Following a busy day of trades Tuesday, the NHL has a six-game slate of games Wednesday, including three high-quality matchups between playoff teams. Read on for our NHL best bets for Wednesday based on the best NHL odds.
The Edmonton Oilers host the Toronto Maple Leafs in a matchup between two of the most electrifying top-six forward groups in hockey.
Both clubs have elite talent at the top of the roster and have been active in the trade market to improve their respective supporting casts. How quickly will the traded players adjust to their new teams?
Rounding into form after battling through a litany of injuries, the defending-champion Colorado Avalanche will host the improving New Jersey Devils. It appears that New Jersey will not have newly acquired winger Timo Meier in the lineup as he recovers from an upper-body injury.
In the third of the marquee matchups on Wednesday's schedule, the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes visit the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights.
Here are our best NHL picks for Wednesday's schedule (odds via DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM, and PointsBet; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
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Wednesday's NHL schedule and odds
(odds via FanDuel)
- New York Rangers (-220) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (+180)
- Toronto Maple Leafs (-128) vs. Edmonton Oilers (+106)
- Arizona Coyotes (+290) vs. Dallas Stars (-375)
- New Jersey Devils (+108) vs. Colorado Avalanche (-130)
- Washington Capitals (-200) vs. Anaheim Ducks (+162)
- Carolina Hurricanes (-142) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (+118)
Wednesday's NHL best bets
- Moneyline: Oilers (+106 via FanDuel) vs. Maple Leafs ????
- Spread: Stars -1.5 (-142 via FanDuel) < /b>vs. Coyotes ????
- Total: Rangers-Flyers Over 6 (-110 via DraftKings) ???
- Prop: Seth Jarvis over 2.5 shots on goal (-118 via FanDuel) ????
Wednesday's NHL top picks
The Oilers offer potential value here as home underdogs. Though they remain in fourth place in the Pacific, they have just one regulation loss in their past 10 home games.
Bettors might be concerned after the Oilers moved out defenseman Tyson Barrie as part of the deal to acquire Mattias Ekholm. Barrie leads all defensemen with 28 power-play points, accumulated while quarterbacking Edmonton's league-best unit with the man advantage.
Evan Bouchard is expected to fill Barrie's spot on the top power-play unit; while the 23-year-old has struggled so far 2022-23 (21 points in 61 games), he surpassed the 40-point plateau a season ago – proving that the offensive upside is there.
Ekholm, meanwhile, should provide a substantial upgrade to Edmonton's five-on-five defensive play.
Following a flurry of deals on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs have now added six players via trade in the past two weeks. That influx of new players might help Toronto prepare for the postseason, but it does not represent enough of an upgrade to take the Leafs as road favorites here.
I have the Oilers as -120 favorites in this spot, so getting them at plus money is great.
FanDuel is slightly ahead of the rest of our top-rated sportsbooks. Caesars and PointsBet have Edmonton at +105 while DraftKings and BetMGM are at +100.
The Stars are on a mediocre run in 2023, with an 8-7-7 record in 22 games since the calendar turned.
Nevertheless, as the rested home team, the Stars are clearly the better option, with 12 of their 15 home wins coming by a margin of more than one goal.
In addition to being the superior possession team, the Stars hold a special teams edge that should push them to cover the puck line. Dallas ranks sixth in goals against per 60 minutes during four-on-five play and seventh in goals for per 60 during five-on-four play. That ranks favorably against a Coyotes team that ranks 29th and 24th, respectively.
Arizona has lost 20 of 34 road games in regulation, 15 of them by more than one goal.
The Coyotes are also icing an inferior lineup as they prepare to sell off additional players ahead of the deadline. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun and center Nick Bjugstad have been scratched recently for trade-related reasons.
FanDuel is offering the best price on the Stars puck line, ever-so-slightly ahead of BetMGM (-143) and DraftKings (-145). Caesars and PointsBet (-155) aren't worth your time here.
No Patrick Kane? No problem – at least where this total is concerned.
While the New York Rangers made arguably the biggest pre-deadline splash with the acquisition of Kane on Tuesday, he's not expected to make his debut until Thursday.
That takes a little offensive flair out of the equation, but the Blueshirts have already been playing higher-scoring games, surpassing the seven-goal threshold in eight of the past 11 games.
The Rangers are vulnerable on defense, as Ryan Lindgren is out with an upper-body injury and K'Andre Miller will be serving the first game of his three-game suspension for spitting on Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.
New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin has the ability to shut down the Flyers, but has looked vulnerable of late with a 3.71 goals-against average and an .863 save percentage over his past seven starts.
While the Flyers had a brief run of competitive play early in 2023, they have just two regulation wins in their past 14 games while allowing a whopping 3.71 goals per game over that stretch. That rate balloons to 4.71 over the past seven, and they've surpassed the seven-goal mark in all seven of those games.
Our top-rated sportsbooks agree that this total is a toss-up. DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, and PointsBet all have the Over and Under priced at -110. FanDuel has the Over at -112 and the Under at -108.
Jarvis has had an inconsistent second season in Carolina but has upped his game recently, making the most of his return to Sebastian Aho's wing.
Jarvis has recorded 28 shots on g oal over the past eight games, putting at least three shots on goal in all eight of those contests.
Vegas is better than average defensively, ranking 11th in shots against per 60 minutes, but no team controls the shot clock like Carolina, so the ice is still more likely to tilt in Jarvis' favor.
FanDuel and BetMGM have Jarvis going over the shot prop priced at -118, just ahead of DraftKings at -120. Get in quickly, because it opened at -110 and the price could keep climbing.
NHL best bets made 3/1/2023 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
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