Hockey Day in Canada: NHL Odds and Best Bets for Every Canadian Team
Saturday marks Hockey Day in Canada and all seven Canadian teams will be in action. Let’s take a look at the best bets, futures picks and betting odds for every Canadian team at the halfway point of the season.
Don’t forget to check out our complete list of NHL game odds, NHL futures and NHL specials and props.
Edmonton Oilers
Pick: Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup winner
The NHL is a copycat league when it comes to how teams build their rosters to model the most recent Stanley Cup winner. I’m taking that premise in a more literal direction and picking Edmonton to go back to the Stanley Cup Final and this time win, just like Florida did when they lost in 2023 and won in 2024.
Just try and watch Connor McDavid’s unhinged screaming in the Stanley Cup Final Amazon Prime series and tell me you don’t think he’ll drag his team back to the Final.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs win Eastern Conference
How many years can the Leafs be one of the best regular season teams in the NHL only to flame out in the first or second round of the playoffs? This will be the year they break through and finally make a deep playoff run.
This might be more of a “willing it into existence” pick, but a Toronto-Edmonton Stanley Cup Final would be electric and seeing McDavid and the Oilers absolutely shatter Maple Leafs’ fans’ hearts by winning the Stanley Cup in Toronto would be a dream come true for me.
Winnipeg Jets
Pick: Connor Hellebuyck Hart Trophy winner
Connor Hellebuyck and Igor Shesterkin seem to flip-flop each season as the No. 1 and 2 best goalies in the world and this year it’s back to Hellebuyck. The Jets’ netminder is a lock for the Vezina and he’s my pick to be the first goalie to win the Hart Trophy since Carey Price in 2014-15.
No player has been more important to their team’s success than Hellebuyck, who leads the NHL in wins, starts, goals-against average, save percentage, shutouts and whatever other goalie stat you want to throw out while leading Winnipeg to the best record in the Central Division.
Montreal Canadiens
Pick: Lane Hutson Calder Trophy winner
The quest for the Calder Trophy is essentially a two-horse race right now between San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini and Montreal’s Lane Hutson. I honestly don’t see why Celebrini is the favourite right now. Hutson is leading all rookies in scoring and he’s doing it as a defenceman. It’s hard enough to be a dependable top pairing defenceman as a rookie, but to also lead all rookies in scoring is almost unheard of.
San Jose won’t make the playoffs, so if the Canadiens punch their ticket to the postseason and Hutson wins the rookie scoring race, how can you not give him the Calder?
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are a bit of an outlier in the NHL as they have a sterling 12-6-4 road record, but they sit two games below .500 at home. Vancouver is in a bad place, suffering back-to-back blowout losses, 6-1 in Winnipeg on Tuesday and 5-1 at home against the Kings on Thursday.
Sorry Canucks fans, but I’m fading you at home on Saturday night against the Oilers. Edmonton is coming off a great comeback win in Denver on Thursday and they’re riding a four-game win streak. The odds aren’t available for this game yet, but the Oilers should be favoured, so I’ll take Edmonton at -1.5 on the puckline.
Pick: Edmonton Oilers -1.5 against Vancouver Canucks
Ottawa Senators
Pick: Ottawa Senators make playoffs
Ottawa has had a bit of an up-and-down season, but there’s no doubt they’ve taken a step forward this year. They just had a three-game win streak snapped in overtime and they only sit one-point back of Boston for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand.
The Sens have a better points percentage than their closest wild-card competition in the Blue Jackets, Bruins, Canadiens, Red Wings and Flyers, and they’ll only be stronger when Linus Ullmark returns to the lineup.
Calgary Flames
Rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf has easily been the Flames’ best player this season and he’s even pushed his way into the Calder Trophy conversation, although I still think that’s a two-horse race between Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson.
The exact number isn’t availble yet, but give me the Over on Wolf’s save total against the Jets on Saturday. He’s allowed two or less goals in five of his last seven starts and he’s a top-10 goalie in save percentage this season.