NHL Betting: A Double Canadian Clash
Tune in to ESPN+ on Wednesday to see an all-Canadian double-header kick off NHL action north of the border for the 2022-23 season. The first game will feature an Original Six matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, starting at 7 PM ET. On the heels of that classic rivalry, Canadian West Coast hockey fans will be treated to a Vancouver Canucks-Edmonton Oilers game, beginning at 10 PM ET. Two of these Canadian franchises are in the top-six for Stanley Cup NHL betting, but once the season starts, the NHL odds will shift, so lock ‘em in now.
Toronto Maple Leafs (-245) vs Montreal Canadiens (+205)
The first game of the Canadian double-header this Wednesday features the age-old rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens live from the Bell Centre. The 2022-23 version of Montreal versus Toronto pits an offensive powerhouse that’s expected to be among the best regular season teams in the NHL betting against a rebuilding but exciting young squad.
For Toronto, Game 1 of this season marks the beginning of the G Matt Murray era in Leaf land. After moving on from Campbell and Mrazek, Leafs’ management will hope to resurrect a once-dominant Murray and carry them past the first round of the postseason. Murray will get plenty of offensive support from Toronto’s forward group. C Auston Matthews is coming off of his first Hart Trophy award after posting a career-best 60 goals and 46 assists. Matthews and the rest of Toronto’s forward group are sure to give the Montreal Canadiens all they can handle, as the Habs enter Year 2 of their rebuild.
Fresh off of finishing last in the 2021-22 NHL standings, the Canadiens enter Wednesday’s season opener full of hope. Canadiens’ coaching staff will give this summer’s first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky a good look to start the year. The hulking 18-year-old is physically ready for NHL action at 6’3”, 238 pounds; however, adapting to the speed and skill of the world’s top hockey league is sure to result in some growing pains for the youngster. Along with Slafkovsky, the Habs will also dress three rookie defensemen versus the Leafs: Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj and Jordan Harris. With a youth-filled backend, we can expect Montreal goaltender Jake Allen to be busy versus the high-octane Leafs. That’s why you’ll see a beefy 6.5-goal total in the gamelines, and Toronto pegged as heavy favourites at -245 in Bodog’s NHL betting odds despite being on the road.
Vancouver Canucks (+165) vs Edmonton Oilers (-195)
The nighttime game will feature the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place Arena at 10 PM ET. Edmonton checks in as the -195 favourite at press time against the +165 Canucks. A lofty 6.5-goal total is listed, with the Under slightly favoured at -120 in the NHL betting.
These two Western Conference Canadian rivals faced off twice in the preseason and both games soared over the 6-goal totals listed on each occasion. Edmonton dominated the first game, winning 7-2 in a game that saw prospect Dylan Holloway, a first-round pick in the 2020 draft, score a hattrick and register an assist. He’s been particularly impressive in the preseason and could potentially be part of Edmonton’s starting lineup on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Vancouver returned the favour and won the second game against Edmonton, albeit by a closer margin of 5-4. Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes registered assists for both LW Tanner Pearson and C Elias Pettersson—both were power play goals. They may be without their star defenseman’s services on Wednesday, as he’s been struggling with an illness (not related to Covid-19) and was absent from practice on Monday.
The Canucks enter the new season without any significant roster changes; however, they did sign on their interim head coach Bruce Boudreau to a one-year contract after he guided the team to a 32-15-10 record to finish out the season last year. They also inked core team members RW Brock Boeser and C JT Miller to contract extensions.
With Connor McDavid at the helm of a talented offence, the Oilers are banking on a new goalie to get them over the playoff hump. This will be their first season with Toronto’s Jack Campbell between the pipes and fans will be eager to see how he plays in his first game of the season. Campbell impressed in three preseason games—all were victories where he let in three or fewer goals. Campbell is expected to start for Wednesday’s game, opposite of Vancouver’s franchise goalie Thatcher Demko.
Bet on NHL with Crypto
The best way to bet on NHL gamelines and the futures market is with a cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies speed up online transactions and get you access to the best promotions possible. Pain points, like blocked deposits, are eliminated when you use a cryptocurrency as a deposit method, and once the funds reach your Bodog account, they turn into Canadian dollars, which protects your bankroll from any potential price fluctuations.
Getting started with Bitcoin, or any of the cryptocurrencies accepted here, is simple. The first step involves downloading a digital wallet and cryptocurrency exchange to your smartphone from the app store. After your wallet is set up and your login created for the exchange, you’re free to exchange CAD to crypto and vice versa. From your wallet, you can send crypto to your Bodog account by selecting the appropriate currency from the list of deposit options. Your address code will appear for you to copy and paste into your digital wallet.
Once the cryptocurrency funds make it to your account, they’re converted to CAD automatically, making it easy to place bets and keep track of your bankroll. Then you can head over to the hockey page of our sportsbook and figure out what are the betting odds for NHL games as well as Stanley Cup betting. Winning is always more fun when you’ve got something riding on the results.