NHL MVP Odds 2026-27: McDavid's 5-Point Night Widens Gap

NHL MVP Odds 2026-27: McDavid Pads His Hart Trophy Lead

Connor McDavid posted 2 goals and 3 assists in a 6-2 Edmonton road win over the Utah Mammoth on Saturday, and the favorite in the Hart Trophy race just made the gap behind him look bigger. Two nights earlier, that same Mammoth team had handed the Oilers their first regulation loss of the season. McDavid answered with the best individual line of anyone in the league's early MVP conversation.

The board hasn't fully caught up yet, but the shape of the race already has. McDavid was +260 at DraftKings as of October 15, per SportsBettingDime, with Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini, Kirill Kaprizov, Nikita Kucherov and Leon Draisaitl forming the chase pack behind him. Draisaitl's weekend output is the one that actually moves the needle this week.

What Happened

Edmonton lost 4-2 at home to Utah on October 15, its first regulation loss of the season and the end of a six-game point streak. Draisaitl scored in that one, Clayton Keller had two goals for Utah (including an empty-netter), and McDavid's lone point was the primary assist on Draisaitl's goal, a streak-extender that pushed him to 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) through seven games.

Two nights later the same two teams met again, this time at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, and the result flipped hard. Edmonton won 6-2. McDavid scored twice (one unassisted goal in the first period, another unassisted goal in the third) and added assists on goals from Zach Hyman, Kapanen and Draisaitl. Five points, plus-4, in a game that also doubled as revenge for the midweek loss.

Draisaitl's goal in that same game, assisted by McDavid and Mattias Ekholm, was his sixth of the season. He finished plus-4 as well. That outing pushed his season line to 6 goals, 8 assists and 14 points through 8 games, with a plus-15 rating and a goal in three straight games, per RotoWire's player-news feed dated October 18.

The Board, As It Stood Entering the Weekend

The last confirmed, dated price comes from DraftKings via SportsBettingDime on October 15, before either of these two games tipped the scoring race further. That board:

Connor McDavid: +260

Nathan MacKinnon: +350

Macklin Celebrini: +500

Kirill Kaprizov: +1200

Nikita Kucherov: +1500

Leon Draisaitl: +1500

David Pastrnak: +2000

Auston Matthews: +2500

Jack Hughes: +2800

Nick Suzuki: +3000

McDavid has priced as the favorite on every board since the season opened, per SportsBettingDime's tracking, with his consensus number tightening to +248 by October 2 and settling at +260 on DraftKings by October 15. Kaprizov has been the market's quiet riser, tightening from roughly +1524 to +1235 in consensus pricing over the same stretch, while Connor Bedard's number has gone the other way, moving from +3700 to +7171.

What that board doesn't yet reflect is a weekend where the two Oilers at the top of this list combined for 8 points on 6 shooting attempts that counted, in a building that had just watched them lose two nights earlier. Books tend to be slow to move futures markets on a single weekend, which is exactly why this is the number to watch heading into the next price update.

Betting and DFS Impact

McDavid's MVP price was already the shortest number on the board before this weekend, and a 5-point game against a team that had just beaten his own doesn't typically move a runaway favorite much further in. The more interesting line to watch is Draisaitl's +1500, a number set before his three-straight-game goal streak and before a plus-15 rating became part of his résumé. If Edmonton's next odds refresh tightens that price into four digits, bettors who grabbed it this week locked in real value.

For DFS rosters, both Oilers carry elevated exposure for as long as this stretch holds. McDavid's two unassisted goals in Saturday's game are the kind of individual-shot volume that keeps lifting his power-play and point-streak props regardless of who's on his wing. Draisaitl's three-straight-game goal streak makes him a hold-or-fade decision on any player prop tied to shots on goal or anytime-goal markets until Utah or another defense slows him down.

The Mammoth, for what it's worth, are 6-3-0 against a brutal opening schedule and still own the better regulation result of the two meetings this month. That's a real data point for anyone pricing out division or Pacific futures, even if it had no bearing on Saturday's scoreline.

What to Watch Next

The next DraftKings Hart Trophy refresh is the one to track. If it lands before Edmonton's following game, it will be the first board to fully price in McDavid's 5-point outburst and Draisaitl's third straight game with a goal. Watch MacKinnon's Avalanche and Kucherov's Lightning too. Both players sit inside shouting distance of the top of this board, and a quiet Edmonton week is the kind of window where a MacKinnon heater closes the gap fast.

For the Art Ross race, which tracks a different leaderboard but overlaps heavily with this one, see StatSniper's Art Ross and Rocket Richard odds breakdown. Chad AI tracks every Oilers prop on tonight's slate inside the app, including shots-on-goal and anytime-goal lines for both McDavid and Draisaitl.

FAQ

Who is favored to win the 2026-27 Hart Trophy? Connor McDavid was the favorite at +260 on DraftKings as of October 15, 2026, per SportsBettingDime, and has priced as the favorite on every board tracked since the season opened.

What is Leon Draisaitl's record against the field this season? Through 8 games, Draisaitl has 6 goals and 8 assists for 14 points, with a plus-15 rating and a goal in three straight games, per RotoWire's October 18 player-news update.

Did Connor McDavid's 5-point game move his MVP odds? Books hadn't posted a new number as of this writing. His price was already the shortest on the board at +260 before the game; a result this big against a team that had just beaten the Oilers is the kind of performance that tends to tighten a futures price at the next refresh.

Where can I find today's NHL betting picks? StatSniper's NHL daily picks page covers tonight's full slate, and the Chad AI hub breaks down model projections for every prop on the board.

---

*21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Stat Sniper provides data and projections for informational purposes; you are responsible for your own wagers.*