Pacific Favored to Win 2019 NHL All-Star Game

• Does the Pacific deserve to be listed as the favorites to win the NHL All-Star Game?
• Who’s the best bet to win it all?
• Picks for the first two games below

Don’t act like you’re not excited about NHL All-Star Weekend. Finally, the NHL’s best defense will be on full display!

On a more serious note, the ASG does present a pretty nice incentive if you’re looking to lay down a few bucks. Some divisions are favored more than others, but the top dog this year seems to be the Pacific.

Odds to Win the 2019 NHL All-Star Game Outright

If nothing else, this break in the NHL schedule gives a reason not to talk about how bad the Oilers are too, right? Well, not so fast. The best of the best are out to play for the Pacific and that includes none other than the speedster Connor McDavid, who is favored to win All-Star Game MVP honors.

Number 97 is not alone when it comes to the Westerners on the MVP charts either. Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames is right up there along with Vancouver Canucks standout rookie Elias Pettersson.

So, with all of that in mind, it is pretty easy to see why the Pacific division – at home too, we might add – can be seen as the top choice. The All-Star Game has become a bit of a joke defensively, so what it comes down to is goals, goals and more goals.

The hosting team/division will also be taking on the likes of Jimmy Howard (DET), Andrey Vasilevskiy (TBL), Braden Holtby (WAS), Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Devon Dubnyk (MIN) and Pekka Rinne (NSH). All goaltenders that have been lit up at one point or another this season by Western – moreover – Pacific opponents. That’s not where the advantage ends either.

NHL All-Star Game 1 Odds

They were also handed a soft ball of an opening matchup with the lowly ranked Central Division All-Stars. So, it’d be good keep in mind that they’re facing an opening squad that lacks a powerful punch. Not to say that the team won’t fill the net, but there are a few variables to keep in mind. The main one being they have the most first-time all-stars of any of the divs.

Mikko Rantanen (COL), Mark Scheifele (WPG), Gabriel Landeskog (COL) and Miro Heiskanen (DAL) will all be making their first ASG weekend appearance. While Ryan O’Reilly (STL), Blake Wheeler (WPG) and Roman Josi (NSH) will only be making their second. They then have three three-time All-Star vets and one eight-time, which of course is Patrick Kane. So it’s likely that we can expect a few nerves from the first and second timers.

NHL All-Star Game 2 Odds

Now, before we get to the free picks, can we take a second to point out the jerseys. Finally, the league got it right! All they had to do was copy the NBA…but still!

Good luck to @SebastianAho at the NHL All-Star Game! #TakeWarning #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/mTDAdbFfvT

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Hurricanes2074) January 25, 2019

Taking the Pacific over the Central Division in the opening game should be seen as a no-brainer. In the second game we like the Atlantic over the Metropolitan. The pick is purely based on the Braden Holtby’s five-game slide. He’s surrendered 3.80 goals per game through the slump and we’re expecting his ASG performance to follow suit.