NHL 2026-2026 Season Preview - The Stanley Cup Contenders The early mornings might be crisp, the leafs are starting to turn colors and 50-ft skeleton Halloween designs are being pulled out of storage systems. It's formally the Fall, which suggests we are weeks away from the very first puck drop of the NHL season! And all season long, Betting News will be dropping sharp NHL gamer props, video game scripts and bets to keep your bankroll rolling. But first, let's dissect the upcoming 2025-2026 NHL season, and see how much of the script we can get right. Today we will highlight my two leading choices for groups to win the Stanley Cup and their conference. We are beginning our NHL future bets series with 2 pieces on the Stanley Cup contenders. Let's highlight two teams from each conference and why their futures to raise magnificence are solid looks before the season begins. In the next couple weeks we will highlight whatever from NHL awards, group point overalls and player props in the Betting News NHL future bet series. Betting Odds Odds through BetOnline, an industry leader in the sports wagering world. 1. The Florida Panthers: +650 to win the Cup/ +320 to win the East on BetOnline: The Panthers had the ability to keep the unite Why they're preferred - Recent Performance & Momentum: Florida has actually won back-to-back Stanley Cups (2024, 2025). That's big in regards to experience, specifically in high-pressure scenarios. Players understand how to win, know how to close. This is a dynasty, and a huge reason it's a top NHL futures bet. - Roster Stability: The Panthers had numerous crucial complimentary agents like Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and trade deadline pickup Brad Marchand all up for new agreements. They also included top defenseman Seth Jones mid-season. Mission impossible this offseason was to keep 2/3 of these UFA's. Instead the Panthers amazingly kept all of them.