Connor McDavid headlines Sunday’s NHL prop bets.
The pregame narrative: The Edmonton Oilers are 0-2 and take on the Calgary Flames in the Battle of Alberta. I expect McDavid to break out of his funk and am also backing Ivan Barbashev to record a point for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Find these NHL prop picks for Oct. 13 below.
NHL prop picks
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Best Bet: McDavid over 1.5 points (-127)
Can you have a Stanley Cup hangover without actually winning the Cup? With the way the Oilers have played it looks like it.
Edmonton got blanked 6-0 by the Winnipeg Jets in their opener before losing 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks last night. Both games were at home and McDavid was held pointless through five periods before registering a garbage-time assist.
There are two ways to look at this: The Oilers are suddenly a bad hockey team, or they will snap out of it.
I’ll go with the latter. McDavid is the best player on Earth and should be rearing for an opportunity to get right against his biggest rival.
The Flames aren’t projected as a playoff team and gave up 40 shots to the Philadelphia Flyers last night in a 6-3 win. Dustin Wolf was between the pipes on Saturday, which means Dan Vladar will get the call for Calgary today.
The 27-year-old was sieve-like last season, posting a 3.62 GAA and 0.882 save percentage in 20 starts. He allowed five goals on 24 shots in Calgary’s season-opener against the Vancouver Canucks.
His line with Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins generated 64.29% of 5v5 chances last night, per Natural Stat Trick. Things didn’t break their way but that shouldn’t last long.
McDavid finished with 132 points in 76 games last season and won the Art Ross Trophy three straight years prior.
Key stat: Dating back to last season, McDavid has registered 2+ points in 12 of his last 18 regular season games.
Quick picks
Barbashev to record a point (-103): I’m shocked to see this line sitting at basically even money.
The Golden Knights are off to a 2-0 start and Barbashev has three goals and three assists in those games. He leads the team in high-danger chances (five) and sits second to only his linemate, Jack Eichel, in total chances (nine).
Eichel, for reference, is -375 to record a point.
The Golden Knights haven’t played since Friday and welcome in the Anaheim Ducks, who are playing the second leg of a back-to-back.
Anaheim allowed the third-most goals per game (3.57) last seaosn.
Picks made at 9:38 a.m. ET on 10/13/2024.
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Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.