Only three games today as the NHL preps for the all-star break. However, that hasn’t slowed hockey news this week. As you may have heard, the Canucks traded Bo Horvat to the Islanders for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty, and a protected first-round pick. Some quick thoughts on the deal:
Horvat’s departure had seemed unavoidable for months. In leadership roles, more will be expected of Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, but choosing a successor to Horvat will most likely take place over the summer.
Beauvillier, 25, has 20 points (9-11) and 10 penalty minutes in 49 games for the Islanders this season. Since joining the Islanders in 2016-17, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward has spent his entire career with them. Beauvillier has 209 points (102-107) in 457 regular-season games and scored his 100th NHL goal during a three-point outing (2-1-3) against Florida on December 23. He has also played in 49 NHL postseason games for the Islanders, scoring 29 points (15-14-29).
Raty, 20, played in 12 NHL games for the Islanders and their AHL club, Bridgeport Islanders, during the 2022-23 season. The left-handed center has 15 points (7-8) in 27 games and 12 penalty minutes in the AHL. Raty played three seasons in the Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) with Oulun Kärpät and Mikkelin Jukurit, totaling 51 points (18-33) in 94 regular-season games before making his North American debut with Bridgeport (2 GP, 0-0) last season.
I like the trade but only time will tell if it was the right move for the Canucks.
Tuesday NHL Picks
Los Angeles Kings at Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes are 16-5-1-1 at home and currently on a 5-game winning streak. Frederik Andersen is expected to start, and he is coming off a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday. The Kings have been playing well and competitively for most of their road trip, but the Hurricanes are virtually invincible in the Triangle. I don’t like betting on the spread, but I think they’ll walk away with at least a two-goal win in this contest.
Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens
Surprisingly, the Senators rank 5th in the NHL in shots. These teams just played each other on Saturday night, and while there are some concerns that the Habs will play better than the 5-0 loss, they were just dealt; the over 29.5 saves shouldn’t be a stretch as Montreal allows the 5th most shots in the league averaging 34.1 per game.
Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens
This is correlated to the Allen saves prop. Tkachuck has had back-to-back games with four shots but didn’t get in on the scoring in the team’s 5-0 win. Tkachuck averages 4.18 shots per game this season, but that number sees a small bump on the road, where he averages 4.39 shots per game.
The Senators left winger contributed two goals in a 6-2 victory against Toronto on Friday. Tkachuck had four shots on goal, two penalty minutes, three hits, and a plus-two rating for the evening. Only three players in club history have recorded more multi-goal games with the organization before the age of 24 than the Senators captain has done thus far in his career, which now stands at 13. He’s improved even more this year, and his all-around talent elevates him to the top of the fantasy hockey forward rankings and is a safe betting prop bet player.
Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets
Ovi had 6 shots against Toronto and 7 the game before against the Penguins. He now plays the 2nd worst team in the NHL for allowing shots per game. Columbus allows 35.1 shots per game, and Ovechkin has a 4.31 shots per game average on the road. He also has a 13.6% shooting share for the Capitals. The guy is a legend, and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t if he can’t hit 5. Normally I stick to the numbers, and while the stats say 4 shots is a better bet, the stage is set to outperform.
