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2023 NHL All-Star Game Predictions and Betting Odds

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The Atlantic Division is favoured on the NHL odds to win the unique 3-on-3 divisional format.

 Canadian Sweep Among Coaches

The Panthers first hosted the NHL All-Star Game in 2003 when the Western Conference beat the East 6-5 in overtime. That was so long ago, Atlanta still had a franchise and the Thrashers’ Dany Heatley was the MVP with four goals.

Florida was set to host the 2021 game as well but it was cancelled due to COVID. This writer guarantees that the various NHL players and officials are more than happy to be in south Florida this time of year.

As has been the case for several years, the format is 3-on-3 hockey for one 20-minute period (split up into two “halves) between two divisions and then the two winners face off in the final. Needless to say, there’s not much defence played.

Last year in Las Vegas, the Metropolitan Division beat the Central 5-3 in the final and Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux was the MVP with one goal in the semifinals and two in the championship final (Giroux is now with Ottawa and not in this game). The players on the winning division split a $1 million (US) prize. It was the third time the Metro has won the All-Star Game in the six seasons that it’s used a 3-on-3 tournament format.

All four head coaches in this year’s game are Canadian. The Atlantic Division is the +225 favourite with the Central +275, Pacific +275 and Metropolitan +325.

2023 NHL All-Star Weekend

Outright Winner
  • Atlantic Division +224
  • Central Division +255
  • Pacific Division +293
  • Metropolitan Division +302

Central vs. Pacific

The Central Division is a -127 favourite with the Pacific at +105 for the first semifinal with the over-under goals set at 13.5. The Central is coached by Peter DeBoer of the Stars and its three best players are likely all from the defending Cup champion Avalanche: Forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen and defenceman Cale Makar. Winnipeg is represented by blueliner Josh Morrissey and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. The Pacific is coached by Bruce Cassidy of the Vegas Golden Knights and is absolutely stacked at forward with the likes of Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Calgary’s Nazem Kadri, and Vancouver’s Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson. Horvat has been traded to the New York Islanders but will still play for the Pacific. The division did lose excellent young Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers, the Calder Trophy favourite, due to injury. It’s an underdog because of some rather shaky goaltenders but that matters little in this format.

Atlantic vs. Metropolitan

The Atlantic Division, coached by Boston’s Jim Montgomery, is a -138 favorite in this matchup despite the Atlantic having lost two of the league’s top scorers in Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs and Buffalo’s Tage Thompson due to injury. Mitch Marner will represent Toronto. Brothers Matthew Tkachuk (Florida) and Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa) will play together. The Atlantic does have the best duo of goaltenders in Boston’s Linus Ullmark and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Metropolitan is coached by Rod Brind’Amour of Carolina and has just one Canadian on the roster in Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby but a handful of the best Russian players in the league led by Alex Ovechkin of Washington and goaltenders Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin of the two New York teams. The Metro is +115 in this matchup.

2023 NHL All-Star Game Final Prediction

Pacific beats Atlantic