The National Hockey League preseason is well underway, and with that comes plenty of options for getting yourselves tuned back into the action! For Canadian bettors and hockey fans alike, though, it’s likely the closest teams to you that will catch your attention. Here are three of Canada Sports Betting’s favourite games involving Canadian teams this weekend and why they’re worth paying attention to.
Friday Night: Vancouver Canucks vs. Seattle Kraken (10:00 p.m. ET)
Game Odds: Canucks -120 / Kraken +100 Moneyline @ Sports Interaction
Story To Watch For: How Ready is Arturs Silovs?
The Vancouver Canucks’ odds at another year of significant regular season success rely heavily on their performance in goal, and with Thatcher Demko currently out with a muscle ailment in his left knee, it’s already got fans worried about the worst-case scenario. Any day without your Vezina-finalist goaltender is sure to hurt your odds of victory, and without timeline, many in Vancouver are sweating buckets.
However, Friday should be another opportunity for Arturs Silovs to prove that he’s in control for now. The Latvian netminder had no troubles in the team’s preseason debut on Tuesday, stopping 18 of 19 shots in a full night’s duty. Can he be as good as he was for much of last year’s playoffs?
Saturday Night: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens (7:00 p.m. ET)
Game Odds: TBD
Story To Watch For: How banged up are the Maple Leafs’ stars?
It’s not even opening night, and there’s already concern for the injured list in Toronto. Auston Matthews suffered an upper-body ailment early in the preseason and received a few days off from practice as a result, though he did return to skate on Thursday prior to the team’s most recent preseason win. Matthews didn’t play in that game, but John Tavares and William Nylander did – and both exited early. Nylander had an awkward fall after an attempted “boost” from Nick Robertson, going head-first into a Montreal defender’s knee. Tavares appeared to take an awkward hit early in the first period and stayed on the bench for rest of the game, but played very little from that point on.
We’ll see if any of them draw in on Saturday or if there are at least any further updates. Given that it’s a road preseason game for Toronto, I would lean towards absences, but no love will be lost against the rival Canadiens either way.
Sunday Night: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators (7:00 p.m. ET)
Game Odds: TBD
Story To Watch For: Will Yakemchuk keep producing?
Much was made of the Senators’ decision to draft right-handed defenceman Carter Yakemchuk with their seventh overall pick in the 2024 Entry Draft, and so far, it looks like the team has no reason to second-guess themselves. After an overtime winner against the Maple Leafs on Sunday, the Fort McMurray native added two assists against the Sabres on Thursday. The 18-year-old will likely be WHL-bound at some point in the near future, but he’s making a good case for at least getting the nine-game taste of the big time.
Can I Get In On This Action?
The NHL betting market during the preseason is a bit of a fickle beast—there are definitely ways to play it, but you aren’t going to get a lot of advance notice. Our suggestion is to keep checking the NHL page on our top-ranked Canadian sportsbook, Sports Interaction, on game day, as they’ll often have a few options up.
Last year, we wrote an NHL preseason betting guide that covered all the things you need to know before making a play on exhibition action—from how rosters move to how seriously you should take it. Everything within still rings true today!
