Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Thursday, January 8

Expert NHL picks, value bets & previews for Blue Jackets vs Golden Knights & Wild vs Kraken—top single plays, parlays, odds & sportsbooks.

January 8, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Thursday, January 8

By:

Daniel Dobish

January 8, 2026

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Blue Jackets vs Golden Knights and Wild vs Kraken – Expert Game Previews

The National Hockey League (NHL) has 12 total games on the slate for Thursday, including seven games in the 7 p.m. EST window. We're going to focus on the late-night games, giving you a bit more time to formulate those bets.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Vegas Golden Knights skate at T-Mobile Arena at 10 p.m. EST, while the Minnesota Wild and Seattle Kraken battle at Climate Pledge Arena, also at 10 p.m. EST. Both games can be viewed or streamed on ESPN+.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with the Ole Miss-Miami College Football Playoff game, NBA and/or NCAA basketball action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let's get started.

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For the latest NHL Odds, including NHL Futures and NHL player props, visit RotoWire's NHL Betting page. For up-to-date NHL player news and NHL Injury Report info, head to RotoWire's NHL Lineups page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com/picks. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Vegas Golden Knights

The Blue Jackets (18-17-7) roll into Las Vegas, officially Paradise, Nevada, to take on the Golden Knights (18-11-12).

It's a bit surprising to see that the Blue Jackets are such huge underdogs. While yes, they have just 43 points, sitting last in the Metropolitan Division, with the least amount of points in the Eastern Conference, they would be just five points behind the Golden Knights in the lackluster Pacific Division.

Vegas has posted a mediocre 8-6-6 record at home, while the Blue Jackets are 9-10-3 on the road. And, in the past 10 games, Columbus is 5-4-1, while Vegas is just 2-5-3. There is plenty of value to back the underdogs.

The Blue Jackets kicked off a three-game Western Conference road trip with a 5-2 loss in San Jose as moderate favorites (-145) as the Over (6.5) cashed. While they've allowed five goals in each of the past two games, defense and goaltending have been pretty good in Columbus recently, allowing just 18 goals across the past seven games, or 2.6 goals per game (GPG).

Jet Greaves (12-11-6, 2.65 GAA, .910 save percentage) has been a steadying force in the net for Columbus, although he has let up a little in his past two outings. He is making his 13th start in the past 15 games, as he has blown past veteran Elvis Merzlikins to seize the No. 1 backstop job in C-Bus.

For VGK, they'll lean upon Carter Hart (5-3-3, 3.23 GAA, .873 save percentage) in the crease. He has managed a terrible 3.84 GAA and .828 save percentage in his past six starts, and he is lucky to have good offensive support, helping him to a 2-3-1 mark in the span despite his struggles.

It's gotten a little more expensive since the opening line, but the Blue Jackets are still worth a roll of the dice on the puck line as underdogs. If you're really adventurous, no one could blame you for taking Columbus straight up, too. We'll go high on the total, based on Greaves allowing eight goals in the past two games, with the team also allowing two empty-net goals.

Blue Jackets +1.5 Goals (-180 at Fanatics Sportsbook)
Over 6.5 (-105 Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel Sportsbooks)

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Minnesota Wild at Seattle Kraken

The Wild (25-11-8) and the Kraken (20-14-7) hook up in a heavyweight battle in the Pacific Northwest.

Minnesota would be leading the Pacific Division by 10 points if it were in that division, but, unfortunately, it is 11 points back of the red-hot Colorado Avalanche, while also trailing the Dallas Stars by two points. The Wild have the third-most points in the NHL, yet find themselves in third place in the Central Division. Ouch.

Seattle is plugging along, creeping to within one point of the first-place Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific thanks to a red-hot 8-1-1 run in the past 10 games.

Minnesota won the first meeting in this series, also in Seattle, posting a 4-1 victory as moderate favorites (-140) on Dec. 9 as the Under (5.5) cashed. Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson picked up even-strength goals, with Johansson's standing up as the game-winning tally. Kirill Kaprizov and Vladimir Tarasenko added empty-net goals, which was more than enough support for Filip Gustavsson. He stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced in the victory, outdueling Philipp Grubauer, who had 25 saves on 27 shots.

The Wild were swept in Los Angeles in a back-to-back, losing 5-4 in a shootout Saturday and 4-2 in regulation on Monday. Still, they've managed a 10-2-3 mark in the past 15 outings. The Over has hit in four in a row, too, averaging 3.5 GPG, while allowing 3.8 GPG.

The Kraken polished off the visiting Boston Bruins 7-4 as short 'dogs (+115) on home ice Tuesday, and they've scored four or more goals in four in a row, averaging 5.0 GPG. The Over is 3-0 in the past three games.

This should be a fun one. The Wild have dominated this series, but backing the Kraken is a much better value in a potentially high-scoring affair.