Morning Coffee: A look at the updated odds for NHL Draft
The Chicago Blackhawks are on the clock with the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Once they officially select Connor Bedard No. 1, the real fun will begin.
According to the current odds at FanDuel, Bedard will be followed by Adam Fantilli, Leo Carlsson, and Will Smith in that exact order as the first four picks tonight.
Then again, all it will take is one team to go in a different direction to drastically change the outlook at the top of the board.
With a thin list of unrestricted free agents available this summer, it appears as though the trade talks around the league have picked up considerably in recent days.
Is there a team willing to trade assets to move into the top five tonight?
Or will the teams currently slated to pick in those spots stay put and look to add an elite prospect to their roster via the draft?
This is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
A look at the updated odds for NHL Draft
The closer we get to the start of the 2023 NHL Draft, the greater the anticipation.
me going to sleep knowing we have the #1 pick tomorrow pic.twitter.com/Py568AxPSp
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) June 28, 2023
The Blackhawks have spent the past couple of days adding veteran pieces to their roster via trades. Tonight, they’ll officially add the new face of their franchise in Bedard with the first-overall pick.
Expectations don’t weigh on Connor Bedard 🙅♂️ pic.twitter.com/1byTIXwqQ1
— BarDown (@BarDown) June 28, 2023
Bedard is just the sixth player ever to score at least 71 goals and record at least 143 points in their draft-eligible season.
Chicago currently has nine of the top-100 picks, so it won’t be a surprise at all if they moved a pick or two to add another veteran to their roster.
Bedard's shots on net. 100 of them. Green is goals.
— Meghan Chayka (@MeghanChayka) June 28, 2023
My Tuesday night haha.. #NHLDraft2023 pic.twitter.com/CJJkHXHELz
The Anaheim Ducks are slated to pick second and Fantilli has emerged as the heavy favourite to go No. 2 in recent weeks at -700 odds at FanDuel.
🇨🇦 Adam Fantilli on:
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) June 23, 2023
🏒What it would mean to go No. 2⃣
🏒How he's similar/different to Bedard
🏒Special draft suit🕴️
🏒Draft walk-up song @iconapop 🎼
🏒Potentially returning to school
🏒1st pitch at #RepDetroit game ⚾️
1-on-1 with @umichhockey centre👇https://t.co/h3jxaUUuOg
The Columbus Blue Jackets have the third-overall pick.
Carlsson is currently -300 to go in the No. 3 spot.
We’re less than 24 hours away from the NHL Draft!
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) June 27, 2023
Hear from Jarmo Kekalainen and Ville Siren on the eve of the big day ⬇️@mhl | #CBJ https://t.co/2s292EKttY
The market for the fourth-overall pick, which currently belongs to the San Jose Sharks, is where things start to get really interesting.
Smith is the favourite to go No. 4 at -185, followed by Carlsson at +270 and Matvei Michkov at +400 odds.
While it’s still considered more likely than not that we see some combination of Carlsson and Smith at No. 3 and No. 4, this is the market where Michkov appears at shorter than 5-to-1 odds for the first time.
Michkov is also the third choice to go fifth overall at +240.
ICYMI: @TheHockeyNews' @theTonyFerrari joined @Imstilljon to take a deep dive into the NHL Draft and if the Habs should select Matvei Michkov despite the uncertainty. Listen: https://t.co/Mys4yP6pGu
— TSN 690 Radio (@TSN690) June 27, 2023
Ryan Leonard has emerged as the favourite to go No. 5 at +165 odds, followed closely by David Reinbacher at +210.
The Montreal Canadiens own the fifth pick, and if they stay put and make the selection, it will be very interesting to see which one of Leonard, Reinbacher or Michkov they select if all three players are still available.
Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis addressed the media ahead of Round 1 of the #NHLDraft 👇#GoHabsGo https://t.co/2Zbv7ygnIz
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 27, 2023
The NHL Draft is always a fun time of the year and with Free Agent Frenzy just three days away, the anticipation is building as fans hope the general manager of their favourite team can dramatically upgrade his roster this week.
A FanDuel Best Bet for Wednesday night
If you bet on sports often enough, you’re going to get hit with a bad beat once in a while.
If you tailed the FanDuel Best Bet I gave out in Tuesday’s column, it wasn’t one of them.
That wasn’t a bad beat, it was a bad bet.
We’re still hitting above 70 per cent with the FanDuel Best Bets in this column over the past six weeks, but nothing seems to have come easy for me of late.
This morning, I’m looking to turn the page and get back on track with a winner.
My FanDuel Best Bet is the Texas Rangers -1.5 -113 against the Detroit Tigers tonight.
Tigers’ starter Joey Wentz has struggled mightily away from home this season with a 1-5 record and a 7.48 ERA.
He’s 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in the month of June. Detroit has won just one of his six road starts this season.
On the flip side, the Rangers will turn to Dane Dunning, who is 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA at home this season.
12-pitch AB ended with a BANG 💥@budweiserusa x #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/T8CFVrCBUn
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 28, 2023
Texas is 25-14 at home this season and their bats finally seemed to wake up in the second half of last night’s 8-3 win.
I think the Rangers will continue to roll tonight versus Wentz, so I’ll take Texas -1.5 -110 as my FanDuel Best Bet.