↑ 7-day trend: Average vig has worsened by 2.18 percentage points over the past week (from 5.02% to 7.20%). Odds margins are widening, meaning bettors are getting less value per wager.
The top 3 books are tightly clustered — only 0.29% separates them. The spread between #1 and #8 is 4.32% — book choice matters significantly for NHL Preseason.
NHL preseason betting occupies one of the most unpredictable corners of the sports wagering landscape. Unlike the regular season, where teams deploy established lineups and compete for standings points, preseason games are exercises in roster evaluation. Coaches routinely split squads, ice AHL-caliber lineups for entire periods, and pull starters after a single shift. The result is a product that barely resembles regular-season hockey, with wildly inconsistent scoring patterns, uneven pace of play, and outcomes that hinge almost entirely on which roster a team decides to dress on a given night. Market depth is thin — most books offer only moneylines and totals, with limited prop or period-line availability — and public betting volume is low, which means lines can be soft but also erratic.
Vig on NHL preseason lines tends to run significantly wider than what bettors encounter during the regular season or playoffs. Sportsbooks face the same information gaps as bettors — lineup announcements often come late, and the competitive intent of each team is genuinely uncertain. Books compensate for this uncertainty by building in larger margins, particularly on totals where the variance between a game featuring NHL regulars and one stacked with prospects is enormous. It's not uncommon to see combined vig on a moneyline exceed 8-10%, compared to the 4-5% range typical of regular-season NHL. Sharper lines tend to emerge closer to puck drop once lineup information solidifies, so bettors who act early are often paying an information premium on top of the juice.
The NHL preseason typically runs from late September through early October, spanning roughly two to three weeks. Odds tend to be most competitive in the final week, when teams dress lineups closer to their opening-night rosters and books have more reliable data to work with. The key factors driving preseason odds are roster decisions above all else — knowing which goaltender starts, whether top-six forwards are playing, and how many minutes veterans will log matters far more than traditional handicapping inputs like home-ice advantage or recent form. Back-to-back scheduling is also common in the preseason, and teams frequently rest key players on the second night, creating significant line value for bettors who track these decisions closely.
Analysis updated September 6, 2026. Odds data above refreshes hourly.
NHL Preseason Sportsbook Vig Rankings
| # | Sportsbook | Avg Vig | Grade | Moneyline | Spreads | Totals | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) | 5.82% | C+ | 5.94% | 5.79% | 5.74% | 1 |
| 2 | DraftKings | 6.01% | C | 6.06% | 5.79% | 6.18% | 1 |
| 3 | Fanatics | 6.11% | C | 6.73% | 4.24% | 7.34% | 1 |
| 4 | FanDuel | 6.34% | C | 5.97% | 6.56% | 6.50% | 1 |
| 5 | Bovada | 6.75% | C | 6.73% | 6.72% | 6.80% | 1 |
| 6 | Pinnacle | 6.97% | C | 6.99% | 7.01% | 6.93% | 1 |
| 7 | ReBet | 9.46% | D- | 8.06% | 12.76% | 7.56% | 1 |
| 8 | BetRivers | 10.14% | F | 10.23% | 9.77% | 10.41% | 1 |
Best Line Leaders
Which sportsbook offers the best odds most often across 1 events:
| # | Sportsbook | Best Lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bovada | 2 |
| 2 | theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) | 1 |
| 3 | FanDuel | 1 |
| 4 | BetRivers | 1 |
| 5 | Pinnacle | 1 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which sportsbook has the lowest vig for NHL Preseason?
theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) currently has the lowest average vig for NHL Preseason at 5.82%, earning a grade of C+.
How do sportsbook odds compare for NHL Preseason?
We compare 8 sportsbooks for NHL Preseason. The vig ranges from 5.82% (theScore Bet (ESPN Bet)) to 10.14% (BetRivers).
When do small vig differences matter for NHL Preseason?
The top two books (theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) and DraftKings) are separated by just 0.19%. While small, this adds up over volume — a bettor placing $1,000/week saves roughly $2 per week by choosing the lower-vig book.
What is vig (vigorish) in sports betting?
Vig — short for vigorish, also called juice or overround — is the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. It's the difference between the true probability of an outcome and what the odds imply. Lower vig means you keep more of your winnings on every bet. For example, a standard -110/-110 line has about 4.76% vig.
How often is this data updated?
We pull fresh odds from The Odds API every hour, on the hour (UTC). Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds. The timestamp at the top of the page shows the most recent refresh.
How is the vig grade calculated?
Each sportsbook is graded on average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exchange-level pricing, A (2–3%) very competitive, B+ (3–4%) above average, B (4–5%) the industry standard, C+ (5–6%) slightly below average, C (6–7%) below average, D (7–8%) high vig, D− (8–10%) very high, F (10%+) predatory.
Why does lower vig matter for bettors?
Lower vig directly impacts your long-term returns. A bettor placing $1,000 per week at a book with 4% vig loses roughly $40/week to the house edge. At 2% vig, that drops to $20/week — a $1,040 difference over a year. For serious bettors, shopping for lower vig is one of the most reliable ways to improve profitability.
What sportsbooks do you track?
We track both regulated US sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars) and offshore books (Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie, BetUS, LowVig.ag, BetAnything). Data comes from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed sources.
How We Calculate These Numbers
- Data Source
- All odds on this page come from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed US and offshore sportsbooks. We track moneyline, spread, and totals markets across every sport with active betting lines.
- Update Frequency
- We pull a fresh snapshot of every tracked market every hour, on the hour (UTC). Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds for a given event. The timestamp at the top of each page tells you exactly when the data was last refreshed.
- Vig Calculation
- Vig (short for vigorish, also called juice or overround) measures the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. We calculate it by converting the odds on each side of a market to implied probabilities, summing those probabilities, and subtracting 100%. For example, a market priced at -110/-110 implies 52.38% on each side — a total of 104.76%, meaning a vig of 4.76%. Lower vig means better value for bettors because you keep more of your winnings.
- Per-Market Breakdown
- We compute vig separately for each market type: moneyline (h2h), point spreads, and totals (over/under). The "average vig" shown for each sportsbook is the mean across all market types weighted by the number of events sampled in each market.
- Grading Scale
- Every sportsbook receives a letter grade based on its average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exchange-level pricing. A (2–3%) is very competitive. B+ (3–4%) is above average. B (4–5%) is the industry standard — a -110/-110 line is 4.76%. C+ (5–6%) is slightly below average. C (6–7%) is below average. D (7–8%) is high vig. D− (8–10%) is very high vig. F (10%+) is predatory pricing. See the full Vig Index Methodology for formulas, worked examples, and known limitations.
- Trend Tracking
- We store daily snapshots for 30 days, allowing us to show 24-hour and 7-day vig trends. A downward trend (improving) means sportsbooks are tightening their lines — often in response to increased competition or higher betting volume as a season heats up.