The 'dogs didn't bark for us on Tuesday. The Sharks were probably the better team in their matchup with the Red Wings, but a 2-2 game became 4-2 late, costing us a small winning night.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens and Maple Leafs - both showing value on paper - pulled off upsets that didn't make the cut for the best of the night, mainly because the idea of Montreal winning in Dallas and Toronto starting their (often tumultuous) California trip with a win against one of the league's best teams seemed far-fetched, even at a valuable price.

The cheat sheet

If you're thinking about betting any game on the slate, here's a look at the price you should be hoping to get on the moneyline for a valuable bet.

Best bets for Jan. 4

Blackhawks (+355) @ Rangers (-450)

We're not about to lay -400 in an NHL game, but we're not asking the Blackhawks to beat the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Our numbers give Chicago a 28.6% chance to win, and their +355 moneyline implies a 22% chance of winning. That 6.6% edge means it's a play worth making long-term, but it also means there's an edge in other head-to-head markets like the puck line.

I'm not a fan of betting +1.5 puck lines since the premise is that I expect it to be a one-goal game late and, even if we're right, we're leaving ourselves open to an empty-netter. However, with odds rooted in a moneyline this long, we can get +2.5 for just -135. I prefer to find the middle ground, backing the Blackhawks at a plus-money price - a number that acts as insurance if the Rangers score into a yawning cage in the dying seconds.

Pick: Blackhawks puck line (+2, +105)

Canucks (-145) @ Blues (+125)

Whether it's evidenced by an advanced metric like expected goals share (xG%) or their record, the Canucks are a visibly better team at home than on the road. Vancouver starts its longest trip of the season in St. Louis, where the Blues have a 5-3 record since firing head coach Craig Berube.

The Blues have boosted their xG% from below 45% to above 48% but have been somewhat unlucky in high-danger chance conversion rates since switching coaches.

By making them a considerable road favorite, the market's treating the Canucks like a team that creates more than 50% of the expected goals and high-danger chances when they hover right around the league average in both.

Pick: Blues moneyline (+125)

Lightning (-128) @ Wild (+110)

We successfully faded the Lightning on Tuesday, questioning their rating without Mikhail Sergachev and wondering if Andrei Vasilevskiy was in form. Vasilevskiy was far better than the numbers suggest in Tampa's 4-2 loss, but the Lightning appeared to wear down late - potentially a function of playing five defensemen with Sergachev out of the lineup.

Tampa's next stop is Minnesota. The Wild have hit the skids, losing three of four games following a nice run after they, too, fired their head coach. They've missed Kirill Kaprizov, but their rating in betting markets has reflected his absence. Meanwhile, the Lightning's rating hasn't taken much of a hit without Sergachev and Erik Cernak (who's questionable to play Thursday), which means there's value in picking the Wild.

Pick: Wild (+110)

Islanders (-115) @ Coyotes (-105)

Sure, goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 35 shots and the Coyotes were tied 1-1 with the red-hot Panthers in the third period. But we thought we were getting Connor Ingram on Tuesday since the Yotes hadn't played in a while.

Since Arizona stuck to its rotation, we should get Ingram Thursday night against a far less intimidating opponent in the Islanders. While we're not getting the Coyotes as underdogs, a pick'em price is good enough for a team we think wins at least 54% of the time.

Pick: Coyotes (-105)

Panthers (-115) @ Golden Knights (-105)

In this case, a regular season matchup against the team that beat you in the Stanley Cup Final can certainly be categorized as a revenge-seeking game.

With five straight wins, the now-healthy Panthers are cooking. They're returning to Las Vegas where Shea Theodore and Adin Hill aren't available to torment them as they did in June. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights are 2-6 in their last eight games and are also playing without William Karlsson. All these elements aren't accounted for in the market, with this game lined at nearly a pick'em.

Pick: Panthers (-115)

Friday cheat sheet

With just three games on the board, here are the moneylines to target if you're looking to bet them on Friday.

Matt Russell is the lead betting analyst for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on social media @mrussauthentic.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your Seattle Kraken!"

The rapper Sir-Mix-A-Lot introduced the NHL's newest team to 47,313 fans gathered inside T-Mobile Park and those watching on television Monday. The game-ready Kraken players, eye black and all, then strutted a catwalk flanked by fire and flying fish before halting for the national anthem. The Vegas Golden Knights, the league's second-newest team, were positioned nearby.

The scene was a bit on the nose for a Seattle-based outdoor game. But that's the allure of the Winter Classic; it's a celebration of hockey and the host city.

This particular Classic doubled as a celebration of the league. Pitting seven-year-old Vegas against third-year Seattle on New Year's Day was a victory lap of sorts for the NHL. And why not: both franchises have been wildly successful.

