Two star players highlight Monday’s NHL goalscorer picks.
The pregame narrative: Connor McDavid has been on a tear in the early going despite being in a bit of a goalless drought. I expect him to break the trend tonight, while Connor Bedard has value to score in a late-night matchup against the Seattle Kraken.
Check out my NHL goal picks Nov. 3.
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NHL goal picks Nov. 3
Best Bet: McDavid to score (+140)
McDavid has 17 points in 13 games. Not too shabby, right?
And yet there’s an argument to be made that he’s leaving a lot of production on the table.
The Oilers captain has only three goals so far, while teammate Leon Draisaitl has nine. The interesting part is that McDavid (42) outpaces Drasaitl in shots (38) and expected goals.
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That compliments Draisaitl’s ability as a goalscorer but also illustrates some bad luck for McDavid.
For context, his 7.1% shooting percentage would rank by far the lowest in his career. In 10 previous seasons, the worst shooting percentage McDavid finished with is 12.0%.
The superstar is the best playmaker in the league, but his three goals so far are well below his standards. Over the last five seasons, only five players have more goals than McDavid.
He has a great opportunity to get on the board against a horrendous defensive team in the St. Louis Blues.
Key stat: The Blues allow the most goals per game in the NHL (4.2).
NHL predictions
Bedard to score (+168): Bedard isn’t on the same level as McDavid, but he’s budding into a top star in the league.
Firstly, he’s being treated like a star. He is one of 16 forwards to average north of 21 minutes of ice time per night.
That should naturally give him more scoring chances.
And so far, he has six goals in 12 games. That 41-goal pace would easily exceed the 23 goals he scored as a sophomore last season.
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That pace also helps evaluate the value of this pick. If he keeps lighting the lamp at this rate, these odds will get priced closer to even money rather than 2-to-1 in the future.
The Kraken have been solid defensively, but they have a bottom-six penalty kill (67.8%), which is something that works in Bedard’s favour.
Bedard has two goals with the man advantage this season and averages over three minutes of power-play time.
NHL goal picks made at 11:27 a.m. ET on 11/03/2025.
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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.