The NHL named the bench bosses for the 2023 All-Star Weekend in Florida on Wednesday.

The head coach of each division's leading team in points percentage through Jan. 11 gets the nod to guide the respective All-Star rosters: Jim Montgomery of the Atlantic Division's Boston Bruins, Rod Brind'Amour of the Metropolitan Division's Carolina Hurricanes, Peter DeBoer of the Central Division's Dallas Stars, and Bruce Cassidy of the Pacific Division's Vegas Golden Knights.

Montgomery's led the Bruins to an NHL-best 32-4-4 record. The 53-year-old is in his first season as Boston's coach after two seasons as an assistant with the St. Louis Blues. It's his first time coaching at the All-Star Game.

Brind'Amour will be behind the Metropolitan Division bench for the second consecutive season. His Hurricanes have a 25-9-7 record, thanks in large part to a franchise-record 11-game win streak that was snapped on Jan. 4.

DeBoer is the most experienced All-Star coach of the group, heading to his third All-Star Weekend with a third different team. He went as a member of the San Jose Sharks in 2017 and the Golden Knights in 2022. DeBoer's Stars have impressed with a 25-11-6 record, tied for the Western Conference lead in points.

Cassidy makes his second All-Star appearance after featuring on the Atlantic Division's bench in 2020 as coach of the Bruins. The Golden Knights have had a resurgent season under Cassidy, boasting the most wins in the Western Conference with a 27-13-3 record.

All-Star Weekend is set for Feb. 3-4.

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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe announced star Auston Matthews will miss his first game of the season Wednesday against the Nashville Predators, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

Matthews is dealing with an undisclosed injury. He participated in the optional skate Wednesday morning after not practicing Tuesday.

Keefe said that Matthews' ailment has "been bothering him for a while," according to SI Media Group's David Alter.

The 25-year-old has 20 goals and 47 points in 41 games this season.

William Nylander is expected to play center and Pierre Engvall is set to join the Maple Leafs' top six in Matthews' absence based on yesterday's lines at practice, per the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan. Bobby McMann is anticipated to make his NHL debut.

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With just four games scheduled for Wednesday night's slate, there isn't a ton of value on the board.

Thus, we're going to use both sides and props for the day's best bets. Let's get right to it.

Capitals (-175) @ Flyers (+150)

The Washington Capitals didn't put forth their best effort last time out, but that didn't stop them from getting yet another positive result.

They have posted a 13-2-2 record since early December and they've been full value for it, slotting third across all situations with an expected goals share well above 55%.

What the Capitals have done is nothing short of remarkable considering the injuries they've faced. Key players like John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tom Wilson, among others, have all missed an abundance of time.

Although the former remains out, the three forwards very recently returned to the lineup. Having those guys back gives the Capitals three lines that can score and makes them extremely difficult to match up against.

I don't think the Philadelphia Flyers are well-equipped to slow them down. They don't have much defensive talent on paper and rank near the bottom of the league in terms of preventing shots and expected goals at five-on-five.

The Flyers also give up a lot of opportunities on the penalty kill, which is not ideal against Alexander Ovechkin and Co.

Carter Hart is likely going to be tested early and often in this game, something that finally seems to be catching up to him. He was one of the best goaltenders in the league over the first couple months of the season but his play has really dipped of late.

Hart owns an .893 save percentage over the past month and has conceded five more goals than expected during that stretch.

Bet: Capitals in regulation (-115)

Alex Ovechkin over 4.5 shots (+105)

While I prefer to back Ovechkin on home ice - his floor and ceiling are higher in Washington - the Great Eight is building-proof. In fact, no player has recorded more shot attempts or shots on goal on the road this season than Ovechkin.

But what I really like is this matchup. The Flyers are prone to giving up shots in bulk and, as alluded to above, I expect the Capitals to control the run of play and generate more than their fair share in this game.

Even with some key players returning, Ovechkin remains priority No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 for Washington when it comes to shooting the puck. The superstar winger leads the Capitals in attempts - by nearly 30 - over the last 10 games.

Ovechkin has seen John Tortorella's Flyers twice this season, generating nine and 14 attempts in those games. With that kind of volume, I'm happy to take my chances on Ovechkin coming through at plus money.

