Is JT Miller’s contract really immovable?

In Hour 2 of Canucks Central, Sat and Bik continue the JT Miller rumor discussions. Quinn Hughes is breaking records, and playing the best all around hockey of his career. What's his ceiling now, with the arrival of Filip Hronek? Don Taylor joins the show to give his thoughts. 

 

This podcast was produced by Kosta Pappas.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate. 

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Frank Seravalli on the Canucks Trade Deadline and Managements Plan

Its Canucks Central with Satiar Shah and Bik Nizzar on a Canucks gameday. The guys review the trade deadline, and discuss newly acquired defenseman Filip Hronek. Where does he fit, and what he brings to the Canucks lineup? They also get into what else the Canucks need to become a playoff contender, and the price it may take to acquire those pieces.  Frank Seravalli joins the show in hour 1 to give his thoughts on everything Canucks, including the JT Miller rumors. 

 

This podcast was produced by Kosta Pappas.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate. 

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

NHL Monday player props: 3 shooters worth backing

We have six games on the docket, which is pretty good for a Monday night slate.

Let's take a look at the best ways to attack it with three props that stand out.

Leon Draisaitl over 2.5 shots (-132)

Many star players do their best work on home ice. Draisaitl is not one of them. The German superstar has averaged 3.5 shots per game on the road this season, leading to an absurd 73% success rate. That's 14% higher than what Draisaitl has managed at home (59%), which is a strong output in itself.

Draisaitl finds himself in a good spot to stay hot Monday night against the Buffalo Sabres. At five-on-five, they rank bottom 10 in shot suppression over the last 10 games. The Sabres grade out even worse when killing penalties, allowing shots at a higher rate than all but the Coyotes.

While the Sabres have admittedly done a good job of limiting the penalties taken, Draisaitl and the Oilers' lethal power play don't need many opportunities to make noise.

Draisaitl currently finds himself riding shotgun with Connor McDavid on the top line and playing upwards of 22 minutes per night. That should be more than enough to get the job done in what is also an above-average matchup for generating shots.

Brady Tkachuk over 3.5 shots (-120)

Tkachuk is one of the best, and most consistent, shot generators in the NHL. He ranks 14th in total shot attempts while only five players have found the target more often.

It doesn't matter if Tkachuk is playing at home (67% hit rate) or on the road (62% hit rate); he consistently gets the job done.

I expect that will be the case once again on Monday night against the Blackhawks. They've been a priority target for shots all season long. With management completely gutting what was left on the roster leading up to the deadline, things figure to get even worse for Chicago.

Led by their outstanding top line of Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, and Claude Giroux, the Senators should dominate the puck in this game. They're going to spend a ton of time in the offensive zone, and Tkachuk should be the one taking the majority of the shots.

With the Senators in desperate need of every point they can get, there's potential Tkachuk's usage could go up in the event this game stays close. Either way, I think this is a more than fair price for a high-end shooter in a fantastic matchup.

Seth Jones over 2.5 shots (-120)

Jones has some of the most extreme home/road shooting splits you'll see. He's in Kirill Kaprizov and Jason Robertson territory.

On the road, Jones has averaged exactly 2.0 shots per game and gone over his total a putrid 28% of the time. His success rate jumps to a ridiculous 64% when playing on home ice. That's a 26% swing!

With Jones averaging an extra 1.4 shot attempts per game at home, it is no coincidence we have seen such a drastic difference in success rate.

The Senators are not a high-end team to target for shots, except with opposing defensemen. Just five sides have conceded more shots per game to the position over the last 10 games.

The matchup is solid, Jones is at home, and he's an even larger focal point of the offense now with Patrick Kane, Max Domi, and seemingly every gifted Blackhawks player was shipped out of town.

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

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NHL weekday betting guide: True moneylines for every game

If we're being honest, it's always kind of a guessing game: NHL oddsmakers and bettors alike, trying to figure out how to price a hockey team with this player out or that backup goaltender in.

We use the information that oddsmakers give us in the form of previous odds, and with some high school math prowess, we turn them into team ratings. Then, 60-some-odd games get played, and around the time the calendar turns to March, it gets entirely jumbled, shifted, and twisted all around. That's the effect of the trade deadline.

Already a below-average team (-13%), the Red Wings traded Filip Hronek, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Jakub Vrana at the deadline. Each player is interesting enough to be traded for, but none move the needle on a nightly basis when it comes to pricing a team. While Vrana hasn't contributed this season, do the collective deals mean the Red Wings need a further downgrade post-deadline?

What about the Predators? A purely average team (+1%) - which had already seen Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen go out with injuries - traded away its fourth- and fifth-highest scorers in Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter, along with its second-best defenseman, Mattias Ekholm, all after Tanner Jeannot was deemed valuable enough to garner a decent package from the Lightning. How much below average are the Predators now that they're left with Roman Josi, Matt Duchene, and little else?

On the positive side of things, the Kings - a team I have rated 5% above average - somehow found themselves in a playoff spot despite getting goaltending of the same low quality as teams that have long given up on the postseason. Presumably desperate to stop playing 6-5 games, they added Joonas Korpisalo. Under the radar with the Blue Jackets, Korpisalo has actually been a top-10 goaltender, with a plus-10.18 Goals Saved Above Expected over fewer than 30 games played.

When Korpisalo starts for the Kings, how much of a boost should they get with the assumption of even average goaltending for that game? What if we assume above-average goaltending, as Korpisalo provided when he stopped 24 of 26 shots as part of a 4-2 win over the Blues on Saturday? What if his presence translates to even better play from Pheonix Copley if/when he starts on a more limited basis? The Kings can't be judged through a lens of 41 games started by Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen, but with a 20-6 record in games not started by those two, Los Angeles might be on the come up, particularly dangerous in a wide-open Western Conference playoffs.

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.

DATE GAME TRUE ML PRICE TO BET
March 6 SJS@WPG +145/-145 SJS +172/WPG -139
EDM@BUF -124/+124 EDM -119/BUF +146
CGY@DAL +110/-110 CGY +122/DAL +101
OTT@CHI -198/+198 OTT -189/CHI +238
NSH@VAN -101/+101 NSH +109/VAN +112
WSH@LAK +145/-145 WSH +172/LAK -139
March 7 CAR@MTL -256/+256 CAR -244/MTL +315
PHI@TBL +222/-222 PHI +269/TBL -212
VGK@FLA +144/-144 VGK +170/FLA -138
CBJ@PIT +310/-310 CBJ +391/PIT -294
TOR@NJD +115/-115 TOR +135/NJD -111
BUF@NYI +167/167 BUF +198/NYI -160
CGY@MIN +125/-125 CGY +147/MIN -120
STL@ARI -118/+118 STL -113/ARI +138
SJS@COL +230/-230 SJS +281/COL -220
ANA@SEA +188/-188 ANA +225/SEA -180
March 8 CHI@DET +158/-158 CHI +187/DET -151
MIN@WPG +130/-130 MIN +153/WPG -125
ANA@VAN +224/-224 ANA +272/VAN -213
March 9 NYI@PIT +129/-129 NYI +152/PIT -124
NJD@WSH -114/+114 NJD -110/WSH +135
NYR@MTL -160/+160 NYR -153/MTL +190
VGK@TBL +147/-147 VGK +174/TBL -141
PHI@CAR +309/-309 PHI +389/CAR -293
DAL@BUF -116/+116 DAL -111/BUF +136
EDM@BOS +147/-147 EDM +174/BOS -141
SJS@STL +105/-105 SJS +116/STL +105
LAK@COL +101/-101 LAK +112/COL +109
NSH@ARI -115/+115 NSH -111/ARI +136
OTT@SEA -106/+106 OTT +104/SEA +117

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.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

NHL Monday best bets: Canucks to best Predators at home

Our weekend best bets resulted in a disappointing split. The Senators came through for us on the puckline, but the Devils were unable to convert a 50-27 shot advantage against the Golden Knights into a victory.

