Nashville Predators general manager David Poile acknowledged that the organization's decision to waive Eeli Tolvanen could be a misstep as the winger continues to light it up with the Seattle Kraken.

"Did we give him enough opportunities? Should we have played him higher? Time will tell," Poile said Tuesday during an appearance on 102.5 The Game. "Seattle's a team that plays a little bit differently than us. They really rotate almost their four lines equally, and offensively they put him in a position higher than we have.

"This could be a mistake on our part. That's on me if he turns out to be really successful, but we thought we tried him in a lot of different areas, different places."

The Predators placed Tolvanen on waivers on Dec. 11, and the Kraken scooped him up the following day.

Tolvanen, 23, logged two goals and two assists in 13 games with Nashville this campaign. He didn't debut for Seattle until Jan. 1, but early returns indicate he's a great fit. Tolvanen has five points in five contests while donning his new threads, and his three tallies with the Kraken would put him on pace for 49 goals over an 82-game season.

The Finn is suiting up for 12:32 of ice time per contest in Seattle, comparable to his average playing time in Nashville this season. However, Tolvanen failed to crack the 11-minute mark in five of his last six games as a Predator.

Poile said he didn't want to lose Tolvanen and that the organization hoped he'd spend time with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.

"We had to make some decisions. We were not going anywhere," he said. "He's doing well, great for him, and we've been doing better - not necessarily because of him, but because we've made a decision to go another direction with different types of players."

The Predators selected Tolvanen 30th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. He was a highly touted prospect lauded for his scoring ability but never fully emerged in Nashville. Tolvanen ended his tenure in the Music City with 25 goals and 26 assists in 135 contests.

Tolvanen will get a chance to take on his former team when the Kraken visit the Predators for a pair of games on March 23 and 25.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday.

Brodie didn't play in Toronto's 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday due to an undisclosed ailment. He will miss at least three more games. The 32-year-old was already unavailable for 12 contests this season due to an oblique injury.

The Maple Leafs have had a rotating cast of blue-liners thanks to various injuries with Morgan Rielly, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, and Jordie Benn all missing time, along with Jake Muzzin and Victor Mete, who remain out.

Brodie has two goals and eight points in 28 games this season.

Toronto subsequently recalled forward Bobby McMann from the AHL. The 26-year-old left winger captured AHL Player of the Week honors after scoring three goals and six points in three contests. He's yet to make his NHL debut.

The Maple Leafs are second in the Atlantic Division with a 25-9-7 record. Toronto is back in action against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.

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We suffered a setback Monday night, hitting just one of our three props.

Thomas Chabot was the swing player, finding the target only twice while missing on six attempts. If one more hit the net, we'd be enjoying another winning night but, alas, the margins are slim in this space.

Let's dive into three props that stand out on Tuesday's slate as we look to rebound quickly.

Nikita Kucherov over 3.5 shots (-115)

It's a day that ends in the letter "Y," which means we are targeting the Blue Jackets with a shot prop.

Columbus continues to struggle defensively, ranking 29th in shot attempts against per 60 minutes over the last 10 games.

The Blue Jackets still take their share of penalties as well and are going up against a Lightning team that draws plenty of them; only five teams have spent more time on the man advantage this season.

The matchup is great for Kucherov on paper, as he has gone over his shot total in both meetings against the Jackets this season.

Given his shooting form - only seven players have attempted more shots over the last 10 games - I expect Kucherov to continue throwing pucks on net.

Dylan Larkin over 2.5 shots (-120)

Larkin has gone a little cold of late, recording three shots or more just three times over the past 10 games. There's a lot to like about Larkin in this spot, though.

For one, the Jets give up a lot of shots to opposing centers. Only eight teams have conceded more to the position on a per-game basis.

Winnipeg has struggled in that regard for a while now, and Larkin has shown the ability to take advantage. He generated 13 shots on goal over two games against the Jets in the calendar year of 2022.

Beyond a strong positional matchup, Larkin should benefit from reinforcements. Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to return from injury and will rejoin Larkin on the top line. Lucas Raymond has been reunited with Larkin as well.

With his usual two running mates by his side and better supporting talent to work with, the Red Wings should be able to control more of the play with Larkin on the ice, opening up more offensive zone time and opportunities to shoot.

Miro Heiskanen over 2.5 shots (+105)

Heiskanen is firing on all cylinders right now. The star blue-liner - no pun intended - has registered three shots or more eight times over the last 10 contests, and the numbers beneath the surface suggest that's no coincidence.

He has attempted 65 shots in that span, slotting him behind only Jason Robertson among Stars players.

League-wide, Heiskanen ranks fourth among all blue-liners these past 10 games. Roman Josi, Cale Makar, and Dougie Hamilton are the only defensemen to attempt more shots.

Heiskanen finds himself in a good spot against an Islanders team that ranks bottom 10 in suppressing shots versus opposing rearguards. Look for him to stay hot.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar knows his team has faced adversity this campaign, but he doesn't want the defending champions to be satisfied with just scraping their way into the postseason.