Darnell Nurse over 2.5 (-130)

The Anaheim Ducks have been a constant target for shot props all season and there is no reason to get away from that.

Over the last 10 games, they're a distant 32nd in shot attempts allowed per 60 while at even strength and killing penalties. They simply can't stop bleeding shots in any game state.

They have also conceded more shots to defensemen than any other team - yes, even the Blue Jackets - during that stretch.

That should be music to the ears of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse, who enters play having gone over his shot total in eight of the last 10 games.

With a mouthwatering matchup and Nurse expected to log around 24 minutes of ice time, he should be able to get the job done once again in Anaheim.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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The Philadelphia Flyers are fielding calls from teams about the availability of defenseman Ivan Provorov, multiple sources told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

Provorov, 25, has two goals and 12 assists in 41 games this season while ranking second on the Flyers in average ice time (23:12) behind only Tony DeAngelo.

The 2015 seventh overall pick wouldn't be a rental for any interested parties: Provorov has two years remaining on his current pact after this season at a cap hit of $6.75 million.

He posted a career-high 41 points during the 2017-18 season - his second in the league - but endured a frustrating stretch as of late. Provorov put up nine goals and 22 assists in 2021-22 but was a minus-20 on the campaign, the second-worst mark among all Flyers defensemen.

The Russian rearguard expressed frustration with the media's criticism of his play during last season's exit interviews.

"No matter what I say, you guys are gonna give me your own grades," Provorov said last May. "It doesn't matter, you're all experts on hockey, so you're gonna give me your super experienced grades. I don't think my opinion really matters to you guys."

He's also had to contend with a series of rotating partners after Matt Niskanen retired in October 2020. The acquisition of Ryan Ellis could've helped stabilize the blue line, but he was only able to play in four games last season due to injury and isn't expected to suit up at all in 2022-23.

Provorov has spent the majority of his time on a pair with DeAngelo this campaign.

The Flyers have had a rough ride through the first half of the 2022-23 campaign - their first under hard-nosed head coach John Tortorella. Like last season, Philadelphia enjoyed a promising start. It went 5-2-0 right out of the gate, but a 10-game losing streak in November sent the team crashing back down to earth.

Philadelphia currently sits in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 16-18-7.

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The Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators are interested in Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, TSN's Darren Dreger reported Tuesday.

Dumba carries a $6-million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end. He recorded four goals and seven assists in 39 games this season while averaging 21:07 of ice time per contest. His underlying numbers have been poor this year.

But the 10-year veteran and former seventh overall pick comes with plenty of pedigree. His best season came in 2017-18 when he racked up 14 goals and 36 assists. He's struggled with injuries and inconsistency in the five years since, never cracking 30 points or 70 games.

He also shoots right - a trait among defensemen that's often appealing to teams.

Minnesota is currently in a playoff spot and entered Tuesday sitting third in the Central Division with 47 points. As The Athletic's Michael Russo noted in December, it may require a lateral move or "hockey trade" for the Wild to move Dumba, rather than the typical seller's ask of draft picks and prospects.

The Oilers entered Tuesday hanging on to a wild-card spot, and defense is a clear area of need. Edmonton general manager Ken Holland has scoured the blue-line market, inquiring about the Arizona Coyotes' Jakob Chychrun, the Montreal Canadiens' Joel Edmundson, and just about every potentially available defenseman, The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reports.

The Senators, meanwhile, sit seventh in the Atlantic Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference at 18-19-3. That's not the status of a typical buyer, so they may look to extend Dumba as part of a trade.

Ottawa hasn't been shy about its interest in upgrading the blue line. GM Pierre Dorion was unsuccessful in his search for a top-four defenseman in the summer, and the team was linked to Chychrun in September.

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Nashville Predators general manager David Poile acknowledged that the organization's decision to waive Eeli Tolvanen could be a misstep as the winger continues to light it up with the Seattle Kraken.

"Did we give him enough opportunities? Should we have played him higher? Time will tell," Poile said Tuesday during an appearance on 102.5 The Game. "Seattle's a team that plays a little bit differently than us. They really rotate almost their four lines equally, and offensively they put him in a position higher than we have.

"This could be a mistake on our part. That's on me if he turns out to be really successful, but we thought we tried him in a lot of different areas, different places."

The Predators placed Tolvanen on waivers on Dec. 11, and the Kraken scooped him up the following day.

