As the NHL trade deadline approaches, the St. Louis Blues have already sold multiple assets, including former captain Ryan O’Reilly. The Blues have dropped their last two games by a combined eight-goal margin and will stay on the road to face the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes. However, regression to the mean underpins the best NHL bet for Tuesday’s St. Louis Blues-Carolina Hurricanes contest. Make sure to check out OddsShopper’s tools to ensure you get the best price.
Best NHL Bet Today | St. Louis Blues-Carolina Hurricanes
St. Louis Blues vs. Carolina Hurricanes (-330)
The St. Louis Blues look like they’re headed in the wrong direction. Parting with captain Ryan O’Reilly before the deadline has limited the team’s veteran leadership, and their recent games haven’t gone so well. Yet a dive into the plus-minus and point share stats reveals the move may actually have been a smart call: O’Reilly (-24, 1) and Noel Acciari (-6, 1.3), the two players that St. Louis just shipped off, have underperformed.
Although the Blues are sellers, they still have a talented roster, and the moves will let them use solid performers over longer stretches. These include 22-year-old center Nikita Alexandrov (+4, 0.6) and Nathan Walker (+2, 0.2), who looked solid in their relatively limited ice time before the moves. A few of their negative assets who had already seen extended ice time even have far larger point shares than the shipped-off assets, including Jordan Kyrou (-24, +5.2) and Robert Thomas (-2, 4.2).
St. Louis’ offense has been efficient and should remain so despite the roster moves. The unit ranks third in goals for above expected, or GFAE (15.3). Kyrou ranks 15th among players with at least 200 minutes of ice time in goals above expected (8). Thomas (2.5) slots in at a similarly solid 90th. This performance becomes all the more impressive when compared to Carolina. The Hurricanes rank fifth in expected goals for (201.2) but a dismal 25th in GFAE (-16.2). They lead the NHL in the percentage of unblocked shots that miss the net (31.9%).
The Blues may also benefit from the return of defenseman Marco Scandella. Scandella played 70 games for the Blues last year and finished with solid plus-minus and point-share numbers (+17, 3.4). He’ll give the Blues a much-needed shot in the arm, as their primary defensemen, Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko, haven’t met expectations.
Carolina’s inefficient play means that winnable games can turn into losses or narrow wins. Although they have gone an impressive 9-1-0 through their last 10 games, including a three-game winning streak, only half of those wins came by multiple goals. Head to DraftKings Sportsbook to get the St. Louis Blues on the puckline at +105 — one of the best NHL bets for tonight. Readers who are yet to register at DraftKings can score $150 in bonus bets with a $5 wager!
Best NHL Blues-Hurricanes Bet: Blues +1.5 (+105 for 0.25 Unit) at DraftKings
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