Duck Hunting in Sin City: Friday Expert Picks in the NHL
Written by: TonesTakes
Published: Fri Oct 02, 2026, 10:23 am ET
Read Time: 6 minutes
nhl
I am Thrilled to continue my Betting News tenure into the NHL season. I am a Hockey nut and I love everything about the game. I'll be contributing 2 articles a week for the team. MLB has been a success so let's carry that over onto the Ice. Before we get started, bookmark Our NHL picks page where you'll picks from the team. In addition, you can read a few futures articles done the Gretzky Betzky before the season started. For more information on how to bet on the NHL, take a look at our NHL Betting Guide.
As far as my NHL picks. I look at shot on goal props, but only plus money looks as the market is very volatile with stat corrections (sometimes days after the game has ended). Also, I'm a totals bettor (team and game) and I am never afraid at looking at plus money underdogs. I love providing my insight as to the "Why" and I hope to provide some guidance to novice bettors of this great sport. "Spot" betting is huge on the ice, and this depends on teams travel schedules, goaltending matchups and splits following a win/loss, among may others. For my Friday NHL Best Bets, I am eyeing up 2 divisional battles in the St.Louis Blues vs Dallas Stars. In addition, I'm looking at the Anaheim Ducks vs the Vegas Golden Knights. Let's dive in!
St. Louis Blues vs Dallas Stars Predictions
St. Louis Blues vs Dallas Stars Goaltending Matchup
- St. Louis Blues – Joel Hofer (Projected) 25/26 – 23-13-5, 2.61 GAA/.909 Sv%
- Dallas Stars – Jake Oettinger (Projected) 25/26 – 35-12-6, 2.59 GAA/.899 Sv%
Best Bet: St. Louis Blues +165 Lucky Rebel
Let's start it off with a great value play in the Blues, who are a revamped team up front. They dealt forward Jordan Kyrou to Washington in a multiplayer deal that included forward Connor McMichael. Additionally, St. Louis also added center Mason McTavish in a draft day trade with the Anaheim Ducks. Number 1 centre Robert Thomas was involved in trade rumors at the deadline but the Blues decided to keep him. As a result, he was named team captain in early September. He will center a dynamic line with youngsters Jimmy Snuggerud and Dylan Holloway. This line should be one of the better trios in the league.
St. Louis is also solid on the backend with players like Colton Parayko, Philip Broberg and Brandon Carlo. The question is in net. Veteran Jordan Binnington is very up and down and I think Joel Hofer will get a deeper look this season. He was fantastic after the Olympic break last season. In fact, Hofer sparked an incredible 12-2-2 run over his final 16 games. This run almost got the Blues into the playoffs.
Dallas is still a very solid team but losing forward Mavrik Bourque is going to hurt their depth. Bourque was a cap casualty as he was traded to the Nashville Predators. Furthermore, Dallas did win all 3 meetings last season. However, the Blues are a different team entering this campaign. I think books are sleeping on this Blues team and we could get some very nice value on them early in the season. Dallas is too inflated in this spot. St. Louis' depth offensively should be enough to get an opening night win. Therefore, give me the doggie here.
Anaheim Ducks vs Vegas Golden Knights Predictions
Anaheim Ducks vs Vegas Golden Knights Goaltending Matchup
- Anaheim Ducks – Lucas Dostal (Projected) 25/26 – 30-20-4, 3.10 GAA/.888 Sv%
- Vegas Golden Knights – Carter Hart (Projected) 25/26 – 11-3-3, 2.71 GAA/.891 Sv%
Best Bet: Vegas Golden Knights Team Total Over 3.5 -122 Lucky Rebel
The Anaheim Ducks were a surprise, upstart team last season. They knocked off the Edmonton Oilers in 6 games in the first round of the playoffs before bowing out to the eventual Western Conference Champion, Golden Knights, in a hard fought 6 game series. This Duck team is VASTLY different entering this campaign, however. Anaheim was rocked by a league record offer sheet to Center Leo Carlsson (by the Flyers), which they eventually matched. As a result, this created severe cap restrictions. The Ducks lost some key players as well. Center Mason Mctavish and Defenseman John Carlson and Olen Zellweger were traded, and Defenseman Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba were lost to free agency. The Ducks also placed forward Kris Kreider on waivers in September. They did this to become cap compliant after an extenstion was granted to Cutter Gauthier.
The Ducks will lack scoring depth this year but the real issue in on the backend. They are now very young and inexperienced. Even with the likes of Gudas, Trouba and Zellweger last season, Anaheim still allowed 3.5 goals per game. This number could be even worse this year. Vegas started the season with a 5-2 home win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. They picked up right where they left off at home last season. There, they averaged 3.5 goals per game at T-Mobile Arena. I'll take the Knights to continue that tend tonight.
Best Bet: Cutter Gauthier Over 3.5 SOG +115 Luky Rebel
Newly extended Anaheim winger Cutter Gauthier led the team in shots on goal (285/3.75 Avg), goals (41) and points (69) last season. Cutter averaged 7.4 shot attempts per game. Gauthier is not afraid to shoot the puck, and with the Ducks most likely trailing in this game, I'll look at him to come out firing in the season opener. We won't see him at plus money too often as the season progresses.
Be sure to check out other NHL plays from the great staff here at Betting News. You can also find additional social media content.
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