Take a look at the top candidates that bettors are considering for the Hart and Vezina Trophy ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season.
Believe it or not, the NHL regular season will begin in less than a week.
With the season fast approaching, NHL betting on futures markets is very popular. From who will win the Stanley Cup, each conference and regular-season awards, these markets should see a lot of action over the next week.
Here's a look at two of the more popular awards markets at the BetMGM online sportsbook — the Hart Memorial and Vezina.
Hart Memorial Trophy Betting at BetMGM
The Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL player who is judged to be the most valuable to their team, is currently held by Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, one young star is gaining significant traction ahead of the regular season.
As of Sept. 23, San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (+450) is the most popular player that bettors are targeting to win the Hart. He is taking in 30 percent of the bets and 44 percent of the money.
The 20-year-old is entering his third season in the NHL and is coming off a dominant year where he tallied 45 goals and 115 points, finishing fourth in league scoring. That remarkable production had him finish fourth in Hart Trophy voting last season, and there's no reason to think he'll be slowing down.
The Sharks narrowly missed the playoffs by four points last season and enter the 2026-27 campaign with +3500 odds to win the Stanley Cup.
Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, who has won this award three times, has the best odds at +270. He is taking in six percent of the bets and 14 percent of the money.
The other favorite, Nathan MacKinnon (+360) of the Colorado Avalanche, is taking in just five percent of the bets and six percent of the money.
Vezina Trophy Betting at BetMGM
The Vezina Trophy is always extremely difficult to predict each season, and bettors don't seem to think that Lightning goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy will be able to retain his title as the league's top netminder by the end of the 2026-27 season.
BetMGM bettors seem to prefer Logan Thompson (+700) of the Washington Capitals. He has the second-shortest odds and is taking in 14 percent of the bets and 41 percent of the money.
The 29-year-old is entering his third season in Washington and has put together a combined .911 save percentage and a 2.46 goals against average in his first two years with the franchise.
Connor Hellebuyck, who has won the award three times, is the favorite at +400. With his trade request from the Winnipeg Jets impacting his outlook on the season, he has only occupied one percent of the bets and one percent of the money.
Besides Thompson, Jet Greaves (+4000) of the Columbus Blue Jackets is the second-most popular player, drawing 12 percent of the money.
