Let’s dive into the top betting angles from a rare ten-game Friday NHL slate, including a somewhat obscure player prop, and a side. For more of the best NHL bets and NHL props, be sure to check out the OddsShopper tool.
NHL Best Bets for Tonight (Dec. 9)
New York Rangers 3-Way Moneyline versus Colorado Avalanche -104:
New York put together one of its best efforts of the season Wednesday night in Vegas, as it outplayed a shorthanded Knights roster by a decent margin on route to a 5-1 final. Forward Artemi Panarin, is on a four-game point streak with eight assists over the span.
New York was lucky to head into Vegas and face the Knights without Jack Eichel and Alex Pietrangelo, but those losses cannot hold a candle to what the Colorado Avalanche are dealing with for the time being.
Nathan Mackinnon, Valeri Nichushkin, Bowen Byram, Gabriel Landeskog, and Arturri Lehkonen highlight a lengthy Avalanche injury report which is filled with incredible players.
The Avalanche simply are not the side we are used to seeing at the time of writing and considering New York may even be slightly undervalued entering this contest (+132 versus Vegas without Eichel and Pietrangelo being a prime example), -104 projects to be a great price considering the rosters actually skating in this contest.
Charlie Coyle Over 0.5 Points +126 (Bruins versus Coyotes):
A matchup versus the Arizona Coyotes is about as good as it gets for targeting player props, and in specific looking towards a pick on a guy who is on Boston’s third unit holds some upside in this spot.
Boston will be well suited not to skate the likes of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand massive minutes every night, and this is the perfect spot for it not to have to do so.
There are a ton of game scripts where Boston’s third unit of Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle, and Trent Frederic will end up skating more minutes than average in this contest.
But more importantly, that unit has quietly been a wrecking ball since being united at 5-on-5. The trio has played to a 66.7% expected goals for rating, with a 3.27 xGF/60 mark, which is really what matters targeting Coyle to record a point.
Coyle has recorded points in 10-of-25 games this season, which is good for a 40% clip. This bet has an implied probability of 44% at +126, so in a vacuum it’s already close.
However, a spot versus Arizona makes it significantly more likely Boston score four plus goals and roll the lines, while it appears that since being united with Hall and Frederic, Coyle is underperforming expectations.
Therefore, in this matchup +126 quickly becomes an excellent price on this prop.
For bettors using sportsbooks with single game NHL parlays, wagering upon Hall and Coyle each to record a point at around +250 is another very logical wager.
