Morning Coffee: Berube, McLellan popular picks to be next Leafs coach at FanDuel

The Toronto Maple Leafs have some difficult decisions ahead of them this offseason.

On Thursday morning, they announced the first of potentially several significant changes.

Sheldon Keefe is out as the head coach in Toronto.

While Leafs Nation said their goodbyes and reflected on Keefe’s tenure on various social media platforms, the sports betting community was distracted by a more interesting discussion.

Who will be the next head coach of the Maple Leafs?

The traders at FanDuel reacted with a special market that gave bettors in Ontario the opportunity to place a wager on who they believe will be Toronto’s next bench boss.

Craig Berube opened as the early favourite at FanDuel.

According to the FanDuel traders, Berube has been a popular pick.

In the first 24 hours, 41 per cent of the bets and 78 per cent of the handle in the Leafs Next Head Coach market at FanDuel were on Berube.

The overwhelming sentiment led to significant changes in that market as Berube’s odds shifted from +185 to as low as -250 odds.

Then this morning Berube to be the Leafs Next Head Coach bounced back to +170.

At the same time, Todd McLellan could be found as high as +650 in the Leafs Next Head Coach market in the early hours this morning.

However, as of 10 AM ET this morning, McLellan is down to +185 as the second option in that market.

Regardless of who ultimately gets the job, the discourse surrounding the next head coach of the Maple Leafs will certainly be a point of contention in the coming days.

In the meantime, Canada’s last remaining hopes to bring the Stanley Cup back north of the border this season are set to go head-to-head in Game 2 of their second round series tonight.

The Vancouver Canucks could be found as long as 30-to-1 to win Game 1 when they trailed 4-1 late in the second period.

Per the FanDuel traders, one US bettor turned $400 into $10,000 with a wager on the Canucks to win at 25-to-1 odds before they stormed back to win 5-4.

All eyes will be on Vancouver tonight as they attempt to take a 2-0 series lead.

Meanwhile, anybody who tailed the FanDuel Best Bets in Morning Coffee over the past two days went 4-1 as we are guaranteed a third straight winning week to begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If you’re a regular reader, you won’t be surprised at all by the direction I went with my FanDuel Best Bets for this weekend.

This is the Morning Coffee for Friday, May 10^th, 2024.

Canucks Still An Underdog To Win Series Versus Oilers

The Canucks entered the second round of the playoffs with the longest odds to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel.

Despite an impressive comeback victory in Game 1, they’re still a betting underdog to win the series.

Vancouver’s odds to advance were cut from +192 to +114 at FanDuel after Game 1.

That’s a significant move, but not enough to make them the betting favourite.

Edmonton opened at -222 to win the series.

That number is down to -137.

The Oilers are a -125 favourite for Game 2 tonight.

If they win, Edmonton will steal home-ice advantage with the series reduced to a best-of-five.

The Oilers are +220 to win the Western Conference at FanDuel this morning.

The Canucks are +480 in that market.

Of course, with so much importance placed on every game during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s been a lot of talk about a response from Edmonton tonight to avoid falling behind 2-0 in the series.

In terms of a FanDuel Best Bet, I lean Oilers but I feel more comfortable building a Same Game Parlay than going with a straight moneyline bet.

I’ll parlay Zach Hyman 3+ shots on goal, Elias Lindholm 1+ shots on goal, and the alt over 3.5 goals at -126 odds as my FanDuel Best Bet.

Hyman led Edmonton with four shots on goal on a team-high six attempts in Game 1.

There’s been talk about the Oilers putting more of an emphasis on getting shots on goal in Game 2 after they were held to 18 shots in the series opener.

Hyman, who leads Edmonton with nine goals and is second on the team with 24 shots on goal, should be busy tonight with a renewed emphasis on getting pucks on net.

Meanwhile, Lindholm led the Canucks with five shots on goal on five attempts in Game 1.

He’s registered 10 shots on goal in Vancouver’s past two games and has at least one shot on goal in all but one game this postseason.

These teams combined for nine goals in Game 1.

We need less than 50 per cent of thar production to cash the alt over tonight.

I’ll take Hyman 3+ shots on goal, Lindholm 1+ shot on goal, and the alt over 3.5 total goals at -126 as my FanDuel Best Bet.

As for Game 3 between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe have delivered for us so far in the series.

I’m turning back to them tonight with a Same Game Parlay that features Reinhart 3+ shots on goal and Verhaeghe 2+ shots on goal at -143 odds.

We got a much better price with this SGP in each of the first two games of the series.

However, after cashing in both games, it makes sense that this SGP is a little juicier for Game 3.

I’m sticking with Reinhart 3+ shots on goal and Verhaeghe 2+ shots on goal at -143 as my FanDuel Best Bet.

Looking ahead to Saturday, FanDuel already has a ton of props up for Game 3 between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars.

I’m 3-for-4 with the FanDuel Best Bets in that series, so I’m going to lock in a recommendation now.

I’ll parlay Tyler Seguin 2+ shots on goal with Valeri Nichushkin 2+ shots on goal at -153 odds as my FanDuel Best Bet.

Seguin has registered seven shots on goal through the first two games of the series, including a shorthanded goal in Game 2.

Meanwhile, Nichushkin has scored in all seven games for Colorado this postseason.

He’s registered 2+ shots on goal in all but one of those games, including seven combined in the first two games of the series.

If you don’t love the juice, you could consider adding the alt over 3.5 goals in Game 3 to the SGP.

Colorado and Dallas have combined for six goals or more in all six head-to-head meetings dating back to the regular season.

I’m confident we will see plenty of goals again in Game 3.

Hopefully, we can stay hot and finish the week on a high note with the FanDuel Best Bets in this column.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!