We'll set our sights higher with a couple plays for Monday night's six-game slate.

Predators (-110) @ Canucks (-110)

The Predators recently pulled the plug on their season, selling off a handful of meaningful contributors in Mattias Ekholm, Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and Tanner Jeannot. Factor in the absences of Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg due to injury and there simply isn't much meat left on the bone.

That has shown in the team's underlying process of late. Over the last seven games, the Predators rank 22nd in expected goals share - and 27th in shot share - at five-on-five.

Those are extremely uninspiring numbers, especially considering they've faced bottom-feeders like the Blackhawks, Coyotes, and Sharks during that stretch.

Although the Predators' numbers are not good at either end of the ice, their five-on-five issues stem largely from an inability to defend. That checks out given some of their recent departures; Ekholm is a very sound minute-munching defenseman and Niederreiter has long been an underrated two-way winger.

The Canucks are not world-beaters at five-on-five, but they definitely look to have some advantages. Their metrics have been better than Nashville's of late and they have two of the best even-strength weapons in the league on their roster.

Elias Pettersson begins the day tied for fourth in five-on-five points while Quinn Hughes is tied with Shea Theodore for ninth among blue-liners.

I expect the Canucks will have the puck a lot. Given Nashville's recent struggles and Vancouver's star power, the Canucks should be able to make real noise with it.

So long as Juuse Saros doesn't steal the show, I see Vancouver leaving the ice with another two points.

Bet: Canucks (-110)

Senators (-280) @ Blackhawks (+230)

The Senators have been playing very good hockey for quite some time now. Since Dec. 1, they sit tied for fourth in the NHL in wins while slotting eighth in terms of points percentage.

Their offense is firing on all cylinders, Jakob Chychrun drastically improves them at both ends of the ice, and the goaltending appears to have stabilized. Put it all together and it makes sense the Senators are enjoying such success recently.

The Senators have won five straight games, each of them by at least two goals. Now they get to look forward to a game with the Blackhawks as they continue their ascension up the Eastern Conference standings.

Chicago currently possesses one of the worst rosters I've seen in the modern era. This year's team was paper-thin at the best of times. With Jonathan Toews sidelined and Patrick Kane, Jake McCabe, and Max Domi traded, next to nothing remains.

The Blackhawks are devoid of almost any real talent at every position. They struggle at five-on-five, their power play is toothless, and they can't get a save with any frequency. I think the red-hot Senators will skate circles around them in what is another crucial game.

Look for the Blackhawks, whose last seven losses were by at least two goals, to be defeated rather convincingly in this spot.

Bet: Senators -1.5 (-120)

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

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Sutter sides with angry Flames fans after 5th straight loss: ‘I’d boo, too’

Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter has no qualms with the fans who voiced their displeasure during the club's listless 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

"I'd boo, too," Sutter said, per Sportsnet's Eric Francis.

Veteran enforcer Milan Lucic understands the fans' restlessness as well.

"They probably felt the same energy - or lack of energy - that we played with," he said.

He added: "At this point of the year, especially, you should be excited and have a lot of energy to play every single night. That's on us as individuals and us as a team."

The loss was Calgary's fifth in a row and eighth in 10 games. The Flames' playoff odds now sit at a meager 33.7%, according to MoneyPuck. During the current skid, the club has been held to one or fewer goals three times.

Expectations were high in Calgary entering the season after the Jonathan Huberdeau-MacKenzie Weegar blockbuster and the addition of Nazem Kadri in free agency. The Flames cruised to the Pacific Division title in 2021-22 but haven't won more than three consecutive games this season and have a minus-two goal differential.

The Flames' next chance to salvage a playoff push comes Monday against the Central-leading Dallas Stars.

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