History was made in the NHL on Wednesday night. The Toronto Maple Leafs were officially the largest favorites per the NHL betting odds in league history. Toronto closed as a whopping -650 favorite over the decimated Chicago Blackhawks, and the puck line was an unprecedented 2.5 goals. We’ve never seen that before either, and that led to some plucky bettors backing the Blackhawks at that price. The oddsmakers ended up being proven correct as Toronto won the game 5-2 even though there was no scoring in the third period.
There’s an substory given this result too. Teams are starting to tank for Connor Bedard who is arguably the best prospect since Connor McDavid was setting the world on fire as a junior hockey star. Bedard was named “the future of hockey” by The Hockey News at just 13 years old, and he was named the MVP at the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships with 23 points in seven games as he led Canada to its 20th gold medal at the event. A superstar like Bedard can turn a franchise around so teams like Chicago, Columbus, and Anaheim are bottoming out in the hopes of landing him.
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NHL Parlay Picks for February 18, 2023
Columbus Blue Jackets at Dallas Stars
Currently, it’s not the Chicago Blackhawks that are the worst team in the NHL, but instead it’s the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus is 16-34-4 on the year and has one point less than Chicago. This team was expected to be more competitive with players like Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine, but no one else on the Blue Jackets has more than 30 points through 54 games. Additionally, multiple defenders and wingers are out as Zach Werenski, Jake Bean, Justin Danforth, Yegor Chinakhov, Gustav Nyquist, and Jakub Voracek all might miss the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Dallas is surging and is now in first place in the Central Division with a 30-14-11 record. The Stars are a game up on Winnipeg as of Thursday morning, and they want to stay there considering the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche are currently the No. 3 seed in the division.
Goaltender Jake Oettinger is one of the top goaltenders in the league, and he recently was named the fifth best goalie in the NHL by a collection of front office executives polled by Greg Wyshynski. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen gives Dallas a young star alongside proven veterans like Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski, and that’s something to watch in the playoffs.
Buffalo Sabres at San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks have by far the worst home record in the NHL. San Jose is a putrid 5-13-7 at home this season, and every other team outside of Anaheim has at least 10 wins at home (even Chicago and Columbus). They have no home ice edge at the SAP Center, and that bodes well for the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo is making a desperate postseason run in order to break an 11-year playoff drought. The Sabres have been dismal over the last decade with six last place finishes, so people are excited that this team at least has a chance to make the playoffs. There are six clear cut playoff teams in the Eastern Conference, but it’s a free-for-all for the last two spots.
San Jose has one of the worst defenses in the NHL. The Sharks have allowed 207 goals, and that’s tied for the third-most in the league. James Reimer is 8-14-6 with a 3.31 GAA and a .895 save percentage, and Kaapo Kahkonen isn’t any better with a 8-10-4 record that is punctuated with a brutal 3.69 GAA and an .880 save percentage.
That’s good news for Buffalo as the Sabres are coming off a seven-gal performance against Anaheim on Wednesday night.
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