Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, NHL Odds
The Maple Leafs return home for a single game Saturday before heading out on a four-game trip as they welcome the disappointing Vancouver Canucks for the lone time this season. Toronto is -170 on the NHL odds with a total of 6.5 goals.
Canucks vs. Maple Leafs NHL Betting Odds
The most shocking trade so far this NHL season was Vancouver sending captain and All-Star defenceman Quinn Hughes to Minnesota last month for blueliner Zeev Buium, centre Marco Rossi, winger Liam Ohgren and a first-round pick. Buium was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 draft and the key piece back – Rossi and Ohgren were also former first-round picks of the Wild — but there’s no universe where the Canucks got better this season dealing away Hughes, who will be a big part of Team USA at next month’s Olympic tournament in Italy.
Minnesota has taken off since that trade and might be the second-best team in the West now behind potentially historically good Colorado. Vancouver has basically been treading water all season, and that’s why the deal was done with Hughes set for free agency after next season. There were reports he was going to leave in the summer of 2027. There may well be more trades coming for Vancouver sitting last in the Pacific Division and with the playoffs a pipe dream.
Saturday marks the first meeting of the season between the teams with Toronto in Vancouver on Jan. 31. The Leafs have failed to win the past four season series and were swept in 2024-25. A handful of Canucks led with two points, including Hughes (1G, 1A). Kevin Lankinen won both and had a 0.55 GAA and .976 SV. Toronto scored just one goal in the two games combined, which came from Morgan Rielly. Dennis Hildeby and Joseph Woll both played solidly in their starts in net.
Vancouver is 6-4 in the past 10 meetings overall, and the over-under is 3-6-1.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks look rather disinterested right now following a 5-1 loss in Detroit on Thursday, their fifth straight defeat. Jake DeBrusk had the lone goal, his 12th of the season. It was his 11th on the power play, tied for second-most in the league. Among players with at least 10 goals this season, DeBrusk has the highest per centage of goals coming with the man advantage (91.6 per cent).
Backup Kevin Lankinen got a turn in net Thursday, but it should be back to Thatcher Demko on Saturday. He is winless in five straight with a 3.98 GAA and an .868 SV in that span. It’s possible winger Conor Garland (22 points) returns from injury. He last played Dec. 30. Meanwhile, Elias Pettersson needs one goal to tie Thomas Gradin (197) for the 10th place on the Canucks’ all-time list. Vancouver is 2-14 in its past 16 in Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto won for the sixth time in eight games Thursday, 2-1 in OT in Philadelphia. Former Flyer Scott Laughton tied it shorthanded with his fifth goal of the season at 14:04 of the third, and Easton Cowan’s sixth goal of the campaign won it at 2:48 of OT. Laughton’s marker was sixth-latest shorthanded game-tying goal in Maple Leafs history. He also won an astonishing 19 of 20 faceoffs (95 per cent), which is the highest single-game faceoff win percentage by a Maple Leaf to take at least 15 faceoffs in a game since 1997-98. Cowan with his first career game-winner became the third Toronto rookie over the past 25 years to score an overtime goal along with Auston Matthews and Mikhail Grabovski.
Toronto improved to 5-7 in overtime decisions this season. Dennis Hildeby won his second start in a row but likely back to Joseph Woll on Saturday. He is 6-0-1 with a 2.64 GAA and .917 SV at home. Toronto is 6-0 in its past six at home. William Nylander may be activated off IR ahead of this one.
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