NHL Opening Week, Best Bets For Thursday October 9th
Summary
On a busy opening night featuring 14 NHL games, including Utah’s debut as the Mammoth, several key matchups offer intriguing betting opportunities. A rematch of last season’s playoff series sees the Dallas Stars visiting the Winnipeg Jets. With two elite goaltenders in Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger, and with nine of the last ten meetings between them staying under the total, the prediction is for a low-scoring game.
Another contest features the Calgary Flames against the Vancouver Canucks. Both teams feature strong defensive players and the Canucks’ goalie Thatcher Demko is looking to regain his elite form, suggesting another low-scoring affair. Conversely, the Vegas Golden Knights, boosted by the addition of Mitch Marner, face the San Jose Sharks. With considerable offensive talent on both sides, a higher-scoring game is anticipated.
It’s opening week of the NHL season and Thursday Oct 9th features 14 games including Utah playing its first game as the Mammoth. Let’s dive in and check out some of our best bets for a busy night of hockey.
Dallas Stars at Winnipeg Jets 8:00 p.m. ET
Stars -110
Jets -104
Puckline: DAL +1.5 (-280) WIN-1.5 (-230)
Total: 5.5
It’s a rematch of last year’s second round of the Western Conference Playoffs as the Stars travel to Winnipeg to take on the Jets. Dallas won that series 4-2 before bowing out in the conference finals to the Oilers.
Dallas Stars
The Stars made two consecutive conference finals only to fire their coach. Now, Glen Gulutzan has returned to Dallas to take Pete DeBoer. Regardless of the coach, the Stars have a deep squad including all-star right winger Mikko Rantanen who arrived late in the season in a blockbuster deal. The biggest question will be can goalie Jake Oettinger shake off last season’s ending when he was pulled after allowing two goals on the first two shots he faced in the first period of Game 5 against the Oilers. Oettinger remains one of the NHL’s best goalies with four straight 30-win seasons.
Winnipeg Jets
The Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in franchise history with 116 but needed a miracle to beat the Blues in round one before being eliminated by Dallas in six games in round two. Connor Hellebuyck won the Hart and Vezina trophies for his incredible regular season, but once again choked in the playoffs. Jonathan Toews makes a comeback in his home city while
Nikolaj Ehlers left as a free agent. There is a big hole on opening night as defenseman Dylan
Samberg will be out for 6-8 weeks.
Prediction
These teams are very evenly matched and have two of the best goaltenders in the league in Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger. And over the last 10 meetings both sides have five wins a piece with nine of those games going under 5.5 goals. Best Bet: UNDER 5.5
Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks 10:00 p.m. ET
Flames +162
Canucks -185
Puckline: CGY +1.5 (-165) VAN -1.5 (+140)
Total: 5.5
Calgary Flames
The Flames open the season Wednesday night in Edmonton before traveling to Vancouver. Calgary’s roster will be without two veterans, Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil who are injured. Instead we could see two teens in the lineup as 19-year-old winger Matvei Gridin and
Zayne Parekh made the team and could be in the lineup Thursday. Morgan Frost, Nazim Kadri and Adam Klapka make up the first line while the defense is led by MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson while Dustin Wolf returns in goal after a sensational rookie season.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have a much improved back end led by captain Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko returns to full health after missing a good chunk of last season. The Canucks were a major disappointment in 2024-25 with the drama surrounding the locker room, the poor play of Elias Pettersson and the lack of winning on home ice where Vancouver was 17-16-8 at Rogers Arena, third worst in the NHL. Adam Foote takes over behind the bench and with the addition of Evander Kane, the Canucks could see better results to start the season.
Prediction
The Flames begin the regular season with back-to-back games in Edmonton and Vancouver. But Calgary did beat the Canucks on the road in last season’s opener. Both teams have strong defensive players and this feels like a lower scoring games especially with Thatcher Demko looking to regain his Vezina-calibre play Best Bet: UNDER 5.5, Canucks PL (+140)
Vegas Golden Knights at San Jose Sharks 10:00 p.m. ET
Golden Knights -175
Sharks +154
Puckline: VGK -1.5 (+140) SJ +1.5 (-165)
Total: 5.5
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas made a big splash signing former Maple Leaf Mitch Marner as a UFA and coming off a career-high 102 point season and now the Golden Knights are considered one of the favorites to win it all. This team already boasts Jack Eichel and a supporting cast up front that is one of the deepest in the league. The top two blue-line pairings (Brayden McNabb/Shea Theodore, Noah Hanifin/Zach Whitecloud) are veteran, proven players that play within the defensive-minded system. The biggest loss is Alex Pietrangelo who is out for the season with a hip issue but more importantly he was one of the main leaders in the locker room.
Goaltending was inconsistent last season but Adin Hill has shown he can be the No.1 guy for this squad.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks have finished with the worst record in two straight seasons but feel they can make a jump this season with some of their young talented players. The dynamic duo of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith lead this team as they look to make an even bigger jump. The Sharks brought in some veterans to help this young team who lost 10 times in regulation last season after leading in the third period, no other team had more than 4. It may take a few games to get going but the Sharks should be more competitive this year.
Prediction
On paper this seems too easy as the Sharks seem overmatched. But opening night jitters can always play a factor. Both teams have talent up front so a higher scoring game seems inevitable. BEST BET: OVER 5.5
