NHL Player Props & Best Bets Today: Can Zacha Rise to Occasion During Bruins' Home Opener?

The NHL continues its opening week with a six-game slate, so let's dive in with our top NHL prop picks and best bets for Wednesday based on the leading NHL odds from our best sports betting apps.

The NHL season began with a tripleheader on Tuesday night that included the debut of young phenom Connor Bedard. 

A trio of all-Canadian matchups in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver headline the six-game slate for Wednesday.

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

Wednesday’s NHL schedule and odds

(Odds via DraftKings)

• Montreal Canadiens (+230) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-285)
• Ottawa Senators (+164) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (-198)
• Chicago Blackhawks (+270) vs. Boston Bruins (-340)
• Edmonton Oilers (-155) vs. Vancouver Canucks (+130)
• Winnipeg Jets (+115) vs. Calgary Flames (-135)
• Colorado Avalanche (-118) vs. Los Angeles Kings (-102)

Wednesday’s NHL best bets

• Kings ML vs. Avalanche (+102 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐⭐
• Senators ML vs. Hurricanes (+165 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐
• Jets-Flames Under 6 (-105 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Pavel Zacha anytime goalscorer (+275 via Caesars) ⭐⭐

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Wednesday’s NHL prop picks

Pavel Zacha anytime goalscorer (+275 via Caesars) ⭐⭐

All eyes were on Bedard on Wednesday night, and now the Blackhawks travel up to Boston for a back-to-back set to begin the season. The Bruins are well-positioned for a significant win in their season opener over the lowly Blackhawks.

With the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, Pavel Zacha has been thrust into the spotlight as Boston’s first-line center. He’ll also see time on the top power-play unit with linemate David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand.

The Bruins should put up a handful of goals on Chicago, and Zacha will be out there for a lot of minutes as the first-line center.

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Wednesday’s NHL game picks

Kings ML vs. Avalanche (+102 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐⭐

The Kings went 26-11-4 at home during 2022-23, and they added some punch down the middle during the summer. Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault are still around, and they traded for Pierre-Luc Dubois to really solidify that position.

Los Angeles played well against Colorado in 2022-23 with a 2-1-0 record. The Kings actually outshot the Avalanche 41-23 in the lone loss.

This line is a pick’em at most books, so we're seeing some value here at even money.

Senators ML vs. Hurricanes (+165 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐

The Carolina Hurricanes have become one of the NHL's best-run organizations over the last decade or so, but the Ottawa Senators are rising too. After adding Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat last offseason, Ottawa remained aggressive with an in-season trade for defenseman Jakob Chychrun before plugging in more pieces this past summer.

There's no doubt the Hurricanes' outlook for 2023-24 is better than the Senators, but Carolina being -200 favorites against a hungry Ottawa team is a bit too steep. There’s value here on the Senators at +165.

Jets-Flames Under 6 (-105 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Jets and Flames are two teams looking to re-establish themselves after tumultuous offseasons. Luckily, both squads are strong in goal with Jacob Markstrom and Connor Hellebuyck.

Winnipeg just extended Hellebuyck after some speculation he may be traded in the offseason or at some point during the season. Meanwhile, Markstrom is looking to bounce back from a lackluster performance in 2022-23.

While there has been some change on both sides this summer, these are largely the same teams that took the ice in 2022-23. All three meetings featured five goals or fewer, with neither team scoring more than three goals.

The total is down to 5.5 at some books, so getting the Under on 6 goals at -105 is a great price.

NHL best bets made 10/11/2023 at 2:10 p.m. ET.

NHL betting odds pages

Here are our best NHL betting sites:

• Caesars Promo Code: SBRBONUSDYW | Read our Caesars Review
• BetMGM Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our BetMGM Review
• bet365 Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our bet365 Review
• BetRivers Promo Code: SBRBONUS | Read our BetRivers Review
• FanDuel Promo Code | Read our FanDuel Review
• DraftKings Promo Code | Read our DraftKings Review

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* Bonuses not applicable in Ontario.

Related pages

• Best Sports Betting Sites | Best Sportsbook Promos (U.S. only)