Jack Eichel returns to Buffalo tonight for the first time since the trade that sent him from the Sabres to the Vegas Golden Knights in November.

Eichel, who was drafted second overall by Buffalo in 2015, has three goals and seven points in his first 10 games with his new club.

What will he have in store for the Sabres?

Eichel to score versus Buffalo is currently +160. He’s +160 to register an assist and -140 to record at least a point against his former team.

Meanwhile, Vegas is one of eight teams separated by a total of nine points from fifth through 12th in the Western Conference playoff race.

The Golden Knights are still a top-four choice to win the Stanley Cup based on the betting odds, but they’ll certainly want to avoid a first-round matchup with the favourite to win it all in the Colorado Avalanche to improve their chances. 

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Thursday, March 10, 2022.
 

Eichel returns to Buffalo

If the playoffs started today, Vegas would be the lower seed for a first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Kings.

While the Knights are a legitimate contender in the West, a deep postseason run would become that much more difficult if their potential path included each of the Kings, Calgary Flames and Avalanche.

Vegas is 4-5-1 with Eichel in the lineup. That includes a combined 0-2-1 against L.A. and Colorado.

 

While they have one of the most talented rosters in the league, the Golden Knights are still without Mark Stone, Alex Martinez and Mattias Janmark, among others, heading into tonight’s contest.

Coming off a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers and with the Western Conference playoff race heating up, Vegas should have a little added motivation in Buffalo tonight.

 

The Knights are -230 money line and +115 on the puck line. 

With Eichel playing between Max Pacioretty and Chandler Stephenson on the top line at even strength, and on the top power-play unit, I’ll take him to record a point at -140 as my best bet for tonight’s game.

 

Oilers, Canucks take care of business

If the past two nights are any indication, we could see some high-scoring games in the NHL tonight.

Connor McDavid scored the overtime winner and finished with two points as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 as a -140 favourite last night.

J.T. Miller delivered a four-point night as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 as a -200 favourite in the only other game on the schedule.

The total went over 6.5 in both games, while the over cashed on all four team totals. 

Ten of the past 13 NHL games have gone over the total dating back to Tuesday night.

 

Meanwhile, the Oilers and Canucks both inched two points closer to a playoff spot.

Edmonton, which was -130 to make the playoffs entering last night’s game, is now one point back of the Dallas Stars for the final wild-card spot with three more games played.

The Oilers are also two points back of the Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific.

Vancouver, which was +350 to make the playoffs entering Wednesday night’s game, is three points back of Dallas and four points back of Vegas.
 

VanVleet leads Raps in return

Fred VanVleet scored a team-high 26 points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals in his return from injury to lead the Toronto Raptors (-2.5) to a 119-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam both finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Toronto improved to 3-5 straight up and 2-6 against the spread since the All-Star Break.

 The schedule is also about to get a lot tougher for the Raptors. The team finishes its five-game road trip with games against the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Clippers.

After that, Toronto will return home to face the Lakers before heading back on the road for games against the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls.

For as good as this team has been this season, it will be interesting to see how they respond over the next 11 days.

The Raptors are still three games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers for sixth place in the Eastern Conference and 8.5 games up on the Washington Wizards in 11th, just above the play-in cut-off line.

 

Commanders trade for Wentz

The Washington Commanders acquired Carson Wentz from the Indianapolis Colts in a trade on Wednesday.

One day after Aaron Rodgers confirmed his return to the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos traded for Russell Wilson, the Commanders sent a 2022 second-round pick, 2022 third-round pick and a conditional 2023 third-round pick to the Colts for Wentz and their 2022 second-round pick.

While Washington clearly considers Wentz an upgrade over Taylor Heinicke, their Super Bowl odds lengthened following the trade. That might have something to do with the market anticipating them landing a better option at quarterback before the trade.

The Commanders were +5000 to win it all before their trade for Wentz. Washington is currently +5500 to win the Super Bowl.

Contrast that movement with what we saw when Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos, and they immediately moved from +2200 to +1200 to win it all.

 

Players Championship Gets Underway

The best golfers in the world are competing for the largest purse in PGA Tour history this week at The Players Championship.

The winner will take home $3.6 million.

In case you missed it, the Golf Talk Canada guys Adam Scully, Mark Zecchino, and Bob Weeks gave us their best bets to win the tournament.

Meanwhile, Luke Bellus has made a strong case for Collin Morikawa to take home that $3.6 million prize this week.