"I have a lot of confidence and trust in our team. … That confidence can't come off just what we've done in the past," Bednar said, according to the Denver Post's Bennett Durando. "Because it's not just about hanging onto a playoff spot and getting into the playoffs. Like, we're past that."

He added: "The regular season is for learning lessons, figuring out how to win, what it takes to win in all aspects of your game. So our game has to get to a spot, for me, where we feel like we can beat anyone in the West and anyone in the league."

Bednar doesn't think the "floundering" Avs have met that benchmark 38 games into the season.

The Avalanche currently sit in fourth place in the Central Division with a 20-15-3 record. They're two points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but Colorado has three games in hand.

The Avs snapped a five-game losing streak Saturday after scoring three unanswered goals during an overtime victory over the Oilers.

Colorado only lost 19 contests in regulation in 2021-22, and the team's longest winless streak was four.

However, the Avs have been decimated by injuries in 2022-23. Captain Gabriel Landeskog is still waiting to make his season debut after undergoing knee surgery in October, while superstar Nathan MacKinnon missed 11 games in December due to an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Valeri Nichushkin, last season's breakout player, has been limited to just 15 games because of an ankle ailment.

Colorado's blue line hasn't had much injury luck, either. Josh Manson has been out since Dec. 1 with a lower-body ailment, while Bowen Byram last played Nov. 4.

"Big picture, you like to think we get guys back, everything comes together - that's fine," Bednar said. "It's good to be confident."

Colorado will next play Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.

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Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to return to the Detroit Red Wings' lineup Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets, head coach Derek Lalonde confirmed Monday.

The forward has missed 16 games after sustaining a left hand injury on Nov. 30 that required surgery. He injured his right hand earlier in the season, forcing him to miss nine games in October.

The 27-year-old practiced Monday on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, according to The Athletic's Max Bultman.

Bertuzzi's played just nine contests this campaign, tallying one goal and four points. He's coming off a career year in 2021-22 in which he scored 30 goals and 62 points in 68 games.

The Red Wings are sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 16-15-7 record and are in the midst of a three-game losing streak.

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Good bets lose all the time. It's by far the worst thing about sports betting. Novice bettors, or the stubborn, will claim that if a bet didn't win, then it wasn't a good bet. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Last Monday, the Penguins played the Bruins in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. Sure, the Bruins had more fans in the stands that were set away from the playing surface, but this was far from the usual home game. In fact, no franchise has played more outdoor games (six) than the Penguins, with the Bruins having played one fewer (five). Both teams are familiar with the morning wake-up call required for a Winter Classic.

Given that somewhat familiar but also unusual circumstance, how much implied win probability should be accounted for home-ice advantage for an outdoor game?

We've got a pretty good handle on the market ratings for both the Penguins and Bruins, and using those ratings, we can expect a moneyline split of around PIT +120 / BOS -140 on neutral ice.

On Monday, the moneylines got as high as PIT +160/BOS -185. On the Penguins' side, that's an implied win probability of 38.5% compared to 45.5% for Pittsburgh on neutral ice - a 7% difference.

Since home-ice advantage usually translates to approximately a 4% shift from neutral ice, that would suggest significant value on the Penguins. Pittsburgh scored first in the game, but Boston had the best of the even-strength Expected Goal Share (66%), while the shots and scoring chances were even. The Bruins tied the game midway through the third period and took the lead with just over two minutes left. The Penguins thought they may have tied it in the virtual bottom of the ninth at Fenway, but they scored after the clock hit zero.

The game largely played out in the 50-50 manner that you ask for when betting a +160 moneyline, even though, in this case, the Penguins ran out of outs. A pretty good bet was lost.

The recipe

We started the campaign using regular-season point totals as a baseline for rating teams since it's our best measurement. Throughout the campaign, we adjust club ratings using on-ice metrics to remove the cognitive bias of win-loss records, which can be skewed by outliers like special-teams results, poor goaltending performances, and other unreliable events.

The cheat sheet

There are no bad bets at the right price, but how do we know what a good price is?

The following includes my fair price on the games (true moneyline) and the moneyline price I'd need to bet either side. I only need a 1% edge for a favorite if we're getting better than a fair price on the team more likely to win. For the underdog, I'll need 4% or better to make it a bet. For games I project to be closer to a coin flip, a 2.5% edge is enough for a worthwhile wager. I also have a 5% win probability consideration for a team playing in the second game of a back-to-back with travel and a 3% consideration for a team on the second leg of a back-to-back without travel. When it comes to injured players, I do my best to estimate the impact on their team's win probability.

When the betting markets open up the night before, you can compare those prices with our "price to bet" column to see if you're getting any value with either side's moneyline. There's also a possibility that a moneyline moves into a bet-friendly range at some point between market open and puck drop.

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.

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We have been firing on all cylinders with the shot props of late. Let's keep the ball rolling as we look to kick off the week with some winners.

