NHL Best Bets for Thursday (1/16)

Thursday’s NHL best bets will cover another huge 13-game slate that has a first puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

With our FTN betting package, you’ll get picks from everyone at FTN, plus tools, projections and access to Discord, where I’ll discuss every slate.

Today’s Best NHL Bets

NY Rangers ML

(-108, DraftKings Sportsbook, 2.16 units to win 2 units)

The Rangers have shown some signs of life since Igor Shesterkin came back from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for a little over a week. Shesterkin has been outstanding since his return, putting up a 1.92 GAA, .924 SV%, and 1.36 GSAA. Beyond that, the Rangers have also seen some signs of life from Mika Zibanejad, whose terrible start to his 2024-25 campaign has been big reason for the team’s regression.

At the other end of the ice, Utah is simply a team that is overvalued by the oddsmakers. While Utah has been a very nice surprise this season, it doesn’t change that their goaltending has overperformed and that they will continue to be without their best goal scorer, Dylan Guenther. In three games without Guenther, Utah has scored a combined six goals.

This matchup against Utah actually has some books putting Utah as a favorite. Still, we can somehow get the Rangers moneyline at -108 on FanDuel.

Detroit Red Wings ML

(+190, FanDuel Sportsbook)

Detroit Red Wings -1.5

(+375, BetMGM, 0.5 units to win 1.875 units)

You might say that the Red Wings let us down mightily Tuesday, but if we want to be truly accurate, we should say that Ville Husso let us down mightily. After talking him up in Tuesday’s best bets, Husso got on the ice and allowed 5 goals after seeing what HockeyViz calculated as just 1.8 expected goals scored. Don’t let the loss fool you, the Red Wings are outplaying their opponents and have been a nuisance to their opposition at both ends of the ice. They face a struggling Panthers team that hasn’t been as good as they were last season on special teams. If they lose the special teams matchup, it could end up being a blood bath in Detroit’s favor, and that’s why I’m interested in playing the alternate puck line of -1.5. I’m able to get +375 on MGM, but shop around and you might be able to get an ever more favorable number.

Bonus Bets

New Jersey/Toronto Over 5.5 (-115, Bet365/BetMGM/Caesars)
Columbus Blue Jackets -1.5 (+145, Bet365/BetMGM)
Philadelphia/NY Islanders Under 5.5 (+108, FanDuel)
L.A. Kings ML (-112, BetRivers)

Prop bets will be posted on Discord.

Goal Scorers

Auston Matthews
Alex Ovechkin
Jakob Chychrun
Alex Killorn
Anthony Cirelli
Dylan Larkin
Alex DeBrincat
Kirill Marchenko
James van Riemsdyk
Jordan Kyrou
Jake Neighbours
Ryan Donato
Eeli Tolvanen
Jamie Benn
Will Cuylle
Artemi Panarin
Mikko Rantanen
Adrian Kempe