The 2022/23 NHL season starts on Tuesday night, and here we preview the matches and bring you our free NHL opening night betting picks.
The Predators and the Sharks have already given us a taste of things to come in their doubleheader from Prague over the weekend, and now the real action starts tonight.
Tuesday night sees the New York Rangers entertain the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Los Angeles Kings host the Vegas Golden Knights.
Then on Wednesday, we have another six matches, with the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche, in action, and we also get our first look of the season at the Toronto Maple Leafs, the side heavily tipped to be most likely to dethrone the Avalanche.
And speaking of the Avalanche, Jared Bednar’s team are clear favorites with the best NHL betting sites to win the Stanley Cup again this season. The 2022 champions are just +425 to go back-to-back. This does represent a slight drift in the NHL Vegas odds on the Avalanche, as they have been +400 for most of the preseason.
Elsewhere in the betting, the Toronto Maple Leafs are next at +850. There is then a cluster of teams all locked together on +1200. They are the Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, and the Calgary Flames.
They all are just edging out the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, who are both +1400.
The Lightning will look for a fourth appearance in the Stanley Cup final in four years. They have seen their odds drift in the betting, having been +1100 a few weeks ago. That’s mainly down to poor preseason results. But it would be unwise to write off a team that has made it to the previous three world series finals, winning two of them.
| 2023 Stanley Cup Winner Betting Odds |  |
|---|---|
| Colorado Avalanche | +425 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | +850 |
| Florida Panthers | +1200 |
| Edmonton Oilers | +1200 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | +1200 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +1400 |
| New York Rangers | +1400 |
| Boston Bruins | +1800 |
| Calgary Flames | +1800 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | +2200 |
| Minnesota Wild | +2000 |
| St Louis Blues | +2000 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | +2200 |
| Dallas Stars | +3500 |
| Los Angeles Kings | +3500 |
| New York Islanders | +3500 |
BetOnline provides all the above odds. You can read more about their latest betting offers at our BetOnline sportsbook review. Now let’s take a look at the opening night matches.
The 2022 NHL Global Series between the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks are complete, making this the first North American fixture of the season.
And what better place to start the new NHL season than at the Garden.
The Rangers have had a poor preseason, winning two, and losing four. The defeats were to the Islanders (3-1), Bruins (5-4 and 3-2), and the Devils (5-2). The wins came against the Islanders (4-1), and the Devils (2-1).
As for the Lightning, they’ve been worse, losing four and winning just one. The defeats were chastening as well. They’ve lost 5-1 to the Hurricanes, 2-0 and 7-1 to the Predators, and 3-2 to the Panthers. The Lightning did strike back (sorry), beating the Panthers 5-2 in their most recent match last weekend.
BetOnline has it close between the two teams on the Moneyline. They make the Rangers -110, with the Lightning at +100.
In the handicap market, it’s Tampa Bay with the advantage. With a start of +1.5 points, the Lightning are -250. Starting from -1.5, the Rangers are +210. In the total points market, the spread is 5.5, both over and under is -105.
I’m going for the Lightning to win on the Moneyline here. I’m not backing them at -250 on the handicap. I’m leaving that bet alone. I feel that Tampa Bay does turn up and perform when they are required to, and for that reason, I’m making Tampa Bay Lightning my opening pick.
I also like the look of over 5.5 points. Both sides have had plenty of preseason matches beating the spread, and a few matches have ended with five goals, so I think over 5.5 goals is worth the risk.
The second night match sees the Golden Knights make the short trip to California to take on the Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings have had an inconsistent preseason, winning three and losing four. The wins were over the Golden Knights (2-1), the Ducks (2-1 and 6-3).
The defeats came at the hands of the Sharks (3-1 and 3-2), the Ducks (5-4), and the Golden Knights (6-4).
As well as losing to, and beating the Kings, the Golden Knights have beaten the Coyotes twice (5-1 and 4-3), and they thrashed the Colorado Avalanche 7-1. They’ve also lost 3-1 to the Avalanche and 7-3 to the Sharks.
Again, BetOnline is struggling to separate the two teams. They have the Kings at -110 on the Moneyline, and the Golden Knights at +100.
On the handicap, the Kings are +210 with a -1.5 points start, while the Golden Knights (+1.5) are -250. The over/under spread is set at 6.
This looks like a tough match to call, but one obvious thing is that they’ve both had plenty of high-scoring games in the preseason. Therefore I’m making over 6 goals at +105 my betting pick for this match.
