NHL Parlay Picks for Saturday, February 25, 2023

We have seen some extraordinarily high spreads when it comes to the NHL betting odds this season. Typically, it’s rare to have any team ensconced as more than a -300 favorite due to the nature of hockey, but we have seen several -400 favorites or higher the last few weeks as teams are shutting it down in order to potentially land young standout Connor Bedard. The 17-year-old with the Regina Pats is considered the best NHL prospect since Connor McDavid, and teams have salivated watching his play. Currently, the Columbus Blue Jackets are in pole position to land Bedard, and they don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to land him. That should lead to the Blue Jackets being an enormous underdog by the NHL odds against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon.

NHL Betting Odds at BetRivers Sportsbook

Edmonton Oilers at Columbus Blue Jackets

Connor McDavid has been incredible this season. He has 20 more points than anyone in the NHL with 105 points to his credit this campaign, and he is considered a heavy favorite by the NHL futures odds to win the Hart Trophy for the third time since joining the league. He will win the Art Ross Trophy for the third straight season and fifth time overall too barring injury. McDavid continues to dazzle everyone with his play and that has made Edmonton an incredible team to watch.

Leon Draisaitl has been great too. Draisaitl is the second leading scorer in the league behind McDavid with 34 goals and 51 assists for 85 points. However, his plus/minus numbers highlight the big issue with Edmonton. Although Draisaitl has been the No. 2 scorer in the league, he has a negative plus/minus as the Oilers are a sieve on defense. That’s also why Edmonton is in fourth place in the Pacific Division.

The Oilers did think they solved their goaltending problems this offseason. Edmonton signed Jack Campbell from Toronto to a five-year, $25 million deal over the summer. Campbell was 31-19-0 with Toronto last season, and he had a 2.15 GAA the previous year. However, Campbell has completely fallen apart in his new location despite a 17-8 record. He has a whopping 3.39 GAA and an .887 save percentage.

While Columbus has the worst record in the Eastern Conference, the Blue Jackets have played decent hockey recently. Columbus is 4-4-2 in its last 10 games, and the Blue Jackets have picked up wins against playoff teams like Dallas, Toronto, and Winnipeg. That leads to some value on Columbus, as the Blue Jackets will be a significant underdog by the NHL betting line.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Detroit Red Wings

Steve Yzerman built a juggernaut in Tampa and then returned to Detroit to try to rebuild the Red Wings in 2019. He set the Lightning up for their run of three straight Eastern Conference titles, and he has slowly turned things around in Motown too. Detroit has the potential to make the playoffs for the first time in seven years this season, and they are likely to have their best record since their last postseason appearance.

Detroit is just two points behind Florida for the final playoff spot in the East. The Red Wings have won seven of their last ten games to close the gap on the Panthers, and they have been very sharp under the stewardship of Dylan Larkin. Unfortunately, they made a big splash with their acquisition of Andrew Copp only for Copp to struggle so far.

Meanwhile, it’s impossible to count out Tampa Bay for as long as the Lightning are able to keep their core together. They have several superstars, and they have the most reliable goaltender in the game in Andrei Vasilevskiy. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Steven Stamkos have combined for exactly 200 points with each player suiting up 56 times.

Tampa Bay is a much different team at home than it is on the road though. The Lightning are an absurd 22-4-2 at home, but they are a mediocre 14-13-1 away from home. That gives the Red Wings some hope that they can pull off the upset here on Saturday evening.