Top Shelf Picks: NHL Best Bets Today (Predictions for Winter Classic, Wild-Ducks, Kraken-Canucks)

Breaking down the bets NHL bets on the ice for the four-game slate on Friday, January 2.

Brad Marchand and the Panthers are favorites in the Winter Classic. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The 2026 Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers headlines a four-game slate on Friday night.

I’m looking at a pair of favorites and a low-scoring game in Vancouver tonight.

Read on as I break down my NHL best bets – and their odds at the best betting sites – for Friday, Jan. 2.

NHL Best Bets for Friday, Jan. 2

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Florida Panthers (-142) vs. New York Rangers
• Minnesota Wild (-130) at Anaheim Ducks
• Seattle Kraken vs. Vancouver Canucks UNDER 5.5 (+102)

Florida Panthers (-142) vs. New York Rangers

The Rangers finished 2025 at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and now head outdoors to face off against the Panthers in the Winter Classic. New York suffered its third straight loss on Wednesday, falling 6-3 in Washington.

The Panthers are also coming off a loss, losing 3-2 in overtime to the Canadiens, but they’re still 6-2-1 in their last nine games. They’ve been able to stay competitive while dealing with injuries throughout the lineup.

While the Rangers have been a better team on the road than at home, the opposite is true for the Panthers. Florida has protected home ice nicely and is primed to do so again in the Winter Classic to hand the Rangers their first loss in an outdoor game.

Minnesota Wild (-130) at Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks wrap up a three-game homestand on Friday night against the Wild after losing to the Sharks and Lightning. Anaheim has now lost four games in a row, six of its last seven, and eight of its last 10 contests.

The Wild have cooled off a bit recently with three losses in their last five games following a seven-game winning streak and an incredibly impressive 19-3-2 stretch, so they’re still 21-4-4 since the start of December.

Minnesota has points in four straight games, though, showing that its still capable of staying in games without playing its best hockey.

The Wild are the better team overall and also recently, despite a few hiccups. Minnesota seems to get a bit disrespected in the market at times, and this feels like one of those spots.

Seattle Kraken vs. Vancouver Canucks UNDER 5.5 (+102)

The Kraken are back in action on Friday night after taking down the Predators 4-1 last night. Seattle is now 5-0-1 in its last six games, with the last five having five goals or fewer.

Vancouver has come back down to Earth with losses in three of its last four games, beating Seattle 3-2 in a shootout earlier this week for its lone win in that stretch.

The Kraken have struggled on back-to-backs this season at 1-2-2, getting outscored 10-7 in those five games. They went under the total in all five of those contests, and that trend should continue tonight as the Canucks are without Conor Garland and Marco Rossi to take away a few of their already-thin offensive weapons.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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