NHL Picks

The Panthers know from first-hand experience how tough it can be to defend a title. They did it successfully in 2024-25, but 2025-26 was a disaster as they missed the playoffs altogether. Injuries did a number on Florida, with captain Aleksander Barkov missing the entire campaign after suffering an injury in the preseason. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who is now with the Maple Leafs, fell off a cliff in his age-37 season, posting the lowest SV% of his career (.877). But the Panthers re-tooled this summer, bringing in Brady Tkachuk as well as Radko Gudkas. Newly-acquired netminders Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid form as good a one-two punch in net as any team. I'm happy to back Florida at +100 or better.

The lack of preseason prep and skating is going to lead to some sloppy hockey on Tuesday, and this game might feature the two best power plays on the slate, excluding the Oilers. Auston Matthews might finally be past the wrist injury that zapped the effectiveness of his release, as his 50-plus goal potential was on display in his limited preseason action. The Leafs also have a shot at the top of the circle with Darren Raddysh, which is something they haven't had in ages. That should give Matthews and William Nylander a little more space on the half-wall. The addition of Gavin McKenna to the second line is also going to make it harder for Marty St. Louis to deploy his better defensive pairing, as both Leafs' top lines can score. The Canadiens can go shot-for-shot with Toronto, and the addition of Chris Kreider to the top line makes that second line much more dangerous. There is a lot of top-six scoring potential in this game.

The Rangers made some interesting offseason moves, and they could pay immediate dividends vs. a Bruins team that has more-or-less stood pat this summer. New York's biggest acquisition was Pavel Dorofeyev, who scored a career-high 37 goals in 2025-26. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Joe Veleno have also climbed aboard to provide some much-needed offensive depth. The Rangers' strong top-line defensive pairing of Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov will now be backed up by well-respected puck-moving defenseman Sean Durzi, and the stay-at-home Marcus Pettersson. The Bruins' big offseason acquisition was JJ Peterka, who will be playing for his third team in as many seasons, and he scored 25 goals last season. But Viktor Arvidsson, a 25-goal scorer in 2025-26, has left Boston for Detroit.

The preseason is a mess, with guys who have played more than 100 games in their careers allowed to play in only two preseason games. This is going to lead to some sloppy early hockey, and that puts the value on the dogs — and no one is bigger than Vancouver. The Oilers were the same price against Vancouver last year near the end of the season, when Edmonton was playing its best hockey. There are worries about Tristan Jarry in net for Edmonton, as he is not even an average NHL goalie. There is also a system change with the home team, as new head coach Mike Babcock and his extra luggage are now in charge behind the bench. This is a young Vancouver team that might be in better shape for Game No. 1 than a veteran-heavy Edmonton squad, and these 3x MLs are very appetizing this week.

Connor Bedard is out, but there is still plenty of young scoring in this Chicago lineup against a Vegas team that is likely not strong in net with Carter Hart and may not be as motivated after a long Stanley Cup Final run that ended in the middle of June. The Hawks have legit scoring rookies on both of their top lines in Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov. Frondell has a terrifying shot after seeing it at the World Juniors and World Hockey Championships, where he scored six goals in 11 games. He is 4.3x to score and is a look for sure. The exciting one, and one that might be flying under the radar, is Kantserov, who is playing on the top line and PP1. He scored 36 goals in 63 games in the KHL last year at age 21 and has shorter odds to win the Calder than Frondell, who already has 12 NHL games under his belt at 19 years old. The value on opening night is with the dogs.