So successful, in fact, that every time commissioner Gary Bettman is in front of a microphone, he's asked about expanding beyond 32 teams. Bettman tends to respond with two messages: Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Houston, and Quebec City are all clearly interested, and expansion isn't atop the priority list.

"I don't have a formal expansion process on the horizon," Bettman told Bally Sports Southwest on Dec. 18. "But, we always listen when people are expressing their interest to us, and it's very flattering to know there are so many places that would also like to have an NHL team."

What Bettman hasn't said in these interviews is informative too. He hasn't outright dismissed expansion or changed the subject - he's left the door open.

"We take meetings, we listen, but we're not about to say, 'If you want an expansion team, submit your application by X date.' We're not doing that," he told reporters in mid-November, according to NHL.com's Bill Price. He added, "At some point, somebody may create a proposal that we find so intriguing that we decide to explore it and maybe pursue it. But that's not what we're doing now."

Translation: It's definitely possible the NHL will expand past 32 teams one day.

Should it, though? Let's discuss the cases for and against expansion.

The case for expansion

The NHL's public relations department noted earlier this week that league business was "stronger than ever" in the calendar year of 2023 and that revenues for the 2023-24 season are projected to "exceed $6 billion."

Pro sports leagues want to always tout growth, and expansion can help a mature league like the NHL grow. Expansion, at a basic level, puts money in owners' pockets, gives broadcast partners more inventory, and creates jobs for the players' association.

Win-win-win.

"If it starts with a capital 'B,' the owners are going to be interested and excited. Very, very excited," one assistant general manager for an NHL team said of the potential value of expansion fees. NHL sources were granted anonymity to freely discuss league business.

Expansion fees don't count toward hockey-related revenue, or HRR, which means the players wouldn't get a kickback from, say, a $1-billion entry fee. Still, one veteran agent sees plenty of long-term upside: 23 new jobs per team, and the immense opportunity untapped markets can provide.

"We're in the entertainment business. We can't forget that," said the agent, who represents some of the sport's biggest names. "Players should be into this idea of expanding again. It'll grow the game, grow revenues over time."

Vegas paid $500 million to enter the league in 2017. Seattle paid $650 million four years later. The small-market Ottawa Senators were recently purchased for $950 million by Michael Andlauer, who in turn sold his 10% minority interest in the big-market Montreal Canadiens at a reported $2.5 billion enterprise value. In late 2023, both Forbes and Sportico estimated the average value of an NHL team at roughly $1.3 billion - a 29% jump over 2022.

The NHL's in a sweet spot. Franchise values are through the roof. There's proof of concept in Vegas and Seattle, which have quickly become key revenue generators and, thanks in part to favorable expansion draft rules, highly competitive teams. (Heck, there's no better advertisement for expansion than the Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup in Year 6.) And, with several markets to choose from and no shortage of motivated rich people (nine groups submitted bids for the Senators), the league has power and leverage.

"Bettman is concerned about growing franchise values over time," said David Carter, a University of Southern California professor and a longtime sports industry consultant. "So, if you bring on a team and that team is financially stable - if it has enough money to be competitive on the ice and run a strong business operation - that team will elevate the other boats in the league."

A better question might be: Why wouldn't the NHL want to capitalize on this moment of growth? The league ballooned from 21 to 28 teams in the 1990s. This could be another boom - from 30 to 34 during the 2010s and 2020s.

"At some point, you reach a tipping point where expanding again becomes too much. But the interest in hockey right now is very strong," said Chris Gear, the former longtime chief legal officer and assistant GM for the Vancouver Canucks. "The NHL might be wise to strike while it's hot."

Gear, who now runs a consulting agency and law firm called Blackfin Sports Group, mentioned an interesting wrinkle: less travel. With two more teams, one per conference, the NHL could regionalize its divisions better to reduce costs, lessen the physical and environmental toll of air travel, and promote rivalries. (As for balance, the locations that Bettman commonly cites give the league options. Houston and Salt Lake City could join the Western Conference, while Atlanta and Quebec City could join the East.)

One NHL GM said he isn't opposed to adding a pair of teams, as long as the expansion draft rules remain favorable. That may sound counterintuitive (why would a rival GM want to lose two good players?). However, the executive explained that if the existing owners are going to accept an infusion of cash through fees, they should be OK with handing over some NHL-caliber talent.

Expansion would force dozens of players previously in lower leagues into the NHL. This could lead to a watered-down product (as discussed in the next section), but it may also create an environment that caters to true superstars.

"Goal-scoring is up. Maybe that's directly related to the widening of the gap between the very top and very bottom of the league, player-wise," Gear said of the jobs created by recent expansion. "More goals create more excitement, which adds eyeballs and sponsors. Expansion could be seen as a good thing for the product. It really depends on your frame of reference."

