The 2025-26 NHL season starts on Tuesday, October 7! Here are the best bets and top picks for NHL awards futures on DraftKings Sportsbook.
The 2025-26 NHL season begins on Tuesday, October 7 and there’s no better way to get in on the action than via DraftKings Sportsbook. With the Connor McDavid saga now at a conclusion and the rest of the league’s superstars ready to get the campaign rolling, there are plenty of ways to bet on NHL futures and awards markets.
Below, we’re taking a look at top picks, best bets and value plays on DraftKings Sportsbook for the Hart, Norris, and Vezina Trophies for the upcoming season.
Best 2025-26 NHL futures bets
Where better to begin than with the Hart Trophy? The NHL’s MVP award went to a goaltender for the first time in a decade last season when Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck took home the honor, but bettors should expect the trophy to go back to a skater this time around. Newly extended Connor McDavid comes in as a +200 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook with Nathan MacKinnon (+500), Nikita Kucherov (+700), Kirill Kaprizov (+800) and Leon Draisaitl (+1000) rounding out the top five.
Of those options, MacKinnon and Kucherov are probably two of the best options as they bring better value than the favorite but are certainly in the running barring injuries. Both are in contention to lead the league in points while anchoring teams which find themselves right back in the mix as title contenders. Both also already have a Hart win under their belts with MacKinnon winning the award in 2023-24 and Kucherov claiming it back in 2018-19 himself. Sprinkling some units on both players in this futures market feels like a solid bet and you can’t go wrong with either.
However, Mikko Rantanen feels like a real sleeper to consider at +7500. The Finn experienced a tumultuous 2024-25 campaign that saw him traded not once, but twice, but he now sees the benefit of having settled in with the Dallas Stars. With 30-odd games of experience with the team as well as a full offseason, he should now find himself acclimated to his surroundings and ready to pick up his revenge tour where he left off. The odds list him 14th among Hart favorites and it doesn’t take much to justify a 75/1 wager as a long shot.
After winning two of the last four Norris Trophies, Cale Makar once again finds himself as the favorite to win it at +165 odds. It’s an understandable bet given the Avalanche star’s track record since after all, he’s the most toolsy defenseman in the league and comes off back-to-back seasons with 90+ points as well as an incredible 30-goal campaign. It’s tough to blame anyone who takes Makar to add another Norris to his trophy case, especially playing for a quality team that likely makes a run for a Central Division title. Quinn Hughes also challenges him at the top after winning it in 2023-24 and putting up a solid fight last season, though his 68 games of action ultimately limited him from truly competing. I don’t mind betting Hughes at +210 either, but there’s really not a ton of value here in betting the two overwhelming favorites.
At third in the Norris Trophy odds on DraftKings Sportsbook sits Zach Werenski at +1200 odds, a massive gap between he and the favorites. The quality of this Buffalo team may hold him back a smidge in the eyes of voters though, so it’s better to look further down the board instead. The top two value picks for the Norris are Josh Morissey (+4000) and Evan Bouchard (+2500). The former posted point totals of 76, 69 and 62 over the last three seasons. He doesn’t miss games and may see the chance for a scoring uptick in Winnipeg with Nikolaj Ehlers having departed over the offseason. Where Bouchard’s concerned, you may laugh at the suggestion of him winning the Norris due to a reputation which precedes him. However, the Oilers are going to win plenty of games and Bouchard can certainly put up numbers if he locks in for a team that’s certainly on a mission after falling short in the Stanley Cup Final each of the last two seasons. The odds are worth a swing here.
Ah, the Vezina Trophy. This could end up as Connor Hellebuyck’s third consecutive win and it’s understandable to see him come in as the favorite at -400 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. After all, the guy is lights-out in the regular season and just secured the Hart Trophy as well. However, the last player to win three straight Vezinas was Sabres legend Dominik Hasek during a stretch from 1997-1999, and with only a couple of other three-time winners in consecutive years, bettors may find alternate picks more lucrative.
Igor Shesterkin (+700) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (+900) round out the rest of the top three on the odds leaderboard. Either are quality bets, especially with Vasilevskiy a finalist in three of the last five seasons. He rounded back into form last year with a 2.18 GAA after a down season in the prior campaign, and it makes sense to believe Shesterkin can do the same after a career-worst 2.86 GAA and .905 SV% last season. The surrounding talent to insulate them gives an edge to Vasilevskiy though, and with slightly longer odds he sees a bit of an edge if you can only pick one of the two. You can’t really go wrong though, and interestingly enough the pair have identical career averages of a 2.52 GAA and .917% SV%.
For a third option with a little more value, we’re going back to the well in Dallas. Jake Oettinger is also one of the NHL’s top netminders and has similar career marks with a 2.52 GAA and .912 SV%. He’s racked up 35 or more wins in each of the last three seasons and the Stars should have a healthy Miro Heiskanen this season, whose long absence due to injury last year meant Oettinger spent the final third of the campaign under constant fire. He’s an awesome pick for those who want better value without going for a true long-shot pick further down the board.