Zero to Hero: Dominating the NHL Season with Smart Bets – October 28
Hi, all. Halloween is right around the corner!
The premise of each article in this series is to feature a few “safe” foundational plays to build some strong cash lines around as well as to offer any props or straight bets that have some solid potential. We’re looking for players and teams that have a solid floor and are in a good spot matchup-wise; these will be the building blocks of a booming bankroll. (Yeah, I alliterized…deal with it.) I will also provide a recap from the day before and rewind to see if we were on the right plays. Keep in mind that just like a regular season, the building of a solid bankroll is a grind – it requires patience, mental fortitude, and discipline to weather the cold streaks until things turn around and you go on a heater.
Recap from 10/27
Player builder: Hughes (power play goal) ✅
Stack builder: CAR PP1 (one power play goal and two power play assists; also two more goals and two more assists) ✅
Bet builder: CAR/NJ ML ✅
Builder Record: 8-4; +5.32 units
THE BUILDER – OCTOBER 28
The Player Builder: Sidney Crosby ($7600 DK / $7700 FD)
Crosby is still doing his normal Sid the Kid thing: he’s averaging a point per game (four goals and three assists, including two goals on the power play) and shooting nearly four times per game. The Penguins get an Ottawa team tonight that is banged up on the defensive side with Chabot and Zub both out, which elevates his ceiling. He’s also priced down compared to a lot of the other studs at center, which makes me like him even more.
The Stack Builder: TOR PP1 (Matthews/Marner/Tavares/Nylander/Klingberg)
Overall, the Leafs are scoring a little under four goals per game, and one of those on average comes via the power play. The Predators are only killing 68.2% of penalties against them, which plays right into Toronto’s hands – they are successful with the man advantage 33.3% of the time. Five of the Leafs’ eight power play goals come from this line; with Matthews leading the way with three. Toronto’s top two lines split evenly between these four forwards, so as always you get excellent correlation between this line and L1/L2.
The Bet Builder: BOS/DET O 5.5 goals / TOR ML (found around +180)
The Bruins have a great defense and an overage offense. The Wings have a great offense and average defense. Both these combinations point toward offense being on the table. This line can be found around -140.
The Leafs face off tonight on the road against the Predators. I like them in this spot mostly because of the success of the Leafs’s top four forwards…three of the four are averaging easily over a point per game, and the team is converting one out of every three chances with the man advantage. The Preds give up a high volume of shots, which plays into the hands of an aggressive offense like the Leafs. This line can be found around -140.
Feb 7, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) celebrates his goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
