Powered by:
Morning Coffee: McDavid, Makar co-favourites to win All-Star Skills Competition at FanDuel
Published
The NHL All-Star Weekend festivities got underway in Toronto last night with the All-Star Player Draft.
Sports bettors in Ontario who bet on Nikita Kucherov to be the first pick in the All-Star Draft at +550 cashed their bet when Team Hughes selected him with the top pick.
With more than a week to go before Super Bowl 58, and the NHL regular season schedule paused for the All-Star festivities, it’s certainly an abrupt pause for anybody that has been wagering on football and hockey games every weekend since September.
Fortunately, FanDuel has us covered again this weekend with markets for the All-Star Skills Competition events.
This is the Morning Coffee for Friday February 2nd, 2024.
McDavid, Makar Co-Favourites To Win All-Star Skills Competition At FanDuel
Connor McDavid and Cale Makar are co-favourites to win the NHL All-Star Skills competition at +750 odds.
McDavid is the favourite to win each of the Fastest Skater, Accuracy Shooting, Passing Challenge, and the Stick Handling competitions.
Makar is a co-favourite to win the Passing Challenge, the second choice to win the Hardest Shot behind Elias Pettersson, and the third choice to win the Fastest Skater behind McDavid and Matthew Barzal.
Auston Matthews and David Pastrnak are co-favourites to win the One Timers competition.
For a moment on Thursday, it seemed like we had an edge with a 100-to-1 long shot bet that Aaron Korolnek suggested on First Up! on TSN 1050 Radio.
Do you have a long shot wager that you love for the NHL All-Star Skills competition?
Hit me up @Domenic_Padula on X and I’ll tail you.
The NHL All-Star Skills competition is always fun to watch, and there’s no doubt I’ll be sprinkling in a wager or two at FanDuel to add to the entertainment value of the event.
Embiid Sidelined With Torn Meniscus
Over the past few weeks, I told anybody who would listen that I had a major issue with the pricing in the NBA regular season MVP market.
Unlike in previous years, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement now requires players to participate in a minimum of 65 regular season games to be eligible for individual awards.
Joel Embiid had missed more games than anybody in the conversation for the award entering the month of January, yet he was the favourite or a co-favourite to win MVP at FanDuel for most of the month.
On Tuesday night, Embiid left a loss to the Golden State Warriors after getting tangled up with Jonathan Kuminga chasing after a loose ball.
Last night, we learned the significance of his injury.
An MRI revealed that Embiid is dealing with an injury to the lateral meniscus in his left knee.
The reigning MVP will be out through the weekend as the 76ers work on a treatment plan for their star centre.
With Embiid sidelined, Nikola Jokic is now the clear favourite to win NBA regular season MVP at -140 odds at FanDuel.
Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the second choice at +250 odds.
Luka Doncic (+650), Giannis Antetokounmpo (+800), and Jayson Tatum (+4500) round out the top five choices, with quite the disparity in pricing between Giannis at No. 4 and Tatum at No. 5.
The MVP is now considered Jokic’s to lose, but SGA is clearly a legitimate contender with the Thunder in pursuit of the best record in the Western Conference.
Commanders Hire Dan Quinn As Head Coach
As the countdown to Super Bowl 58 continues, the final head coaching vacancy in the NFL was filled on Thursday when the Washington Commanders hired Dan Quinn.
Quinn, who had been the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys since 2021, will be tasked with revamping a Washington defence that ranked 32nd in the NFL in points per game and yards per game this season.
The Commanders are 150-to-1 to win the Super Bowl next season.
Only the Carolina Panthers have longer odds to win it all.
Meanwhile, we’ve already locked in our first two plays for Super Bowl 58 in this column, jumping on the Kansas City Chiefs to win outright at +118 and then taking Deebo Samuel to finish with 50 or more receiving yards at -150.
I’ll be looking to add to my prop card for Super Bowl 58.
Make sure you check back in next week for another FanDuel Best Bet for the biggest game of the year.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone!