It's officially All-Star weekend in the NHL. The 2023 edition is being held from February 3 to 5 in the Florida Panther's home, FLA Live Arena. But don't just watch the best hockey players in the world take the center stage, make money off of it! If you keep reading we'll give you our expert betting predictions on the NHL All-Star events!
Who Is Playing At 2023 NHL All-Star Game?
Unlike what we're seeing in the NFL right now, most big-name players in the NHL don't skip out on playing its version of the All-Star game. The likes of Sidney Crosby, Nikita Kucherov, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, and so forth will all be in South Florida for the festivities.
Per usual (since 2016 to be exact), it's not just one All-Star game. In fact, there are three different ones. There are four All-Star teams, one for each division in the league — Atlantic, Central, Metropolitan, and Pacific. Each team includes nine skaters and two goalies.
The games themselves are 3-on-3, just like overtime, which makes for a more fast-paced style. The games themselves are only 20 minutes long. The winning All-Star team will get to share the $1 million prize. Having that much money at stake actually makes the players compete — which is why this is worth betting on, unlike other sports' All-Star games. Speaking of that, we have our free betting picks underneath!
2023 NHL All-Star Game Betting Picks
The opening All-Star games pit conferences against each other. Therefore, it's Central vs. Pacific for Western Conference supremacy, and also Atlantic vs. Metropolitan. We'll be making two separate betting picks on the matchups, which we're giving to you completely free of cost:
Over/Under Goals Scored
Yes, there's $1 million on the line. Yes, it's only 20-minute-long matchups. But regardless, the over/under remain high for both opening All-Star matchups. Here's a quick look at the over/under lines (the first table is for Eastern Conference game, second is for Western Conference):
We'll be blunt and say we're betting the over on BOTH games. Hell, we'll probably do the same for the third one once we know which teams are playing — at that point, oddsmakers will release betting lines right away.
The 3-on-3 format just lends itself really well to scoring. Most obviously, with fewer skaters on the ice, there's a whole lot more room for offensive players to make moves (and space to shoot). You combine that with more lackadaisical goaltending and defensive effort, and, welp, you have the recipe for a scoring palooza.
Consider this, since the NHL went to this format in 2016. There have been 14 different opening-round games (we're not including the finals in this calculation). Nine of those 14 games had a combined scoring tally of at least 13 goals. Therefore, the Atlantic-Metropolitan over/under is a must-bet. And while we'd love to half that half point on the Central-Pacific game, we'll take the risk and go over there too.
Winning Division
Instead of offering picks on individual games, we'll just make one blanket choice on which division wins the All-Star competition outright, nabbing the million-dollar prize in the process. Here's all four teams betting odds to do so:
The two teams to beat here are likely the Atlantic and Central. Both of them are more talented up and down its roster. It's not an easy choice, but we're siding with the Atlantic. Because of the 3-on-3 format, forwards are extra important in winning games, and Atlantic might have the two best in Kucherov and David Pastrnak. Plus, having Andrei Vasilevskiy on the net isn't bad either.
How To Watch On 2023 NHL All-Star Game?
For those inside the United States, the lone place to watch the 2023 NHL All-Star festivities is on Disney-owned networks — ABC and ESPN. Here's a quick look at the broadcast schedule:
- Friday, February 3 — All-Star Skills competition at 7 pm EST (ESPN
- Saturday, February 4 — All-Star Games at 3 pm EST (ABC)
However, you don't NEED cable to stream either one. You could always stream both days on the ESPN+ streaming app, a solid option for cord-cutters.
The skills competitions might be worth a look, by the way. At the moment, we haven't found a well-used betting site for NHL offering odds on it, but that could change. On top of the classic events — accuracy shooting, hardest shot, and fastest skater — a few new competitions are joining the fray. Going with the South Florida theme, mini-games like Splash Shot and Pitch 'n' Puck are in the 2023 event schedule.
How To Bet On 2023 NHL All-Star Game?
Ready to bet on the 2023 NHL All-Star games? You should be if you've read up to this point. If you need an actual sportsbook to place your bets at, look at the table below. We've listed the best bookies around, based on our latest sportsbook reviews.
Better yet, the featured betting sites are offering big-money sign-up bonuses to new players of the site. Use one of these bonuses — which range from $500 to $2500 in free money — and your NHL All-Star bets could be completely "on the house." See the table below to see what deals are available where.
