The NHL is back!! The first game of the season takes place on October 7th in Prague, Czech Republic as part of the NHL Global Series. The Sharks and Predators will face off on back-to-back nights. While it isn’t the most glamorous matchup, it is regular-season hockey. Nashville will look to make the playoffs for the 9th consecutive season while the Sharks well….. we really don’t know what direction they’re heading.
These first few articles won’t be as long as we’re working with limited information. Also, to start the season I will be decreasing my unit size and I recommend you do the same as there’s more variance in October.
San Jose Sharks vs Nashville Predators
- Time: 2:00 PM ET
- Location: Prague, Czech Republic
- TV Coverage: ESPN+
- San Jose Sharks: 0-0-0, — Pacific (0-0-0 Away)
- Nashville Predators: 0-0-0, — Central (0-0-0 Home)
| Team | Opening ML | Current ML | Spread | Total |
| San Jose Sharks | +155 | +165 | +1.5 (-145) | o6.0 (-105) |
| Nashville Predators | -180 | -195 | -1.5 (+125) | u6.0 (-115) |
Preview:
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are one of the more interesting teams in the NHL and it’s not because of their on-ice talent. During the off-season, they made a bunch of leadership changes including a new GM and Head Coach. In terms of players, they traded Brent Burns to the Carolina Hurricanes. Burns had been with the organization since the 2011-12 season but was never able to recapture the great season he had in 2010-11. They did bring in a few new players such as Nico Sturm, Luke Kunin, Oskar Lindblom, Matt Benning, and Steven Lorentz who was part of the Brent Burns trade.
Last season, the Sharks struggled in all areas of the ice. Their offense wasn’t great outside of Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl who had solid seasons. On defense, they lacked depth, and even more so this season. In net, James Reimer, who has been rumored to be traded soon, was average with a +0.1 GSAx.
Their outlook for this season remains similar to last year. They have a few terrible contracts on the books that are preventing them to make any major moves. Their current season point total is set at 75.5 (-115/-115) which would be a slight decrease from last season when they had 77 points. San Jose finished 6th in the Pacific last year and I think they finish below that this year given the improvements other teams in the division made.
| 21-22 Season | ||
| GF/GP | 2.57 | 30th |
| GA/GP | 3.18 | 21st |
| PP% | 19.0% | 22nd |
| PK% | 85.2% | 2nd |
| SF/GP | 29.3 | 26th |
| SA/GP | 32.0 | 18th |
Projected Lines:
| Timo Meier | Tomas Hertl | Luke Kunin |
| Oskar Lindblom | Logan Couture | Kevin Lebanc |
| Noah Gregor | Nick Bonino | Matthew Nieto |
| Steven Lorentz | Nico Strum | Jonah Gadjovich |
| Scott Harrington | Erik Karlsson |
| Marc-Edouard Vlasic | Mario Ferraro |
| Radim Simek | Matt Benning |
| James Reimer |
| Kappo Kahkonen |
Nashville Predators
The Predators have been good but not great for the last eight seasons. Since 2018, they have yet to make it past the first round. While they’ve made the playoffs continuously they just don’t seem to have the roster that can compete for a Stanley Cup. Nashville made a few off-season moves adding Nino Niederreiter and Ryan McDonagh. They also were able to secure Filip Forsberg for the next 8 years.
Last year, Nashville finished 5th in the Central Division with 98 points. In the first round, they were without their backbone Juuse Saros and they fell apart getting swept by Colorado. Their main weakness last season was their defense which they improved with the addition of McDonagh. Nashville now has a solid top-4 that can hopefully provide some stability for this team.
Their current team total is set at 96.5 is which pretty much the number of points they finished with last season. While they didn’t make a ton of moves, they did get better with the moves they made. To be clear, this team also did not need to make a ton of moves either. While they do have a relatively tough division, I think we see this team exceed their point total from last year.
| 21-22 Season | ||
| GF/GP | 3.20 | 13th |
| GA/GP | 3.05 | 17th |
| PP% | 24.4% | 6th |
| PK% | 79.2% | 18th |
| SF/GP | 29.7 | 24th |
| SA/GP | 32.3 | 20th |
Projected Lines:
| Filip Forsberg | Mikael Granlund | Matt Duchene |
| Nino Niederreiter | Ryan Johansen | Kiefer Sherwood |
| Yakov Trenin | Colton Sissons | Tanner Jeannot |
| Cole Smith | Cody Glass | Eeli Tolvanen |
| Roman Kosi | Alexandre Carrier |
| Ryan McDonagh | Mattias Ekholm |
| Jeremy Lauzon | Dante Fabbro |
| Juuse Saros |
| Kevin Lankinen |
Pick:
- Nashville Predators 60 Minute Line (-115) – DraftKings
- Risk 0.58 to win 0.50 Units
The Nashville Predators are a better team than the San Jose Sharks in all areas. They should be able to win this game in regulation against a far inferior opponent. These two teams faced off three times last year with Nashville winning each matchup. They outscored the Sharks 12-1 in those three games. Given the off-season additions for each team, Nashville is the only side to have gotten better.
If you’re looking for a Shots on Goal Prop with playable odds, I would target Matt Duchene over 2.5 SOG (-130) on DraftKings. He went over this number in two of their three matchups last season. Last year, he hit this line at a 62% rate. The Sharks also allowed the 26th most shots on goal to right wingers last season as well.
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.
