MacKinnon's new deal, and Huberdeau vs. Gaudreau

Two elite teams hook up tonight when Colorado takes on Vancouver. Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon is leading the NHL in points and our NHL betting picks expect him to rack up the points against Canucks team dealing with goalie issues. The Colorado Avalanche are on a push for the top spot in the West and they can cut into that difference tonight…

Odds as of Feb. 19 at Bet365 Sportsbook. Colorado residents can sign up with the Bet365 promo code to unlock a special offer for the Canucks-Avs game. The Avalanche have won the last two meetings against Vancouver, although the teams have only played once so far in the 2023-24 season. Colorado defeated Vancouver 5-2 in November at Ball Arena thanks…

With the NHL preseason over, and the regular season opening up tonight let's take a look at my season predictions. I have come up with a winner for eight major awards and a full playoff bracket breakdown, plus a few hot takes for the upcoming season. As a quick side note, my predictions from last year were lackluster. I went one for eight on award…

Nathan MacKinnon didn't feel right about how last season went for the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, they shook off their Stanley Cup hangover and won the Central Division but something was off. "I just don't think we had the team to win last year," MacKinnon said. "Just didn't really feel like we really had it." With extra rest from a first-round exit…

The 2023-24 NHL regular season is almost underway and it's time to start picking out which players you want to bet on to win MVP. That group of players may not be very large when looking at the odds. Edmonton Oilers C Connor McDavid ran away with the Hart Trophy as League MVP last season, scoring 153 points, the most in a single season since the…

Note: As Blues training camp approaches later this month, the Post-Dispatch will be examining 10 questions facing the team this season. Next up: Does the rest of the Central Division take a step back? In the recent past, the NHL's Central Division has been regarded as the league's toughest. The Blues and Avalanche won Stanley Cups. The Predators…

Every week during the offseason, Denver Gazette beat writer Kyle Fredrickson will take you around the NHL and inside the Avalanche: "It was a lot of long discussions with my family, my agent, people closest to me and just kind of going through my process. In conclusion, we found the right balance at four years. It will put me with the team for 12…

We recently looked at the biggest free-agency question that all 32 NHL teams will be facing this offseason. Now that we know the most difficult decisions, it is time to make some very early predictions on what might happen when the signing period begins. Our predictions will include both restricted and unrestricted free agents and range from…

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche are trying to get back in the playoff picture tonight when they visit the Vancouver Canucks. It certainly hasn't been a season to remember for the Avalanche, where they sit ninth in the Western Conference and outside of a playoff spot. That wasn't what anyone expected of this team with the…

Tyler Yaremchuk joined Frank Seravalli and Steven Ellis on Thursday's edition of Daily Faceoff Live for another PointsBet Daily Bets segment. Ten games on the slate tonight. Yaremchuk provides you with all your betting and odds needs for tonight's matchups including the Colorado Avalanche vs Vancouver Canucks and the Washington Capitals vs Columbus…

It sure seems like the Minnesota Wild could use a Mikko Koivu -type to anchor the top of the lineup. Luckily for them, the Vancouver Canucks are floundering, facing a cap crunch, and have that type of center in Bo Horvat, a pending free agent. Horvat fits the bill for the kind of center Minnesota needs, as he's Vancouver's version of Koivu.…

The Vancouver Canucks are now the only winless team in the NHL. The club has struggled to pick up a win in their first seven games, posting a record of 0-5-2. Since the 2013-14 season, the organization has made two playoff appearances. In those nine years, the team has continued to add assets in an attempt to become a winning club. Instead, they've…

Odds: Calgary (-120) - Colorado (-102) O/U: 6.5 The Flames are back......and boy do they look different. The Calgary team that was embarrassed by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of last year's playoffs are a different team to start the 2022-23 season. Gone are the Matthew Tkachuk's, Johnny Gaudreau's, Sean Monahan's, Erik Gudbranson's and…

Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche were the hunters. Unable to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs three years running, they finally got over the hump last spring before sweeping Connor McDavid's Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final and beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to win the franchise's third Stanley…

Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche were the hunters. Unable to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs three years running, they finally got over the hump last spring before sweeping Connor McDavid's Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final and beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to win the franchise's third Stanley…

I'm picking Edmonton to win the Stanley Cup this year. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Oilers end up beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the final. That is, if both teams' goaltending holds up. It's just one of the questions heading into the 2022-23 season. From whether the Calgary Flames are better or worse after dismantling their core, to…

This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here. Today is the first day of the NHL's regular season. Snuck up on you, eh? But when the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators dropped the puck on the first of two games in Prague this afternoon, the…

Oddsmakers view the race for the Hart Trophy - which is awarded to the NHL's MVP - as a three-horse race between the last three winners of the award, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Leon Draisaitl. And while it seems pretty likely that one of the favorites will end up winning MVP at season's end, we have seen surprise winners in the past. In…

Tyler Toffoli says he feels better than maybe he ever has. And frankly, the 30-year-old could be looking at a career year with the Calgary Flames. He had a hell of a season with the Montreal Canadiens two years ago. He was part of a deep playoff run following a COVID-shortened NHL regular season. With 28 goals and 44 points in 52 games, and another…

Some players sign longer deals and then break out in a big way while others sign contracts they can't live up to. Still, others take bridge deals in hopes of earning a big pay raise by the end of their contracts. That is who we are focusing on here. Fifteen stars in the NHL who are underpaid this upcoming season excluding those players still on…

We now continue our series previewing the start of the 2022-23 NHL season. Last time out we looked at three non-playoff teams that are primed to make the postseason. It's time to flip the switch and look at three playoffs teams that will miss the postseason. We predicted that the Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks would…

On Friday, Vancouver Hockey Now's Rob Simpson reached out to Brian Bartlett, the agent of J.T. Miller, regarding contract extension talks with the Vancouver Canucks. Bartlett shared that talks may be coming to an end rather quickly. "It's possible we make a decision to cut off talks when the season starts, to avoid distractions for J.T. and his…

The New York Rangers are not going to win the Stanley Cup this year. They are going to win it next year. You heard it here first. The Rangers ultimately didn't have quite enough talent or experience to match the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning this season, but the Blueshirts signalled to the rest of the league that their time is…

Two of the top teams in the NHL will meet up Sunday night when the Florida Panthers visit the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, the Panthers are atop the NHL standings and the Avs are outside of the top 10 - but Colorado is still the odds-on favorite (+600 per FanDuel) to win the Stanley Cup. While Colorado did not get off to the start it had hoped at…

Elias Pettersson's contract situation is the most important domino for the Canucks' future. Vancouver's star centre is entering the final season of a three-year bridge contract he signed in 2021 which carries a $7.35 million cap hit. He'll expire as a restricted free agent next summer but will be eligible for unrestricted free agency just one year…