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NHL Player Props & Best Bets Today: Kings Stay Royal on Road

Ryan Gilbert

Last Updated: December 9, 2023 12:14 PM EST • 3 min 55 sec read.

NHL best bets
NHL best bets

The NHL features a dozen games on the schedule for Saturday, so let's analyze the matchups with our top NHL prop picks and best bets for Saturday based on the top NHL odds from our best sports betting apps.

Saturday's hockey schedule offers a full day of games, featuring both afternoon matchups and several games in the evening. Fans can enjoy continuous hockey action throughout the day, with the sport's excitement spanning from early afternoon to the night games, promising a thrilling and extensive slate of matchups for hockey enthusiasts to indulge in.

The Boston Bruins host the Arizona Coyotes at 1 p.m. ET to kick off the schedule, with a Western Conference Final rematch between the Vegas Golden Knights and Stars in Dallas as one of two games at 4 p.m. ET. The day concludes with two games at 10 p.m. ET, including the struggling Carolina Hurricanes taking on the Canucks in Vancouver.

Here are our top NHL prop picks and best bets for Saturday (odds via our best NHL betting sites; Pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Saturday’s NHL schedule and odds

(Odds via DraftKings)

Saturday’s NHL best bets

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Saturday’s NHL prop picks

Moritz Seider Over 1.5 shots on goal (-140 via DraftKings)  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider is playing extremely well in his third NHL season. He's logged 17 points over 25 games and is averaging exactly two shots per contest. However, Seider has been more aggressive recently with 16 shots in his last five games and 40 shots in his previous 16 contests after a slow start.

Seider has registered at least two shots on goal in five straight matchups and nine of his last 10 contests. He’s taking a lot of shot attempts in general, with six-plus shots in seven of those last 10 games.

The Senators allow 30 shots per outing and are without top defenseman Thomas Chabot again. Seider should be able to keep up his two-shot pace in Ottawa on Saturday.

MacKenzie Weegar to record a point (+130 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Calgary Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar is another red-hot defenseman we’re backing on Saturday. He's riding a five-game point streak and has been held off the scoresheet just twice in his last 11 games.

The Flames are set to face off on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, who have been facing some issues in the crease between Vitek Vanecek (3.60 GAA, .877 SV%) and Akira Schmid (3.03 GAA, .902 SV%). New Jersey is allowing the second-most goals per game in 2023-24 (3.67), only ahead of the lowly Sharks.

Calgary should be able to put a handful of goals on the board, and Weegar has been in on the action a lot recently.

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Saturday’s NHL game picks

Kings ML vs. Islanders (-140 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Los Angeles Kings are quietly out to a 16-4-3 start with the best point percentage in the Western Conference. They've yet to lose a road game with a perfect 11-0-0 record. Expect that to continue on Saturday against the Islanders.

The underlying numbers for the Kings are astounding. They hold the league's best xGF% at five-on-five (58.92%) thanks to their center and defensive depth. Veteran goaltender Cam Talbot (12-4-1, 1.84 GAA, .933 SV%) is even emerging as a Vezina Trophy candidate.

Meanwhile, the Islanders have produced the 11th-worst xGF% in the league at 48.1%, and the injury bug has been biting them recently. Defenseman Sebastian Aho may return on Saturday, but New York is still without Adam Pelech, and top-pair defenseman Ryan Pulock was put on the injured reserve Friday.

The Kings are simply the much better team and this line is too low for Los Angeles at -140. Bet it up to around -160, which it might get to at this rate.

Predators vs. Maple Leafs Over 6.5 (-110 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Speaking of teams with injured defensemen, the Maple Leafs’ blue line is in shambles with injuries to John Klingberg (long-term injured reserve), Mark Giordano, Timothy Liljegren, and even William Lagesson is questionable for Saturday night. They're also now without Joseph Wall for quite some time, and Ilya Samsonov (questionable with an illness) hasn't played in two weeks.

Of course, a lack of defense and goaltending leads to goals against. Luckily, the Maple Leafs’ top players are playing fairly well, with William Nylander leading the way. The Leafs are bound to give up a few goals on Saturday, but they’re capable of putting up a few themselves.

Meanwhile, the Predators were once a lower-scoring team, but that's changed under head coach Andrew Brunette in 2023-24. It's not overly impressive, but the Predators rank 15th with 3.23 goals per contest. They're also coming off a 5-1 win over the Bolts and a 4-3 win in Chicago.

There will be goals on Saturday night in Toronto.

NHL best bets made 12/7/2023 at 11:22 a.m. ET

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Written By:
Ryan Gilbert
Ryan Gilbert is a contributing writer at SportsbookReview.com, covering hockey and baseball. He is the lead NHL writer and editor at the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, where he also co-hosts the Hockey Gambling Podcast. Ryan covers the Philadelphia Flyers for Broad Street Hockey and co-founded Sons of Penn. His past stops include NBC Sports Regional Networks and NHL.com.