Blackhawks vs. Penguins Tuesday NHL odds, props: Hyped Chicago rookie Connor Bedard +150 to score goal in 2023-24 season opener

The puck drops on the 2022-23 NHL regular season Tuesday night with three games, with the marquee matchup being the Chicago Blackhawks at the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL regular-season debut of Chicago's No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard, one of the most hyped prospects ever. He is +150 at DraftKings to score a goal Tuesday and -135 to finish with at least one point. The other games on the slate feature the Nashville Predators at the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Seattle Kraken at the Vegas Golden Knights.

Chicago had the third-best odds to win the first overall pick in the 2023 draft lottery at 11.5%, behind the Anaheim Ducks (18.5%) and Columbus Blue Jackets (13.5%). The last time the Blackhawks drafted No. 1 overall they took winger Patrick Kane in 2007, and he became a franchise icon and future Hall of Famer who was traded during last season to the Rangers.

Kane won the 2007-08 Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year after finishing with 21 goals and 51 assists. Bedard is -140 to win this year's Calder, and it's very rare to see negative-priced odds to win a rookie of the year award in any major sport entering a season. That's how much is expected of the dynamic 18-year-old from British Columbia. Bedard led the Blackhawks this preseason with five points (one goal, four assists) in four games -- though the goal was an empty netter.

"He's been exactly as advertised," GM Kyle Davidson told ESPN. "He's everything we thought he would be on the ice in terms of skill, the hockey sense, the highlight reel moves. The only thing he hasn't done is beat a goalie yet, which I'm sure is eating him up. But it will come."

Bedard is probably the most-hyped player to enter the league since Connor McDavid was taken No. 1 overall in 2015 by Edmonton, and McDavid has more than lived up to the billing. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby had similar expectations heaped on him, and he's thrived.

It's no coincidence the NHL slated Bedard's debut to come against Crosby's Penguins as Bedard idolized Crosby growing up. When Crosby debuted at age 18 on Oct. 5, 2005, he had an assist on the Penguins' lone goal in a loss to the New Jersey Devils.

"These two guys are, for all intents and purposes, part of the face of the NHL," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "Sid for sure is, having been the ambassador for the league for almost two decades now, and a young player in Bedard that has an optimistic future as a star in this league. So that's a great narrative. It's one that should be celebrated."

Bedard is set at over/under 32.5 goals and 69.5 points this season. DraftKings has a prop on which team he scores his first goal against with Pittsburgh at +150 and Boston on Wednesday at +275, and the odds get higher and higher the deeper into Chicago's schedule the prop goes. He is expected to center the Blackhawks' top line -- flanked by veterans Taylor Hall and Ryan Donato -- on Tuesday. Chicago is a +200 underdog on the SportsLine consensus. They split last year's season series with the Penguins.

There is one major injury note for Pittsburgh as forward Jake Guentzel (ankle) is expected to be a game-time decision. Guentzel was initially expected to miss the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign following offseason ankle surgery but has been practicing in full. Guentzel led the team with 36 goals last year and was third with 73 points. 

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