Sidney Crosby Injury the Big NHL Betting News Post-Olympics

Posted on: February 25, 2026, 01:28h. 

Last updated on: February 25, 2026, 01:29h.

Mark Keast Read More
Expertise: Canadian Gaming, iGaming, Las Vegas, Sports Betting, NFL, Boxing, UFC.
  • NHL schedule starts back up after Olympic break
  • Penguins lose Sidney Crosby for minimum four weeks with lower body injury suffered at the Olympics
  • Colorado Avalanche betting favourites to win the Stanley Cup

The NHL schedule is about to hit sprint mode, now that the two-week Olympic layoff is over, with teams pushing first through the March 6 trade deadline, then to the end of the regular season on April 16.

Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers hits the post as Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders sprawls out to attempt to make a save during  game at Rogers Place in Edmonton in January. (Image: Andy Devlin/NHL via Getty Images)

Crosby Out for Four Weeks Minimum

The Eastern Conference is jammed, with just nine points separating the first place Tampa Bay Lightning and the eighth place New York Islanders. In the Western Conference it’s more a runaway, with the Colorado Avalanche, at 83 points, five up on second place Minnesota Wild, 20 points up on the eighth place Anaheim Ducks.

The headline maker for NHL bettors today was the news out of Pittsburgh that the injury Sidney Crosby suffered during the Olympics, where he tried to make it back for the gold medal game against the American but couldn’t, is in fact more serious. He’s been moved to injured reserve and will miss at least four weeks. Crosby, with 27 goals and 59 points going into the break, leads the Penguins in several offensive categories.

A former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brian Burke, compared the crash of his Leafs’ team during the 2011-12 campaign, where they slid from 4th in the Eastern Conference to 13th over the second half of the season, missing the playoffs, as “an 18-wheeler going right off a cliff”. 

Stars Lose Rantanen

Could that potentially be the Penguins, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2021-22? Their record is 29-15-12, second best in the Metropolitan Division is a tight Eastern Conference.

The Penguins are back at it at home tomorrow against the New Jersey Devils.

Mikko Rantanen is also expected to miss significant time for the Dallas Stars, after suffering a lower body injury at the Olympics, like Crosby did. Coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters he expected Rantanen to be back before the playoffs, but the team will re-assess the winger in two weeks.

Trade Deadline Next Week

“It was kind of what I was expecting just from hearing what had gone on over at the Olympics,” Gulutzan told Associated Press. “Not the best news, but the stuff you’ve got to deal with.”

Notable Stanley Cup line movement at BetMGM today: Avalanche +800 to +225, the Lightning +1500 to +500, the Carolina Hurricanes +900 to +700, and the Vegas Golden Knights +1200 to +900. Highest tickets are the Avalanche (14.8%), Golden Knights (7.9%) and Hurricanes (7.o%). Highest handle is the Avalanche (19.7%), Edmonton Oilers (8.4%) and Hurricanes (7.7%). Biggest liability: San Jose Sharks, Penguins and Seattle Kraken.

The Lightning are the favourite to win the Eastern Conference, at +210, with the Detroit Red Wings generating the highest ticket percentage (15.3%), and the Lightning generating the highest handle percentage (14.8%). In the Western Conference, the favourite is Colorado, at +140, with the Avalanche generating the highest ticket percentage (25.8%) and handle (26.3%).