Thomas Chabot over 2.5 shots (-115)

Thomas Chabot is on a nice little shooting run, especially on home ice. The skilled blue-liner has registered at least three shots on goal in six of the last nine games played in Ottawa. He finished with two shots each time he fell short so, put simply, he is always on the doorstep and giving himself a chance to go over the number.

This is a matchup where he should be able to get the job done. At five-on-five, the Nashville Predators rank 31st in attempts against per 60 over the last 10 games. They also take penalties at a pretty healthy rate, offering Chabot extra time in the offensive zone to get over the number.

These teams met about a month ago. In that game, Chabot hit the over while attempting seven shots. I expect similar results this time around in the comforts of his own building.

Filip Forsberg over 2.5 shots (-140)

The Ottawa Senators are a surprisingly strong shot-suppression team. Their Achilles heel, if you will, is opposing left wingers. That is the one position they seem to struggle with on a nightly basis.

Only the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes - two teams in the mix for Connor Bedard - have allowed more shots per game to left wingers this season. Enter Filip Forsberg.

The dynamic offensive winger has attempted 63 shots over his past 10 games, slotting him 15th among all forwards during that span. Almost every guy ahead of him routinely has their shot prop line set at 3.5, if not 4.5. So you're getting top-end volume from Forsberg - in an advantageous matchup - at a reasonable price.

For what it's worth, Forsberg hit in all three meetings against the Senators during the calendar year of 2022 and capped things off in December with a nine-attempt performance.

Anze Kopitar over 2.5 shots (+125)

Death, taxes, and backing Anze Kopitar against the Edmonton Oilers. The Los Angeles Kings' captain absolutely feasted on them last season, recording three shots or more in 10 of 12 meetings (playoffs included).

That's not hard to believe considering the Oilers gave up a ton of shots to centers. Unsurprisingly, they remain very vulnerable in that regard. Only two teams have conceded more shots per game to centers this season.

With Kopitar, I generally need two things working in his favor to back him: home ice and a good matchup.

The Kings are at home in this game – Kopitar averages 1.1 more attempts per contest in Los Angeles - and, as mentioned, the Oilers bleed shots to centers.

Kopitar took advantage of the Oilers time after time a year ago. With a very similar roster and the same coaching staff in place, I think it is fair to expect more of the same.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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We are starting the week off with a fun little four-game slate. Let's take a look at a couple of home sides worth backing.

Predators (+100) @ Senators (-120)

The Nashville Predators enter play on a three-game winning streak. I don't see them extending it to four against the Ottawa Senators.

Although the Predators have played a fairly difficult schedule of late, there are some concerning trends beneath the surface, especially on the defensive side of things.

At five-on-five, only the Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens have conceded expected goals at a higher rate over the last 10 games.

Ottawa is not an ideal matchup considering those struggles. Despite dealing with injuries to key players like Josh Norris and Tim Stutzle throughout the season, they have not had any issue creating dangerous chances at full-strength. The Senators rank sixth in expected goals per 60 minutes while playing five a side.

They should be able to generate more than their share of opportunities against this exploitable Predators defense. And, if all else fails, this is a strong matchup for the Senators' lethal power play.

The Predators are a below-average team when it comes to avoiding penalties. They also give up a lot of looks while undermanned. For the season, only the Ducks, Canadiens, and Arizona Coyotes have given up expected goals at a higher rate.

Suffice to say, the Senators - who rank top five in expected goals and actual goals per 60 on the power play - are likely to cause real headaches for the Predators.

While an Anton Forsberg start here would definitely be preferable, the Predators are a subpar shot-generating team and rank 26th in goals per game. Cam Talbot should be able to put forth a competent performance if DJ Smith goes with him.

Bet: Senators (-115)

Flyers (+200) @ Sabres (-240)

The Buffalo Sabres are a handful to deal with these days. They are on a 8-2-0 run and have outscored opponents 41-27 in that time.

I expect their success to continue Monday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers are not a good defensive team at all. They have bled shots all season long and, over the last 10 games, rank 29th in expected goals against at five-on-five. They give up a lot of good looks.

Sometimes they can get away with that thanks to Carter Hart. He started Sunday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, though, so the expectation is they'll turn to Samuel Ersson.

He has posted a respectable .905 save percentage through four NHL games. However, those came against the Ducks, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, and Los Angeles Kings. There is only one playoff team in that group and none of the offenses are overly scary.

The Sabres, who lead in goals per game, are a completely different animal than any team Ersson has seen. Given the Flyers' defensive struggles, he's likely to be tested early and often.

I don't think he's going to hold up against such a potent offense for 60 minutes. Even with Buffalo's mediocre goaltending, I don't see Philadelphia's offense being able to keep up, either.

This Sabres blue line is underrated and fairly solid when healthy. With the likes of Mattias Samuelsson and, more recently, Owen Power returning over the past couple of weeks, the Sabres have the pieces needed to compliment Rasmus Dahlin and provide some stabilizing play behind their potent attack.

Look for the Sabres to take care of business inside 60 minutes.

Bet: Sabres in regulation (-145)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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