While the St. Louis Blues are still occupied observing after shooting the 2018-19 Stanley Cup, the other 30 teams in the National Hockey League are still preparing for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft that takes place on June 21-22.
When it comes to odds on which player will be taken together with the first overall pick, it is clear oddsmakers have made their minds up. Jack Hughes is the substantial -1200 favored to go at No. 1 at BetOnline, with Kaapo Kakko coming back as the +600 underdog. No other players are available to bet on at the shop.
Jack Hughes Is Your -1200 Favorite To Move First In The 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
This isn’t really much of a surprise considering Hughes has become the front-runner to go off the board first since last year. The American centre had 112 points (34 goals, 78 assists) in 50 games with the U.S. National U18 Team at 2018-19 and is viewed as one of the most talented prospects to join the draft in quite some time. Barring a major surprise, Hughes will probably visit the New Jersey Devils, who own the No. 1 pick.
Don’t Sleep on Kakko
While Hughes has been hogging the majority of the accolades going into the draft, Kakko has emerged as a can’t-miss prospect. The Finn gathered 38 points (22 goals, 16 assists) in 45 games with TPS Turku in SM-liiga and capped his year off with what would prove to be his own coming-out party at the 2019 IIHF world championship when he scored six times in 10 games for Finland.
That functionality pleased that the New York Rangers brass, as the Rangers will take Kakko at pick No. 2 if Hughes belongs to the Devils. Things can change quickly in the NHL, though, so if you think that the Devils will jolt the hockey world and take Kakko together with the first pick, his +600 cost is attractive.
More NHL Draft Props
At the same time, Sports Interaction has draft standing OVER/UNDER props for another top prospects available in the 2019 NHL Draft on Friday, together with odds on which player will be chosen third overall at the night behind Hughes and Kakko.
Kirby Dach out of Saskatoon of the WHL has an OVER/UNDER draft place of 5.5, using a -120 moneyline on both sides of this bet. Fellow WHL ahead Dylan Cozens of Lethbridge sits with an OVER/UNDER draft position of 5.5 too, however, the OVER is favored at -160 together with the UNDER set at +115. American ahead Cole Caufield’s OVER/UNDER is 6.5 (OVER favorite at -170), while Russian forward Vasili Podkolzin’s OVER/UNDER is 10.5 (UNDER favored at -145).
Meanwhile, defenseman Bowen Byram, by Vancouver of the WHL, is the -300 preferred third full on Friday 24, to be chosen. That pick is owned by the Chicago Blackhawks heading into the draft. American ahead Alex Turcotte is next on that prop wager at -250, followed closely by the two Dach and Cozens in +1300, and Caufield in +3500.
To see odds on which the 2019-20 Stanley Cup will be captured by NHL team, take a look at our NHL futures page.
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