NHL Tuesday Picks

The 2021 NHL Trade Deadline was 3 p.m. ET on Monday, and with several teams making much-needed moves, the NHL Monday picks are an interesting bunch, as are the updated NHL futures odds at BetRivers.com. Follow the latest NHL news and predictions with BetRivers, the best online sportsbook in the US.

But before we dive into the NHL Monday picks, we should run through the NHL trade deadline moves that are likely to have the biggest impact.

The Boston Bruins acquired much-maligned Taylor Hall to help them with their secondary scoring. The New York Islanders traded for  Kyle Palmieri to replace Anders Lee. The Toronto Maple Leafs overpaid to get a bad backup goaltender and gritty leader in Nick Foligno, the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up Jeff Carter and the Washington Capitals made a flurry of last-minute moves to vault themselves into serious contenders.  

The Edmonton Oilers acquired a good defenseman in Dmitry Kulikov from the NJ Devils and he’ll help address their biggest weakness – keeping the puck out of their net. I’m still not a believer in their goaltending though so even at +2000 to win the Cup,, I’m staying away.

The Florida Panthers got much better by picking up Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour, but the injury to defenseman Aaron Ekblad will be too much to overcome. In addition, Florida has to get through Carolina and Tampa in the playoffs – I don’t see that happening. 

The Montreal Canadiens made some great moves at the deadline, but they lost Brendan Gallagher to injury. If he’s not back for the playoffs, I don’t see them going far.

The Washington Capitals looked like they might sit this deadline out, but in a flurry at the last minute, the Caps picked up Anthony Mantha and Mike Raffl – I saw that news and immediately bet on the Capitals to win the Cup at +1500.

Another bet I made this morning after I heard about the Taylor Hall trade is the Boston Bruins to win the Cup at +1700. This is a team that won the President’s Cup last season (best regular-season team), started this season off 10-1 before faltering. They have had trouble scoring and their defense core was riddled with injuries. They picked up Mike Reilly to shore up their defense and if Taylor Hall plays like he has in every other season before this one, Boston will score more. The East is an ultra-competitive division but doesn’t have a dominant team like Tampa Bay or Colorado. 

End of the day, the Boston Bruins have been a mess since February,  but if they can get their defensemen healthy and Taylor Hall plays like he has in years past, this team is a sneaky bet to win the Cup at +1700 

UPDATED NHL STANLEY CUP ODDS (Click here for the full list of NHL Futures)
+350: Colorado Avalanche
+600: Tampa Bay Lightning
+800: Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights
+1100: Carolina Hurricanes
+1300: New York Islanders
+1500: Washington Capitals
+1700: Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens
+1800: Florida Panthers
+1900: Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild
+2000: Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets

On the season, we’re 66-63-1 on the season and up +909 with lots of futures still TBD.

Most notably, we need the Detroit Red Wings to get 9 points in their last 13 games, Boston to get 23 points in their last 17 games (They play Buffalo 6x) and we’re drawing dead on Vancouver. Sigh.

We have Kiril Kiprozov to win the Calder – he’s almost definitely leading the way now, so let’s hope that keeps up. 

As for tonight, there are a few games that caught my eye. Here are our NHL Monday picks.

NHL MONDAY PICKS: TUCK’S TAKE

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (28-10-3, 59pts) AT MONTREAL CANADIENS (17-21-3, 37pts), 7 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Maple Leafs -155 ML, Canadiens +133 ML
PUCKLINE: Maple Leafs -1 (+106), Canadiens +1 (-125)
OVER/UNDER: 6 goals (-105/-114)
Click here for the full list of Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens odds.

Montreal just made a ton of moves. I think it takes a few days for them to assimilate. Couple that with Toronto’s Jack Campbell in net and we’re firing on the Leafs. 

The Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs -139 ML

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (15-14-11, 41pts) at COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (14-23-6), 7 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Blackhawks -136 ML, Blue Jackets +117 ML
PUCKLINE: Blackhawks -1 (+123), Blue Jackets +1 (-148)
OVER/UNDER: 5.5 goals (-122/-104)
Click here for the full list of Blackhawks vs. Blue Jackets odds.

The Blue Jackets just traded their leader in Nick Foligno. I’m curious to see how they respond. I’d normally stay away from this kind of situation, but I love me some Kevin Lankinen who is in goal for Chicago tonight. 

The Pick: Chicago Blackhawks -131 ML

ANAHEIM DUCKS (12-23-7, 31pts) at SAN JOSE SHARKS (18-18-4, 40pts), 10:30 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Sharks -186 ML, Ducks +160 ML
PUCKLINE: Sharks -1 (-125), Ducks +1 (+105)
OVER/UNDER: 5.5 goals (-112/-106)
Click here for the full list of Ducks vs. Sharks odds.

The Sharks aren’t a particularly good team and while they’re better than Anaheim, I don’t think they deserve to be sizable favorites against anyone. This line should be closer to +145.

The Pick: Anaheim Ducks +166 ML