What, you thought the NHL betting season ended with the Stanley Cup
playoffs? Or with Wednesday night’s regular-season awards ceremony? You would
be wrong.
While there are always NHL 2012 Stanley Cup futures
available at Bodog, the true final NHL betting prop to close the 2010-11 season happens
this weekend with the NHL draft in St. Paul, Minn. And Bodog has unveiled
several betting options for it.
For the second straight season, the Edmonton Oilers hold the
No. 1 overall spot in the draft. And unlike last year when the Oilers didn’t
really hesitate in taking Windsor Spitfires left wing Taylor Hall with the top
pick, there is some uncertainty heading into this year’s draft.
Many think the Oilers, if they don’t trade the pick, will go
with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a center from Red Deer of the Western Hockey League.
If Nugent-Hopkins is taken at No. 1 he will be the first player from the WHL to
be selected with the top pick since Ottawa took defenseman Chris Phillips of
Prince Albert in 1996. And Nugent-Hopkins is the Bodog betting odds favorite at -190 to go
No. 1 overall. There’s no doubt he is talented, as he led the WHL with 75
assists (to go with 31 goals) this season. But there are a few questions about
him. First off, he’s only 165 pounds and certainly will need to bulk up to play
in the NHL. And secondly, some wonder if he’s too much like Hall. Some think
Nugent-Hopkins would be better served by playing a final year of junior hockey
and the Oilers aren’t really close to contention and could allow him to do so.
Thus the top NHL pick could be big Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson
(6-foot-3, 200 pounds), who is rated the top player in the European rankings
(Nugent-Hopkins is No. 1 among North American players). Larsson is the
second-favorite to go No. 1 at +160 in the hockey odds. If Larsson goes first, he would be the
first Swede to do so since Mats Sundin went to the Quebec Nordiques in 1989.
Larsson starred as a teenager despite playing amongst men in the Swedish
Elitserien league. He also represented his country at the 2010 and 2011 World
Junior Championship, finishing as the team's highest-scoring defender at the
tournament this past season with one goal and four points. He is considered NHL
ready now, while Nugent-Hopkins probably isn’t. Edmonton could certainly use
help on defense as it allowed 3.17 goals per game last season -- the 28th
highest total in the League. The Oilers also may consider Gabriel
Landeskog (+1500 to go No. 1) or Jonathan Huberdeau (+2000), who are forwards
playing in Canadian juniors.
The 2011 draft isn’t considered a
good one for goalies. There’s a chance that not a single netminder goes in the
first round. Bodog offers a prop on the over/under number of goalies to go in
Round 1 at just ½, with the under a huge -800 favorite. By comparison the over/under
for first-round forwards is 19 ½ and defensemen at 12 ½. The top goalie
prospects are American John Gibson and Finland’s Samu Perhonen.
In addition, you can also bet
at Bodog on which position – forward, defenseman or goalie – that all of
the Canadian teams will chose with their top pick in the draft, including the
new Winnipeg (formerly Atlanta) franchise. A forward is a big favorite for all
the clubs except Stanley Cup runner-up Vancouver, which has a forward at -110
and a defenseman at -110.