NHL best bets for opening night come from a five-game Tuesday slate, and three of those games carry prices worth a closer look. The 2026-27 season starts on September 29 with a Stanley Cup banner in Raleigh, an Original Six game in Boston and two all-Canadian matchups. Summer rosters meet real games for the first time, and the market has been reacting since these lines opened in mid-August.
Goaltending is the biggest variable on the board. Only two of the six starters in our three games have been named by their coaches, so part of each read is provisional. Coaching changes in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto add another layer. Meanwhile, the gap between ticket counts and price movement tells us where the larger money has gone since the open.
Last Updated: September 29, 2026
Best Bet #3: Rangers vs. Bruins – September 29, 8:00 PM ET
The goaltending matchup at TD Garden is close, but New York holds the slight edge. Igor Shesterkin is projected to start for the Rangers after posting a .912 save percentage and a 2.50 GAA last season. His coach has not named him yet, so this read depends on him starting. Jeremy Swayman gets the nod for Boston, per the Boston Globe, after a .907 save percentage and a 2.71 GAA. Neither number is dominant. Still, a small crease edge matters in a game priced this tightly.
Boston also opens without its top defenseman. Charlie McAvoy serves the first game of a six-game suspension for a slash in last spring’s playoff series against Buffalo. Matt Poitras is also on injured reserve. New York, by contrast, rebuilt its forward group. The Rangers added Pavel Dorofeyev, who scored 37 goals for Vegas last season, along with defensemen Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson. The Rangers also won the 2025-26 season series 2-1.
The market backs the same read. Boston opened at -135 and New York at +115. Since then, the price has flipped to make the Rangers a slight favorite. However, roughly four of every five moneyline tickets are on Boston. That is reverse line movement, the clearest sign that larger accounts are on the less popular side. The case against is real, though. New York finished 34-39-9 and missed the playoffs, while Boston reached the postseason. A new-look Rangers roster could take weeks to click. This is the thinnest of our three edges, because the best of the number has already moved.
Our Rangers vs. Bruins Pick – Rangers Moneyline -108
Odds accurate as of September 29, 2026 via TheSpread.com. Odds change, get the latest NHL Odds – Futures – Props
Best Bet #2: Canucks vs. Oilers – September 29, 10:00 PM ET
Neither crease in Edmonton inspires confidence, and that shapes how to attack this game. Tristan Jarry is confirmed for the Oilers, with Frederik Andersen injured. Jarry posted an .857 save percentage in 19 games after arriving in Edmonton last season. Vancouver is projected to start Kevin Lankinen, whose .876 save percentage came with an 11-27-5 record. Thatcher Demko is on injured reserve, which leaves the Canucks with little help behind him.
The rosters are far apart. Edmonton went 41-30-11 and finished second in the Pacific, while Vancouver finished last in the league at 25-49-8. The Canucks also traded Quinn Hughes to Minnesota last December. Both clubs have new coaches, with Mike Babcock taking over in Edmonton and Manny Malhotra in Vancouver. Special teams tilt this further. Edmonton’s power play led the NHL at 30.6 percent, while Vancouver’s penalty kill ranked last at 71.5 percent. Edmonton also went 3-0-1 in last season’s series, and all three wins came by at least two goals.
The question here is less whether Edmonton wins than by how much. A trailing Vancouver team will also pull its goalie late, which turns many one-goal games into two-goal games. The market has moved toward Edmonton since the open. However, most of the tickets are on the Oilers too, so that move is expected rather than a sharp signal. The risk is Jarry. Edmonton allowed 3.23 goals per game last season, 25th in the league. If he struggles again, Vancouver can keep this within a goal. For more on where Edmonton stands, see our look at why the Oilers are Canada’s best short-term Stanley Cup hope.
Our Canucks vs. Oilers Pick – Oilers Puck Line -1.5 -117
Best Bet #1: Canadiens vs. Leafs – September 29, 7:00 PM ET
The goaltending edge belongs to Montreal. Jakub Dobes is projected to start after going 29-10-4 with a .901 save percentage and a 2.78 GAA last season. Martin St. Louis has not named a starter, so this read depends on Dobes getting the net. Toronto is projected to start Sergei Bobrovsky, who signed with the Leafs this summer after posting an .877 save percentage in Florida. One report lists Anthony Stolarz instead, and his .893 mark would not close the gap.
The teams went in opposite directions last season. Montreal earned 106 points and reached the Eastern Conference Final before losing to Carolina. Toronto went 32-36-14, finished last in the Atlantic, and replaced Craig Berube with Jim Hiller. The underlying numbers back up the standings. According to MoneyPuck, Toronto ranked 30th in 5-on-5 expected goals share and last in shot attempt share. Montreal also went 3-1-0 against Toronto last season, including a 33-18 shot edge in the March meeting. We covered that Montreal playoff run in our Eastern Conference Final preview.
The price is where the value sits. Montreal opened at -105 and has moved further toward the Canadiens, even with the moneyline tickets split almost evenly. In contrast, the home crowd will be loud for the likely debut of No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna, and opening-night energy can swing a period. Montreal is also without forward Oliver Kapanen. Special teams are closer than the standings suggest, too. Toronto’s penalty kill ranked eighth last season at 81.2 percent, which could blunt a Montreal power play that converted 23.1 percent. Still, a near coin-flip price for the clearly stronger team in the better crease is the best number on the slate.
Our Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs Pick – Canadiens Moneyline -112
NHL Best Bets Recap
Our top play is the Canadiens full-game moneyline at -112, as Montreal brings the better goalie and stronger underlying numbers to a near pick’em price. The Oilers puck line at -1.5 for -117 is next, with the league’s best power play facing its worst penalty kill. The Rangers full-game moneyline at -108 rounds out the card, backed by reverse line movement and a slight edge in goal.