Your Home For Free NHL Expert Picks For The 2021 Season
NHL picks and NHL predictions for every game of the 2021 season. We crunch the numbers, analyze the data, and provide free NHL expert picks each and every day. The NHL is exciting to wager on and there are plenty of opportunities for wins with a rescheduled and reshaped 56-game season running from 13th January 2021 through to a last possible day of the Stanley Cup set for July 9th, 2021.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were crowned Stanley Cup Champions in September 2020 after defeating the Dallas Stars 4-2 in the Stanley Cup to win their second-ever title. Lots of hockey is to be played in 2021 before we find out who the next Stanley Cup champions will be, but it’s the Colorado Avalanche that is the pre-season favorite at +700.
NHL 2021 Schedule – What is new in the NHL for 2021
Following a four-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the NHL chose to forgo the remaining regular-season games, instead, seeing 24 teams return to compete for the Stanley Cup. With the NHL season concluding on September 28th following Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup victory.
With this in mind, the 2020-2021 NHL schedule has been disrupted and it now aiming to kick off on January 13th, 2021, with a last possible date for the conclusion of the Stanley Cup set for July 9th, 2021.
Here are the key dates for the 2021 NHL schedule. As with all sport in the current climate, these dates are assumptive and open to change following Covid-19 developments.
- Jan. 13 – 2020-21 NHL Regular Season begins
- April 12 – NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET)
- May 8 – Last day of the NHL regular season
- May 11 – NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin
- July 9 – Last possible day for the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final
Regular Season NHL Schedule Changes in 2021
Unquestionably the biggest change to the 2021 NHL season schedule is the realignment of the divisions. The two leading factors for what was an expected realignment is the reduction of travel across the US and the fact the US/Canada border is currently closed and travel restricted due to the pandemic.
Resulting from this, the divisions were realigned which includes an all-Canadian division, title the North division. There are also three more realigned divisions named East, West, and Central, as their names will suggest, divisions, have been regionalized to reduce travel across the United States, as teams will only play against other teams in their division throughout the NHL regular-season schedule.
Teams in the West, Central, and East Divisions will face each of their seven opponents eight times while in the North Division, the teams will face their six divisional rivals either nine or 10 times.
The breakdown of each division and the teams in them can be found below.
North Division
Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and Winnipeg Jets
West Division
Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, St Louis Blues, and Vegas Golden Knights
East Division
Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, and Tampa Bay Lightning
Central Division
Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals
2021 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Schedule Changes
The 2020-21 NHL season will see the league break from its traditional wild-card format come the NHL playoffs. Instead, the top four teams from the four realigned divisions will progress into the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs to make up 16 playoff-bound teams.
From there, the top seed in each division will face the fourth seed within their division, while the second will face the third. The winners of each playoff series will face off in the second divisional round of the playoffs to determine a winner from each of the four divisions. Once the divisional bracketing is taken care of, the four remaining playoff teams will be re-seeded to play for a place in the Stanley Cup Finals.
When do the NHL playoffs start in 2021?
As things currently stand, the NHL regular season is set to conclude on May 8th, 2021, and the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are due to start just three days later on the 11th of May. The Playoffs will be played through the remainder of May and June, with the latest finish date set for July 9th to reduce the knock-on effect the season will have on next year’s campaign. Lots of hockey is to be played between now and the NHL playoffs and with the pandemic a moving, fluid situation for league officials to navigate, these days are provisional and much like other sports in 2020 and into 2021, disruptions are likely to occur.
How Do I Get NHL Picks For Today?
NHL betting is most similar to that of the MLB. The most popular NHL wagering is done via the Moneyline (ML) where a bettor simply picks a winner or loser of the game finding value in the price. Just like an MLB pitcher, NHL game lines are determined largely in part by the goaltender matchup. You’re going to pay a premium price (-180 or more) for putting in an NHL free pick on a solid goaltender – but it’s one position that can literally win or lose the bet for you. Fatigue is also a factor in finding the best NHL free bets as Team A may be playing their first game in a week while Team B is in their 3rd contest in 5 nights.
We try to post our NHL predictions for today at least 24 hours in advance. However, due to the huge volume of games, this can sometimes be impossible if teams are playing back-to-back games. We want to get our picks up as close as possible to the opening lines so we can get on the early line value.
NHL Predictions For Today’s Games
We provide insight into each game of all 31 teams’ seasons. This includes sides, puck lines, and totals based on trends, injuries, schedule, value, and more. There’s a lot of hockey being played on each and every night which is why our free expert NHL picks are so valuable.
NHL Picks Against the Spread
NHL betting has a 1.5 goal spread known as the puck line (PL). Again just like baseball betting has the run line (-1.5). NHL wagers are exciting until the very last second of the game as teams often pull their goaltender near the end to get an extra skater on the ice. All of a sudden an empty-net goal pushes your NHL free pick to victory – or defeat. Betting on the puck line provides better payout odds and NHL picks against the spread can also be pushed to higher numbers such as -2.5 or 3.5 goals for an even better return on investment.
NHL Over / Under Free Picks
Most games are listed right around 5.5 goals in the NHL. The total number of goals is the total of combined goals by both teams and you can either select over or under the total. If the line is 5.5 and you wish to wager on the over then the total combined goals for the game must be 6 or more for you to cash your ticket.
NHL over/under betting is an interesting wager. A huge factor to take into consideration is the goaltenders as they have a huge part to play influencing the number of goals in the game. A goaltender’s Goals Against Average (GAA) is a key stat to measure the effectiveness of a goaltender.
Looking For Different NHL Predictions Tonight?
If you’re tired of betting on the same NHL markets day in, day out then don’t worry. We have you covered.
NHL teasers aren’t really available because the puck line is already relatively low at -1.5 goals. If you were to combine multiple teams in a wager and get, say, 4 goals added to your side the price wouldn’t be worth the return.
NHL parlays are a very popular option on both Moneyline and puck line plays. The ‘grand salami’ is available to wager, where you bet on all teams at once – whether they all combine to score ‘over’ or ‘under’ a certain amount of goals.
NHL player props are a fun bet to make on NHL games. You can bet on a player to score a goal, a player to score a point, have an assist, first and last goalscorer. For goalie props, you can bet on over/under saves.
NHL live betting is becoming very popular with the rise of online sportsbooks. You can wager on each period line and watch the action happen live.
NHL Playoff Predictions 2020/21
In addition to free NHL regular season picks, we also provide a detailed breakdown of every single matchup in the postseason. NHL postseason betting is thrilling because each game of a series is crucial and players leave it all on the ice – many times needing OT (or many OTs) to finally decide a winner.
More Than Just NHL Picks
We also specialize in every major North American sport including the following throughout their respective seasons so check out the links below for our top plays right now.
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