Written by Graeme & Scott on Wednesday, December 30th, 2020
Follow @BetNHL
It’s Wednesday. You know what that means.
We finally have a date – the NHL will be returning for the 2020-21 season on January 13th, 2021.
Just two weeks away. Can’t freaking wait.
We will be covering various futures over the next couple of weeks in anticipation of the NHL season.
From a betting perspective it may not make a lot of sense to bet futures due to the high variance of the NHL season. However it can still be fun to write these and look back and see our thoughts at that time.
With the season fast approaching we have some early award props to bet on.
This season is going to be different than normal but after the last year we all have had we should be getting used to things being different. There will be a 56 game schedule and due to COVID-19 cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the league will temporarily realign.
Scott will go over each prop and tell you who he thinks has the best chance of winning the trophy. The complete list of players available for each prop will be listed at the following sportsbooks:
Canada: Sports Interaction
USA: Bovada.
Everyone Else: 888 Sports.
Rocket Richard
- Auston Matthews: 5.36
- Alex Ovechkin: 6.56
- Leon Draisaitl: 8.08
- Connor McDavid: 9.00
- Nathan MacKinnon: 11.00
The Rocket Richard Trophy is given to player who leads the league in goals scored at the end of the season.
Ovechkin has won this trophy in 7 of the last 8 seasons and 9 times in total. Its really incredible that the Rocket has only been given out a total of 21 times and Ovie has 9 of them.
The favorite to win it this season is Auston Matthews. He is entering his prime and has already put up some amazing numbers. Last year in the shortened season he set a career high for goals scored with 47 in 70 games.
With Ovechkin within reach of Gretzkys record which once seemed unreachable I think Ovie will go hard each and every year until he finishes playing in the NHL. And it’s for that reason alone that I think Ovechkin will once again win the Rocket Richard Trophy. I’m not saying the Matthews doesn’t have a good chance of winning it but for me personally I have to go with the player who is already one of the best goal scorer that the NHL has ever had.
Bet on Alex Ovechkin for 6.56 odds to win the Rocket Richard Trophy.
Canada: Sports Interaction
USA: Bovada.
Everyone Else: 888 Sports.
Calder Trophy
- Alexis Lafreniere: 2.61
- Igor Shesterkin: 3.53
- Kirill Kaprizov: 5.21
- Grigori Denisenko: 11.00
- Quinton Byfield: 14.00
The Calder Trophy is awarded to the player who had the best season in their first year in the league.
The 2 top favorites to win it this year both play for the New York Rangers. Goalie Igor Shesterkin and #1 pick forward Alexis Lafreniere.
It’s been 12 years since a goaltender has won the award and the was Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Igor Shesterkin played in 12 games in the NHL last season so he still qualifies as a rookie. In those 12 games he had 10 wins and a .932 save percentage.
The Rangers are going to have a good bounce back season in my opinion. Alexis Lafreniere will fit in nicely with the group of forwards the Rangers have. Zibanejad, Panarin, Kreider, Strome and Kakko so finding talent for Lafreniere to play with won’t be a problem.
If Shesterkin can put up close to the numbers he had last year then he will be in the running for this trophy. But goalies have a hard time winning this award so I’ll instead go with Lafreniere to win the Calder Trophy.
Alexis Lafreniere for 2.61 odds at
Canada: Sports Interaction
USA: Bovada.
Everyone Else: 888 Sports.
