Coyotes vs. Hurricanes Odds
| Coyotes Odds | +290 |
| Hurricanes Odds | -375 |
| Over/Under | 6 (+100 / -120) |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| TV | TNT |
| Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NHL Odds here. | |
Arizona will head to Carolina for a date with the Hurricanes and will likely close as one of the largest betting underdogs of the NHL season.
Even historically bad NHL sides, such as the Arizona Coyotes, are going to win over a quarter of the time in any given season. That's always an important note when looking at contests such as this one, where a price of -385 suggests Carolina has an 80% chance of winning the game.
Is this a good spot to lay it with the massive home favorite?
Arizona Coyotes
At 6-9-2, the Arizona Coyotes own a better points percentage than five other NHL sides thus far. For that, this roster should be given a lot of credit.
The Coyotes were widely priced as the favorite to finish last this season, and own a roster which features very little in the way of formidable NHL talent.
Analytically the Coyotes are exactly where oddsmakers expected as they own a last ranked expected goals for of just 39.29% 17 games into the season.
You could take it as a both a pro and a con that the Coyotes have clearly competed very hard most nights.
Clearly the struggles come from the fact that this roster holds far less true NHL talent than most any other team, and team structure and work rate only go so far when the talent is simply not there.
Karel Vejmelka should get the start in this matchup after resting in favor of backup Connor Ingram on Monday.
Vejmelka was likely far better than his -10.0 goals saved above expected rating suggested last season, and his +8.1 GSAx this season is likely somewhat of a comment that Arizona has cleaned up it's defensive play.
However, that kind of dominance likely won't be sustainable over a large sample, and the possibility of Vejmelka's level dipping moving forward is just another argument as to why the Coyotes should be awful this season.
Carolina Hurricanes
It's safe to assume Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour threw quite a fit after the Hurricanes gave the game away with one cheap breakdown after the next Monday in Winnipeg.
Teams have off nights and that's clearly what that contest was for Carolina, but counting on many of those moving forward is not logical.
The Hurricanes has been one of the league's most consistent regular season sides over the past four seasons and possibly holds a roster primed for better results this season.
The Hurricanes own a second best xGF% of 58.73 to this point, and on average seem to be adjusting to life with Brent Burns playing a massive role quite well.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi has played at a notably poor level and attaining another strong center would be a huge boost to Carolina's actual chances of hoisting the cup. Regardless, this roster remains extremely tough to play against.
Antti Raanta will likely be given the start for this one. He owns a -0.3 GSAx and .901 save % over seven appearances.
Whether it's he or Pyotr Kochetkov in net doesn't matter to me, as I would expect their numbers to run closer than we have seen thus far over a larger sample.
Coyotes vs. Hurricanes Pick
This is a perfect get right spot for Carolina and I expect it to take full advantage of one of the league's worst rosters.
At its best, Carolina plays exactly the type of game that should give Arizona's incredibly thin roster fits. The Hurricanes are aggressive, attack with three notably talented lines and make generating anything at the other end very difficult.
Carolina slipped away from that style last time out away versus Winnipeg and offered up several cheap breakdowns for breakaways and odd man rushes, but that's not an angle we should expect consistently from the Canes.
With the Hurricanes entering in the midst of a three-game losing streak and coming off of one of their sloppiest performances of the season, I believe the energy and urgency will be there for this game.
That's bad news for Arizona, who was already fighting an uphill battle.
At the time of this writing, Carolina is being offered at -130 to cover the puck-line, and I hope most readers can get something close to that because I believe there is value with this play down to -145.
My expectation is that the puckline price will be closer to -150 by puck drop.
So bet early if you are going to back Carolina, or wait to find the juiciest number possible with the underdog Coyotes if you are going to go that route.
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