The NHL season is underway, and Thursday provides a hefty 14-game slate to look at.
The pregame narrative: The Columbus Blue Jackets make their season debut against the Nashville Predators and I have my sights set on top forward Kirill Marchenko. Elsewhere, two Western Conference powerhouses, the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets, battle to begin their seasons.
Check out my NHL predictions for Oct. 9.
NHL predictions: Best bet
Best bet: Marchenko to score 1+ points (-138)
Marchenko is a stud, and he has improved significantly each year of his career.
- Year 1: 59 games, 25 points
- Year 2: 78 games, 42 points
- Year 3: 79 games, 74 points
At 25 years old, there is no reason to expect anything but a similar season or even an uptick in production.
He plays close to 20 minutes a night and plays top power-play minutes. He scored 19 PP points last season, which ranked second on the team behind Zach Werenski.
Marchenko slots in beside Werenski on the blueline with the man advantage.
He gets a lot of offensive zone touches and has a nice matchup to start the season.
- The Preds were dreadful last year. They finished second last in the Atlantic Division with a -60 goal differential.
- Nashville allowed the sixth-most goals per game in 2024-25 (3.3).
This isn’t usually a price I’d play on a points prop, but there’s a lot of value getting behind a point-per-game scorer against a shaky defensive unit.
Key stat: Marchenko scored five points in two games against the Predators last season.
NHL player prop
Stars/Jets under 5.5 goals (-11): Neither team has played yet this season, but there’s plenty of reason to buy into the defensive upside.
- Winnipeg allowed the fewest goals against last year, and was the only team to concede fewer than 200 overall (190).
- Dallas wasn’t far behind, allowing the sixth fewest goals against per game.
It starts with goaltending, and both teams have a Vezina-calibre goalie between the pipes.
Connor Hellebuyck is coming off one of the best seasons ever for the position. He had a 2.01 GAA and won his second straight Vezina while adding a Hart Trophy to his collection.
Opposite him is Jake Oettinger. He is always in the conversation and has recorded a better than a .900 SV% in all five of his NHL seasons.
Plus, Dallas will be fully healthy ahead of his contest, which was a rare occurrence last season. Star defenceman Miro Heiskanen missed a career high 32 games in 2024-25.
NHL predictions made at 9:26 a.m. ET on 10/09/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.