NHL Best Bets Today, 10/19: Picks, Predictions & Player Props - Saturday
Hello and welcome everyone to the Friday edition of the NHL Best Bets on October 18, 2024! We had our first big-time night yesterday as the best bets went 3-1 overall and were stalled by just the Avalanche inability to close out games. Frustrating for them and us but I will take a night like those 10 times over! Today we shift focus to a 13-game slate which has my wagers stacked to the brim for today’s NHL picks.
A note though for this first month of the season, all bets until November will be half unit plays while we figure out the identity of these teams so don’t go wild on the bankroll just yet, let’s learn some things!
NHL Picks, Predictions & Best Bets Today, 10/19
In this NHL Best Bets Today article you will find a wide array of choices from some Money Lines and Team totals to plenty of player props for the action today in NHL Picks! 13 games on this weekend slate let’s dive right into it!
Now, let's dive into my expert NHL Best Bets today!
***ALL BETS ARE HALF UNIT PLAYS***
- Regular Season Record: 18-16-0
- Bankroll: +0.9 Units
Follow me on twitter @jwaggs10
Edmonton Oilers vs. Dallas Stars Predictions
It's October in the NHL so of course that means the Oilers are starting off slow once again! They’ve looked like a team that just doesn’t care right now, maybe it’s a Stanley Cup losing hangover. Either way, they are allowing 4 goals per game right now and sit at 2-3-0 through the first 2 weeks of the season. I have no problem fading this team today especially because the Stars have been so damn good and look like the more driven team.
The Stars are off to a great start this season at 4-1-0 overall and are undefeated at home. They were a great home team last year as well and it seems nothing there has changed. Through 5 games the Stars have scored 14 goals which isn’t super impressive but on defense they’ve allowed just 7 goals! They should be able to handle whatever Edmonton throws at them tonight and they have the more rested and deeper team. Give me the Stars on the Money Line tonight.
Adding to the Edmonton fade of this article is going to be a prop on goalie Stuart Skinner who has been dreadful so far with a 7.33 GAA and .845 SV%. In 3 starts he has stopped just 60 total shots and has gone over his saves prop of 25.5 saves just once. Seeing as the Stars only average 26.4 shots per game right now and Skinner is sure to let some behind him, I just can’t see this number hitting the over so give me the under on Skinner saves tonight.
Pick: Stars Money Line (-110 on DraftKings)
Pick: Stuart Skinner (EDM) Under 25.5 Saves (-130 on DraftKings)
Best NHL Prop Bets & Other Picks Today, 10/19
Pick: Canadiens & Islanders Under 6 Goals (-110 on DraftKings)
Pick: Bruins Money Line (-125 on DraftKings)
Pick: Red Wings & Predators Over 6.5 Goals (-110 on DraftKings)
Pick: St. Louis Blues Money Line (+130 on DraftKings)
Pick: Roman Josi (NSH) Over 3.5 Shots On Goal (+100 on DraftKings)
Pick: Jared McCann (SEA) Over 2.5 Shots On Goal (-135 on DraftKings)
Player News
NBC Sports’ ProFootballTalk reports that “the NFL has shared on an annual basis salary data for every non-player position” up until this season.
Per multiple sources, NFL teams were sharing salary data “for every job in every NFL team,” from head coaching and general manager positions, on down to area scouts and assistant athletic trainers. PFT’s Mike Florio adds, “the official position is that the information is no longer being provided for legal reasons,” ostensibly because sharing such data could theoretically provide the employer with an advantage in negotiations. Florio does not believe the practice has ended, however, saying, “the unavailability of the spreadsheet doesn’t mean the practice of coordination/collusion has ended.”
PFT’s Mike Florio reports, System Arbitrator Christopher Droney concluded, “the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans’ contracts at the March 2022 annual owners’ meeting.”
Florio and Pablo Torre worked together to unearth Droney’s January 14, 2025 ruling, which “both the NFL and the NFL Players Association” refused to release. Florio reminds us that the owners’ meeting in question “happened only days after the Browns gave a five-year, fully-guaranteed, $230 million contract to quarterback Deshaun Watson” and only two years after the NFLPA tried, again, “to make all player contracts fully guaranteed” via the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Following Watson’s deal, “the league didn’t want to concede full guarantees on a piecemeal basis, with one team at a time giving players fully-guaranteed deals until they became the norm.” Ultimately, and perhaps surprisingly, Droney ruled that he did not find a “‘clear preponderance’ of the evidence” that NFL teams accepted and acted on said encouragement.
Alex Verdugo is not in the Braves’ starting lineup for Thursday night’s battle against the Mets.
It looks to be another routine night off for the 29-year-old outfielder. Even with a right-hander on the hill, Verdugo will take a seat for the Braves in favor of Eli White who will start in left field and bat seventh for the Braves against Griffin Canning. His usefulness from a fantasy perspective, even in the deepest of leagues, will likely come to an end when Jurickson Profar returns from his suspension on July 2.
Pete Fairbanks got the final two outs in the Rays’ win over the Royals on Thursday.
Fairbanks had to clean up a mess in the ninth inning, but because it came with the Rays leading by four, that work doesn’t come with a save. It does see him lower his ERA to 2.03, however, so that’s a nice little consolation prize.
Brandon Lowe hit a solo homer in a win for the Rays on Thursday over the Royals.
Junior Caminero hit a solo homer to help the Rays to a win Thursday over the Royals.
That’s the 20th homer of the season for Caminero in his first full season of MLB action. The 21-year-old has gone deep seven times in the month of June, ,and he carries an .855 OPS during that time frame. There are very few hitters in baseball who have the kind of upside Caminero carries, and the current results are nothing to sneeze at, obviously.