Tolvanen, 23, logged two goals and two assists in 13 games with Nashville this campaign. He didn't debut for Seattle until Jan. 1, but early returns indicate he's a great fit. Tolvanen has five points in five contests while donning his new threads, and his three tallies with the Kraken would put him on pace for 49 goals over an 82-game season.

The Finn is suiting up for 12:32 of ice time per contest in Seattle, comparable to his average playing time in Nashville this season. However, Tolvanen failed to crack the 11-minute mark in five of his last six games as a Predator.

Poile said he didn't want to lose Tolvanen and that the organization hoped he'd spend time with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.

"We had to make some decisions. We were not going anywhere," he said. "He's doing well, great for him, and we've been doing better - not necessarily because of him, but because we've made a decision to go another direction with different types of players."

The Predators selected Tolvanen 30th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. He was a highly touted prospect lauded for his scoring ability but never fully emerged in Nashville. Tolvanen ended his tenure in the Music City with 25 goals and 26 assists in 135 contests.

Tolvanen will get a chance to take on his former team when the Kraken visit the Predators for a pair of games on March 23 and 25.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday.

Brodie didn't play in Toronto's 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday due to an undisclosed ailment. He will miss at least three more games. The 32-year-old was already unavailable for 12 contests this season due to an oblique injury.

The Maple Leafs have had a rotating cast of blue-liners thanks to various injuries with Morgan Rielly, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, and Jordie Benn all missing time, along with Jake Muzzin and Victor Mete, who remain out.

Brodie has two goals and eight points in 28 games this season.

Toronto subsequently recalled forward Bobby McMann from the AHL. The 26-year-old left winger captured AHL Player of the Week honors after scoring three goals and six points in three contests. He's yet to make his NHL debut.

The Maple Leafs are second in the Atlantic Division with a 25-9-7 record. Toronto is back in action against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.

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We suffered a setback Monday night, hitting just one of our three props.

Thomas Chabot was the swing player, finding the target only twice while missing on six attempts. If one more hit the net, we'd be enjoying another winning night but, alas, the margins are slim in this space.

Let's dive into three props that stand out on Tuesday's slate as we look to rebound quickly.

Nikita Kucherov over 3.5 shots (-115)

It's a day that ends in the letter "Y," which means we are targeting the Blue Jackets with a shot prop.

Columbus continues to struggle defensively, ranking 29th in shot attempts against per 60 minutes over the last 10 games.

The Blue Jackets still take their share of penalties as well and are going up against a Lightning team that draws plenty of them; only five teams have spent more time on the man advantage this season.

The matchup is great for Kucherov on paper, as he has gone over his shot total in both meetings against the Jackets this season.

Given his shooting form - only seven players have attempted more shots over the last 10 games - I expect Kucherov to continue throwing pucks on net.

Dylan Larkin over 2.5 shots (-120)

Larkin has gone a little cold of late, recording three shots or more just three times over the past 10 games. There's a lot to like about Larkin in this spot, though.

For one, the Jets give up a lot of shots to opposing centers. Only eight teams have conceded more to the position on a per-game basis.

Winnipeg has struggled in that regard for a while now, and Larkin has shown the ability to take advantage. He generated 13 shots on goal over two games against the Jets in the calendar year of 2022.

Beyond a strong positional matchup, Larkin should benefit from reinforcements. Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to return from injury and will rejoin Larkin on the top line. Lucas Raymond has been reunited with Larkin as well.

With his usual two running mates by his side and better supporting talent to work with, the Red Wings should be able to control more of the play with Larkin on the ice, opening up more offensive zone time and opportunities to shoot.

Miro Heiskanen over 2.5 shots (+105)

Heiskanen is firing on all cylinders right now. The star blue-liner - no pun intended - has registered three shots or more eight times over the last 10 contests, and the numbers beneath the surface suggest that's no coincidence.

He has attempted 65 shots in that span, slotting him behind only Jason Robertson among Stars players.

League-wide, Heiskanen ranks fourth among all blue-liners these past 10 games. Roman Josi, Cale Makar, and Dougie Hamilton are the only defensemen to attempt more shots.

Heiskanen finds himself in a good spot against an Islanders team that ranks bottom 10 in suppressing shots versus opposing rearguards. Look for him to stay hot.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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