local time) their win rate drops to 51%, and had you backed against them with $10 stakes you would have returned a profit of $286.10.

Minnesota Wild Betting Strategies

The Minnesota Wild joined the NHL in 2000 after being founded three years earlier in 1997, they play their home games in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and are yet to taste any major success with their only success being divisional champions in 2007-08.

With a 60% win rate on home ice over the last five seasons, they have the 9th-best home record in the NHL over that time and there is one condition where they seem to excel at home.

When playing at home for the second consecutive game, their win rate over the last five seasons is 77% with 36 wins from 47 games, and a $10 wager on them each time would have returned a profit of +$156.00.

Nashville Predators Betting Strategies

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the Nashville Predators have been part of the NHL since 1998 but have had limited success, dual division championships and one conference championship, the closest to a Stanley Cup they have come was in 2017 when losing the Stanley Cup series 4-2 to the Pens.

Over the last five seasons, they had a 58% win rate on home ice, however, they are more often than not favorites at home, $10 stakes would have resulted in a $24.20 loss on them during that time.

There is a circumstance however where they are worth siding with when they are off a two-day break (anything from 48 to 71 hours), that win rate increases to 64% and the most important thing is the profit increases to $111.30.

New York Rangers Betting Strategies

Founded in 1926, the New York Rangers play their home games at the world-famous New York arena, Madison Square Garden, an arena the four-time Stanley Cup champions share with the Knicks, the NBA team from New York.

At first glance, it is not profitable to back the Rangers at home to oppose them at home, or even to back the under or over at home, however, with a little digging there is one factor that proves profitable.

That is to back them at home when they are playing on either Tuesday or Wednesday, doing so has a 64% success rate and a profit of $121.40 to $10 stakes.

*Statistics only include regular season games, the home team is the official team listed as hosting and closing odds and lines are used in the figures for seasons from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

author Information

Andrew Powell manages our hockey analysis articles, meticulously updating the data whilst our Vancouver-based hockey specialist Noah Strang writes the words. Together they maintain all the stateside hockey content for OLBG

Noah Strang

Hockey editor

🥅🏒 Our stateside Hockey specialist, Noah knows just about all there is to know about the NHL and covers the NHL for various publications in Canada - Our go-to guy for our Hockey content.

Andy Powell

Content editor

Andy also possesses a keen interest in American sports with a particular affinity for the NFL and the NHL. He follows the Pittsburgh Penguins, emphasizing his broad palette for diversified sporting events.