NHL Betting Alert: League Warns GMs About Releasing Injury Information
Posted on: November 26, 2025, 01:03h.
Last updated on: November 26, 2025, 01:08h.
- Media report says NHL security made presentation to NHL GMs to be cautious who they release player injury information to
- Pro leagues in general much more cautious around sports betting as NBA and MLB controversies play out
- Maple Leafs announce Matthews and Knies are both off the injury list and back in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Blue Jackets
The big NHL news today is the return of Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies to a reeling Toronto Maple Leafs roster, a team sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference. That news comes just in time for tonight’s game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.
In a season where Stanley Cup favourites Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Winnipeg Jets and the Leafs have all struggled due to ineffective play and injuries, all sitting out of the playoffs currently, this is welcome news.
The Leafs are 9-10-3, four points back of the Blue Jackets (11-9-3) in the Eastern Conference, sitting in 13th spot, not exactly setting the world on fire either. BetMGM tells us they are seeing the betting impact with that news. Matthews has the shortest odds for anytime goal scorer (+130) for tonight. Knies is sixth shortest (+225).
Education Session for GMs
If you are fan of the Leafs, or a sports bettor wagering on the team, you’ve been frustrated at the lack of detail from the organization about the specifics of the Matthews’ and Knies’ injuries and how serious they were. Both injuries were “lower body” we were told. Matthews, one of the highest paid players in the NHL, has been impacted by injuries for a year, clearly impacting his play. He even went to Germany last season for treatment on a mystery “upper body” injury.
This year everyone has been left completely in the dark about what he’s deadline with, although some reporting has called it a “muscular injury”.
Maybe that’s the way it should be – teams sharing little when it comes to player injury status. The NHL has embraced sports betting. DraftKings has been an Official Sports Betting, Daily Fantasy Sports and iGaming Partner of the NHL since 2021. PENN Entertainment announced a deal with the NHL in 2023 designating PENN’s ESPN BET in the U.S. and theScore Bet in Ontario as Official Sports Betting Partners of the NHL. BetMGM and FanDuel are there as well. Individual teams have their own deals with sports books all over the league’s landscape.
The NHL began allowing teams to place sponsor logos on their jerseys starting during the 2022-23 season. The Calgary Flames have the Play Alberta logo on their home jerseys. So do the Edmonton Oilers. The Chicago Blackhawks have Circa Sports as their official home jersey patch partner. Circa is hooked up with the Vegas Golden Knights as well.
Gambling Logos on Jerseys
Pro sports leagues are especially sensitive about the problems of abuse around sports betting these days, specifically prop betting, with very public betting scandals now impacting the NBA and Major League Baseball.
Yesterday on TSN’s Overdrive, in Toronto, The Athletic‘s Pierre LeBrun said at the last general managers’ meetings in Toronto an NHL security director made a presentation warning GMs to be careful about who they share player injury news with.
“And that conversation was in the scope of all of the stuff that you’re seeing in other sports, with some of the gambling controversies and investigations. So my point is, it’s probably more paramount than ever, I think, for this type of information, when coming from teams, to be as transparent as possible for all kinds of reasons.”
Or are teams like the Leafs right to keep as much information as close to the vest as possible? What would you rather have for sports bettors? Full transparency so they are making bets based on the most accurate information available or instead betting off internet chatter, some of it fiction, re-spun and re-worded over multiple information platforms? Plus of course the fact NHL teams, especially during playoff time, keep injury information quiet for competitive reasons.
NBA and MLB Investigations
The NBA is being investigated for situations where non-public information regarding players was fed out to gamblers so they could hit on bets, with winnings in the hundreds of thousands, some of it funnelled back to the players. In the most public case, the FBI arrested current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, former NBA player Damon Jones, and four others in a sports betting and money laundering conspiracy last month that went on for years.
“Former and current NBA players and coaches, including Terry Rozier, Damon Jones and additional co-conspirators, allegedly informed the defendants and others of confidential information relating to upcoming NBA games and player performances, such as pre-release medical information and a player’s intention to alter their upcoming game performance, which favored certain bettors within their inner social circle,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia in October when the indictments were released. “This alleged collusion resulted in the defendants secretly pocketing their lavish winnings and corrupting NBA games.”
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