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Bellus' Betting Breakdown: Five most public teams for Saturday in NHL
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We have another big night of hockey this Saturday night, but the biggest news in the hockey ecosystem this week came outside of the NHL.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League is launching its expansion process with plans to add two franchises for the start of the 2025-26 season.
Amy Scheer, senior vice president of business operations, said the league will be sending requests for proposals to a number of markets, and the PWHL will be open to applications from other cities.
The cities of Detroit (-115) and Pittsburgh (+105) have emerged as the favourites on FanDuel, while Calgary (+250) and Quebec City (+300) are the only two Canadian locations on the market with odds shorter than 7-to-1.
Quebec City has already announced its intention of being a candidate for expansion, while Detroit and Pittsburgh appear to be natural landing spots after the league hosted neutral site games during its inaugural season last year in each market.
What cities will have a PWHL expansion team in 2025-2026 season?
| City | Odds |
|---|---|
| Detroit, MI | -115 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | +105 |
| Chicago, IL | +200 |
| Calgary, AB | +250 |
| Quebec City, QC | +300 |
| Philadelphia, PA | +750 |
| Edmonton, AB | +900 |
| Halifax, NS | +1100 |
| Seattle, WA | +1400 |
| Vancouver, BC | +1400 |
| Las Vegas, NV | +1600 |
But before we find out who will land a new PWHL team, we have some hockey in the men’s game to sort out.
Let’s take a look at the five most public teams on FanDuel, some trending plus-money props, and see if mom can finally cash an anytime goal parlay after coming up a leg short in each of the last two weeks.
MOST PUBLIC SIDES
MOST POPULAR NHL TEAMS
| Away | Home | Popular side |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado Avalanche | Nashville Predators | Avalanche +112 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Los Angeles Kings | Kings -184 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | St. Louis Blues | Leafs -215 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Washington Capitals | Capitals -265 |
| Buffalo Sabres | Detroit Red Wings | Red Wings -110 |
PLAYER PROPS TO MONITOR
I like this part of the column. It gives me a chance to play around with some filters and try to find props in the weeds that we normally wouldn’t be playing.
So far I have spotlighted 18 props in this portion of the article with a 9-9 record, which includes going 3-3 last week after identifying six plus-money props.
This week we’re running it back with another batch of plus-money props for Saturday night with a success rate of 70 per cent or higher to start the year.
PLAYER PROPS TO MONITOR
Player | Prop | 2024 Success Rate | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Stamkos | U 0.5 Points | 80 per cent | +130 |
| Cole Caufield | O 0.5 Goals | 73 per cent | +160 |
| Ivan Ivan | U 1.5 SOG | 73 per cent | +116 |
| Mikael Granlund | O 2.5 Shots | 75 per cent | +116 |
Mom’s Canadian team anytime goal scorer parlay of the week
Everyone watch out. My mother has been reading.
After going 1-1 the last two weeks with her picks, she has locked in a +801 parlay of William Nylander and Nick Suzuki to score Saturday night.
“I know he scored, but I also know he got in some trouble recently with the coach so I think he has something to prove.”
My mom is of course referring to earlier this week when Nylander and head coach Craig Berube had a conversation at practice about ice time which led to Nylander sharing that conversation with the media ahead of scoring twice and playing fewer minutes Thursday night than his season average.
She expects an inspired Swede tonight against Berube’s former club.
As for Suzuki, “I haven’t picked a Montreal Canadien yet, so I’ll take the captain.”
The 25-year-old has two goals and 10 points in 13 career games against the Penguins.
Full disclosure, she loved Nazem Kadri to score tonight after reading he hasn’t fully ruled out a return to Toronto in his career, but Calgary doesn’t play on Saturday. But keep that in mind for Sunday after she goes 2-0 today.
PUBLIC VS. COIN
Finally, my favourite part of the week has arrived. Let's flip a coin three times and pin it head to head with the public.
It's been a good start to the year if you're fading the public on Saturday's as they have yet to have a winning night through three weeks.
Meanwhile the coin holds a slight two-game lead on the public and is looking to maintain the lead as we head into November.
As a reminder you can play at home too by flipping your own coin, heads is home, tails is away.
Here are this week's picks: Nashville, Los Angeles, St. Louis.
Public vs. Coin
| Date | Public | Record | Coin | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 26 | Columbus, Florida, St. Louis | 1-2 | Nashville, Florida, St. Louis | 2-1 |
| Oct. 19 | Tampa Bay, Nashville, New York Rangers | 1-2 | Tampa Bay, Detroit, Toronto | 1-2 |
| Oct. 12 | Boston, Colorado, Nashville | 1-2 | Boston, Columbus, Nashville. | 2-1 |