The case against expansion

The first counterargument to expansion is the Arizona Coyotes. Unstable throughout their 27-year run in the Phoenix area, the franchise is currently playing out of a 4,600-seat arena on the Arizona State University campus.

The team is finally competitive on the ice, but the search for a permanent, appropriately sized building is dragging on, and the players' union is losing patience.

As NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh puts it, NHL players deserve an NHL rink.

"There's lots of rumors about two more expansion teams coming. I would say three expansion teams. The first one, really, is Arizona - trying to figure out what's going on with Arizona," Walsh, who's in his first full season, said in November during a keynote interview at the PrimeTime sports conference.

He later added: "You can't have 31 teams playing in a full arena and then one playing in a college arena where you're the second citizen, where you're the second tenant."

That last remark hits on the anti-expansion crowd's main talking point: How can the NHL consider expansion if one of its franchises is a prime candidate for relocation? (Pro-expansion types would respond: OK, that's fair. How about two expansion teams and the Coyotes relocate?)

The quality of the on-ice product is critical to the overall health of the league. By diluting the talent pool, expansion may make games less competitive and entertaining. The best league in the world should have high standards.

In talking with 15 people for this story, the general sentiment was that the on-ice product has been largely unchanged since Vegas and Seattle arrived. It's perhaps slightly worse. However, growing to 33 or 34 teams would add 23 or 46 roster spots that would be filled by players currently in the minors. It's impossible to know for sure, but the league may already be up against the talent threshold.

"The game is growing and there's more countries playing and producing high-end players, so maybe overall there's a bigger talent pool to draw from and that balances everything out," Gear said. "But, I do think you want to be careful. If you expand too many times, too quickly - before that pool of players broadens enough - you might just be watering down the league a little bit."

One assistant GM wondered about the trickle-down effect. For instance, most first-round picks don't immediately make the jump to the NHL in the current 32-team climate. At 34 teams, depth-seeking GMs might feel like the 28th overall pick is the best option to fill out their roster, even though there's a chance that playing in the NHL as a teenager will hurt his development.

More food for thought from an NHL GM: The league has perfect symmetry - 32 teams, 16 per conference, eight per division, and half of the clubs make the playoffs. Expanding would throw off this tidy setup and probably lead the NHL to alter its playoff format, which the league consistently touts as the best.

Expansion wouldn't affect the way a fan follows their favorite team. But it would affect how they follow the rest of the league. The more teams and players, the harder it is to keep up. The average NHL fan in 2024 probably can't name more than three Columbus Blue Jackets players. Expand further and the average fan's connection to rival teams becomes even weaker.

One NHL player sees both sides. If you want to grow the game, you grow the business. At the same time, the NHL shouldn't expand for the sake of expanding. It's a slippery slope, he said, if you're chasing money. The player added that the league can't dismiss what makes the NHL great, whether it's the history of the Original Six or the modern parity and intense competition.

The final counterargument cited by sources is that just because the Golden Knights and Kraken have crushed it, that doesn't mean the markets expressing interest now will do the same. Quebec City has an NHL rink - but not enough corporate dollars. Salt Lake City has an impressive prospective owner in Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith - but a small population. Atlanta is a massive market - but the NHL has already given it two chances. Houston appears to check off the boxes for ownership, market size and demographics, and a building, making it the lone city that doesn't face a significant hurdle.

Carter believes the NHL won't expand haphazardly. Bettman and his staff will be thorough and diligent. Still, the professor notes there's always risk involved in bringing a new owner, market, and team into the fold during a boom period.

"They're not just looking at money, but ultimately, money is what drives the day," Carter said. "The problem can be if the NHL allows for money to be virtually the only thing. That's when they run into trouble. They have to have owners who fulfill a strategic imperative for the league."

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Calgary Flames assigned defenseman Oliver Kylington, who hasn't played since the 2022 playoffs for personal reasons, to the AHL for a conditioning stint on Thursday.

Kylington missed the entire 2022-23 campaign, as well as the start of the current season, to focus on his mental health. He said he's in a better place now as he seeks to resume his NHL career.

"I feel I'm in a good place with my mental health and ready to take another step forward," he said in a statement. "Returning to Calgary has been the right decision. I've felt tremendous commitment from Flames ownership, management, and my teammates, and I am appreciative of the support and resources made available to me. I also thank my family, friends, and the fans for their encouragement. I'm looking forward to getting on the ice in a team environment and back to my everyday life. I have missed it very much."

Kylington posted career highs in games played (73), points (31), and average ice time (18:10) in 2021-22 before taking time off.

He was a second-round pick of the Flames in 2015 and has made 168 career appearances for the club.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens forward Christian Dvorak will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season due to a torn pectoral muscle, the team announced Thursday.

Dvorak missed the club's past two games due to the injury. He didn't make his season debut until Nov. 4 due to a knee injury sustained last March.

