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The 2024-25 NHL season gets started in earnest with a triple-header Tuesday starting at 4:30 p.m. ET with the St. Louis Blues taking on the Seattle Kraken and culminating with a late puck drop between Connor Bedard’s Chicago Blackhawks and the debutantes from Utah Hockey Club.
Somewhere in between, the Florida Panthers will raise a Stanley Cup banner before playing the Boston Bruins.
Here are our best bets to help celebrate the return of the NHL (odds via DraftKings):
NHL Opening Night best bets
Blues (+120) at Kraken (-142), 4:30 p.m. ET
The betting market views both of these teams in a similar light. The Blues come into the new campaign with an over/under sitting at 86.5 points, while the Kraken are just north of that at 87.5.
The odds for their contest in Seattle reflect those projections as the Kraken are a -142 favorite on home ice, meaning this game would be pretty close to a pick’em when you adjust for the venue.
At the prices, I’d lean toward St. Louis because of what projects to be a goaltending mismatch, but it’s not something to rush to the window to play.
One bet that does stick out here, however, is Alexandre Texier to score a goal. An offensively gifted winger, Texier’s career never got out of first gear in Columbus for a variety of reasons.
That said, the shifty Frenchman still found a way to tally 12 goals and 30 points on a poor Blue Jackets squad. There’s potential for more and the Blues will hope to unlock it by giving Texier a golden opportunity next to Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou. It’s a cushy spot.
Best bet: Alexandre Texier to score a goal (+425, DraftKings)
Bruins (+130) at Panthers (-155), 7 p.m. ET
It should be quite the scene in Sunrise for the banner-raising, but it does look like this number is a bit short on the Panthers.
In all likelihood, the Panthers are in store for another big season, but there’s been a lot of change to this roster — especially on the blueline — and you have to wonder if there’s going to be some growing pains before the Cats hit their stride.
The Bruins also reshaped their roster and will be without their starting goaltender, but on Night 1 of the new season, these two teams are closer than the odds suggest. The B’s have value at +125 or better.
There are a couple of longshot anytime goalscorer bets that pop out here, too: Mason Lohrei (+1000) for the Bruins and Adam Boqvist (+1100) for the Cats.
Best bet: Bruins moneyline (+130, DraftKings)
Blackhawks (+136) vs. Utah HC (-164), 10 p.m. ET
There are a lot of people projecting big things from Utah HC in its first season. Utah is young, talented and the shiny new toy playing in a new market.
While I agree that Utah should push for a playoff spot, this is Opening Night, and we are going off of offseason projections rather than data from the season. That makes laying this kind of juice on “potential” a little risky, especially since the Blackhawks should be improved and have the best player on the ice in this contest in Connor Bedard.
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All of that adds up to Chicago being the value side at this price, but you might be able to hold out and get a bigger number on the Hawks as money pours in based on the narrative that this is the debut for Utah.
The other bet that pops off the page is a play on Ilya Mikheyev as an anytime goalscorer (+425, BetMGM). Mikheyev isn’t a prolific scorer, but he’s slated to play with Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen on the first line and should get more than enough looks to justify a play at that lofty price.
Best bets: Blackhawks (+158, Caesars) | Ilya Mikheyev to score a goal (+425, BetMGM)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff handicaps the EPL, NHL, golf and anything else that isn’t the NFL and NBA for the NY Post. He’s up 49.73 units betting EPL with a 7.17% ROI.