A moneyline bet in NHL preseason is straightforward: pick which team wins the game outright, with no point spread involved. Because hockey is inherently a low-scoring sport where upsets are common even in the regular season, moneyline odds tend to be tighter than in sports like football or basketball. However, preseason adds a significant layer of complexity. Rosters are in flux, coaches rotate lineups liberally, and established starters may play limited minutes or sit entirely. This means the posted moneyline often reflects a best guess at deployment rather than true team strength, creating both opportunity and risk for sharp bettors.
The moneyline market is most valuable when bettors have reliable information about projected lineups before the books adjust. Monitoring team announcements, beat reporter updates, and roster cut timelines can reveal edges — particularly when a club rests most of its NHL regulars while the opponent ices a near-complete lineup. In terms of vig, preseason moneylines typically carry wider margins than regular-season lines because books face thinner betting volume and greater uncertainty. Comparing the juice across sportsbooks becomes especially important here, as even small differences in vig compound meaningfully when the underlying odds are already less efficiently priced.
Analysis updated September 13, 2026. Odds data above refreshes hourly.
Moneyline Vig Rankings
| # | Sportsbook | Vig | Grade | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) | 5.94% | C+ | 1 |
| 2 | FanDuel | 5.97% | C+ | 1 |
| 3 | DraftKings | 6.06% | C | 1 |
| 4 | Fanatics | 6.73% | C | 1 |
| 5 | Bovada | 6.73% | C | 1 |
| 6 | Pinnacle | 6.99% | C | 1 |
| 7 | ReBet | 8.06% | D- | 1 |
| 8 | BetRivers | 10.23% | F | 1 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a moneyline bet?
A moneyline bet is the simplest form of sports wagering — you're picking which team will win the game outright, with no point spread involved. The odds reflect each team's implied probability of winning. Favorites have negative odds (e.g., -150) and underdogs have positive odds (e.g., +130).
Why does moneyline vig vary by matchup?
Moneyline vig is lowest on evenly matched games and highest on lopsided matchups. When a heavy favorite is -500, the book needs a wide margin on the underdog side to balance risk. Close games near pick'em (-110/-110) will always have the tightest vig.
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.