The 27-year-old center logged seven points in 25 games this season while averaging nearly 16 minutes per contest. Dvorak is in his third campaign with the Canadiens since being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes for a first-round pick.

He's under contract for one more season at a $4.45-million cap hit.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Welcome to the fourth edition of theScore's 2023-24 Norris Trophy Rankings and the third in-season version. New rankings are published once a month throughout the campaign.

These rankings focus on analytics and the all-around ability of defensemen rather than only points or reputation.

While Nos. 1 and 2 remain the same, three new blue-liners crack the list this month.

xGF% = five-on-five expected goals for percentage

5. Noah Dobson, Islanders

Dobson's underlying numbers pale in comparison to others on this list - and even some who were left off. But context is important here.

The 23-year-old has undoubtedly been the Islanders' MVP this season, as he's one point shy of Mathew Barzal for the team lead. But his value to the team has really come through over the past month while the club has been without fellow top-four defense stalwarts Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech. The absences have forced Dobson to average 27:12 per game since the last edition of these rankings, and he's produced 14 points in 13 contests over that stretch. On the season, he trails only Drew Doughty in average ice time.

The Islanders are 7-3-3 in that same stretch. They find themselves in the thick of the playoff race but wouldn't be close if it weren't for Dobson, who's generating offense at a high rate for a team that typically struggles in that department.

4. Josh Morrissey, Jets

The Josh "Norrissey" campaign is starting to gain steam again.

Morrissey is putting together another excellent season - one that's arguably better than last year when he finished fifth in voting after putting up 76 points in 78 games. His points per game are down from 2022-23, but his underlying numbers have vastly improved.

While much of Morrissey's production came with the man advantage last year, he hasn't been quite the power-play savant this year. He's still been effective in quarterbacking Winnipeg's No. 1 unit, but more importantly, he ranks second only to Quinn Hughes with 22 points at even strength among defensemen.

3. Miro Heiskanen, Stars

Heiskanen has been the NHL's best defensive blue-liner this season. He ranks second in the league in defensive goals above replacement. Among rearguards to play at least 20 games this season, Heiskanen sits third in expected goals against per 60 minutes, trailing only the injured Jonas Brodin and veteran Brian Dumoulin, who's playing a third-pairing role.

Heiskanen is a true workhorse who ranks fifth in average ice time and matches up against opposing teams' top forwards on a nightly basis.

The offense is starting to come around, too, making him one of the league's most well-rounded blue-liners. He's produced 11 points in 12 games since the last rankings.

2. Quinn Hughes, Canucks

This past month would've been a tremendous opportunity for Hughes to usurp Makar for the top spot on this list, but both players have been somewhat pedestrian of late relative to their lofty standards.

Hughes recorded 10 points in 11 games and posted a 52.7 xGF% since the last rankings. That's a month any defenseman would be happy to have, but it wasn't enough to put him ahead of Makar, who posted a similar line of 10 points in 10 games with a 51.6 xGF%.

Hughes has the edge in even-strength points (29-21), but that's largely due to Vancouver's 14% shooting percentage when he's been on the ice at five-on-five. Colorado's is 10.1% with Makar on the ice at five-on-five.

1. Cale Makar, Avalanche

Both Hughes and Makar have put up video game numbers over the season, and their play of late has been more or less even, as noted above. They've both been elite offensively, but Makar's edge defensively puts him over the top.

With Makar on the ice at five-on-five, the Avalanche are surrendering 2.37 expected goals against per 60 minutes. The Canucks, on the other hand, hold a mark of 2.72 with Hughes. Furthermore, Makar edges Hughes in defensive goals above replacement 1.6 to 1.4 despite skating in four fewer games.

It's a neck-and-neck two-horse race at the moment, but Makar continues to lead by a nose.

(Analytics source: Evolving Hockey)

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Washington Capitals veteran Max Pacioretty is making his season debut Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils, his club announced.

Pacioretty hasn't suited up in an NHL game in almost one year after tearing his Achilles tendon twice in five months.

The winger played just five games last campaign as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes. His 2022-23 debut was delayed until Jan. 5 following his recovery from offseason surgery to repair the ailment, but he aggravated the issue two weeks later. Pacioretty scored three goals before his tenure in Raleigh was cut short.

He signed a one-year deal with a $2-million cap hit - plus an additional $2 million in performance-based incentives - with the Capitals as an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Heading into Wednesday's game, Pacioretty had amassed 326 goals and 645 points (including 164 on the man advantage) across 855 games. The 35-year-old has eclipsed the 30-goal mark six times over his 15-year NHL career.

Washington's offense has struggled in 2023-24. The Capitals entered Wednesday owning the league's second-worst goals per game rate (2.34), and fourth-worst power play (12.2%).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.