It’s that time of the year again when the all-star break comes around and some of the league’s best players gather in one place, this year it’s held at the Florida Panthers FLA Live Arena.
The All-Star mini-tournament has undergone a new format change and will take place on Saturday the 4th of February but first, the skills competition takes place on Friday evening, and here are our NHL picks for each individual award.
The Sunshine State is hosting the All-Star weekend and FL residents interested in betting on it can do at these Florida betting sites.
All-Star Weekend
February 3 and 4, 2023 – 07:00 PM EST at FLA Live Arena
2023 All-Star Fastest Skater Competition Odds
- Dylan Larkin +250
- Chandler Stephenson +300
- Cale Makar +320
- Kirill Kaprizov +500
- Andrei Svechnikov +600
Just two of this year’s fastest skater competition participants have competed in the event before, Dylan Larkin (this year’s favorite) and Cale Makar. Connor McDavid will not feature having won the fastest skater award for three years in a row between 2016 and 2019.
Dylan Larkin won the fastest skater competition in his rookie year back in 2016 when he set a time of 13.172 seconds, which was the fastest time set in the history of the competition, so it’s clear to see why he is the outright favorite.
Having previous experience in this event should prove to have a small edge for both Larkin (who featured twice both in 2016 and 2022) and Makar (who featured in 2022). We believe the best selection here to be either of these two.
Makar has shown during his time in the NHL that he is one of the best ice skaters in the league, whilst Larkin has set an all-time record. It’s a tossup between these two players and we are siding with the record holder and most experienced player Dylan Larkin to take the spoils.
NHL Pick: Dylan Larkin Fastest Skater (+250) at the Top-Rated Sportsbooks
2023 All-Star Accuracy Shooting Competition Odds
- Connor McDavid +500
- Leon Draisaitl +600
- Jack Hughes +600
- Nikita Kucherov +650
- Aleksander Barkov +700
- Artemi Panarin +700
- Vladimir Tarasenko +900
- Nazem Kadri +900
- Kevin Hayes +1100
- Brock Nelson +1100
There are a lot of competitors in this competition but interestingly no previous winner will take place this time around, so how do we decide on the best pick here with 10 participants and only $6 separating the favorite Connor McDavid at +500 and 10th placed Brock Nelson at +1100.
Just three of this year’s competitors are ranked inside the top 10 of the overall NHL goal-scoring charts with Connor McDavid leading the way with 41 goals. The New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes has scored 33 goals and finally Connor McDavid’s teammate Leon Draisaitl has scored 29.
When looking at the overall shooting accuracy charts only the Edmonton Oilers McDavid and Draisaitl have seen above a 15% shooting accuracy of all players in the competition as both are hitting at 19.6%.
There are obviously a lot of talented players featured in this competition but it’s hard to ignore the two favorites, especially Connor “Mcjesus” who is having a record-breaking year having scored 41 goals in just 50 games, which is a career-high. His previous best was 44 in 80 games last season. McDavid is going to annihilate his previous best this season and he is arguably the best player in the league right now and full of confidence.
There’s not a ton of value to be had here, no massive outsiders worth a look so for us take Connor McDavid to reign supreme here at +500 as this seems like a very nice set of NHL odds value wise, if you’re feeling cheeky his teammate is the second best option.
NHL Pick: Connor McDavid Accuracy Shooting (+500) at the Top-Rated Sportsbooks
2023 All-Star Hardest Shot Odds
- Alexander Ovechkin +300
- Rasmus Dahlin +350
- Seth Jones +380
- Elias Pettersson +400
- Josh Morrissey +400
There’s not much separating all five competitors in terms of odds here and we are going to oppose the great Alex Ovechkin. It’s a known fact Ovechkin has a very strong and powerful shot and he has won this competition in the past, but at 37 years old we think it’s worth considering somebody a little younger, and possibly hungrier than the Russian.
A defensive player has won this competition in 11 of the previous 12 editions and we are siding with second favorite Rasmus Dahlin. The 22-year-old Buffalo Sabres player has scored the second most amount of goals for a defenceman this season with 14, which is already one more than his previous career best.
Elias Pettersson is another player worth considering here but officially we are taking the Buffalo Sabres defenceman to cash the hardest shot at +350.
NHL Pick: Rasmus Dahlin Hardest Shot (+350) at the Top-Rated Sportsbooks
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
