Free NHL Picks Today for Friday, December 8th, 2023

Our free NHL picks are out for Friday, December 8th 2023! Make sure you check our NHL picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free NHL picks for the best games on today’s schedule!

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Florida Panthers – 7PM ET

Tony Battalio

It has been a slow start to the year for Pittsburgh and they will be looking to grab a huge momentum boost when they head south to play the Florida Panthers here on Friday night. Pittsburgh is in desperate need of a momentum boosting victory throughout the early part of the regular season as they have struggled on both ends of the ice at times leading up to this game against Florida on Friday night. Pittsburgh comes into this game with 11 victories through their first 25 games of the regular season season and they will be looking for their 12th one of the year here on Friday night on the road against the Florida Panthers. They have struggled to find any type of consistency throughout the early part of the season that it has cost them several very winnable games throughout the early part of the year as well. That is something they will be looking to change a quality and consistent performance here on Friday night against Florida.

The Florida Panthers are having a decent start to the regular season and once again, this is a team that looks like a legit contender in the Eastern Conference. Florida comes into this game with 15 victories through their first 25 games of the regular season and they will be looking for yet another victory here on Friday night at home where they’ve been so tough to beat over the last several years. They will be looking to further prove that narrative to be true with another quality performance here on Friday night against Pittsburgh as they look for their 16th victory of the regular season. Florida comes into this game with a little bit of momentum after defeating the Dallas Stars in their previous contest, and they will be looking for a second consecutive victory here on Friday night at home as well. That is exactly what I expect as I look for them to pick up the victory and cover the spread in the process here in this one.

St.Louis Blues @ Columbus Blue Jackets – 7PM ET

Tony Battalio

St. Louis is having a rough start to the regular season and they come into this game looking for a huge momentum boost on the road in Columbus. They don’t have an opportunity to grab what feels like a must win game here on Friday night on the road in Columbus as they are facing off with a struggling Columbus team that is also desperate for a victory coming into this one. St. Louis tends to be a contender in the Western Conference, but they are off to a rather slow start to the regular season, and they will be looking to turn things around throughout the rest of December. They come into this game with 13 victories through their first 25 games of the regular seas as they are just barely hovering above the .500 mark coming into this game on Friday night in Columbus. They will be looking to string some consistent performances together, and it starts with grabbing a win here in this one against the Blue Jackets as they look to get things rolling in the right direction.

Columbus came into the season with very high expectations of being a playoff team and so far they have not lived up to those expectations. They have been rather disappointing throughout the early part of the regular season, and they will be looking to get things rolling in the right direction with a victory here on Friday night at home against St. Louis. This feels like a must win game for Columbus throughout the early part of the regular season as they look to get their season on track heading into the turn of the new year. Columbus comes into this game with 20 losses through their first 28 games of the regular season and they cannot afford to continue dropping games at this rate. Otherwise they will be out of playoff contention by the time February comes around. Once again, bad goaltending has been the issue for Columbus and they come into this game on a three game losing streak and I don’t look for it to get any better anytime soon. As I look for the St. Louis Blues to pick up the victory here on Friday night on the road in Columbus.

Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers – 9PM ET

Tony Battalio

Minnesota tends to be a contender in the Western Conference, but they are off to way less than impressive start to the regular season. They will be looking to get things going in the right direction with a victory here on Friday night north of the border against the Edmonton Oilers. Minnesota comes into this game is losers of 15 out of their first 24 games of the regular season and they will be looking for a much-needed victory here on Friday night as they look to build up as much momentum as possible throughout the month of December. Minnesota will also be looking to get their 10th victory of the regular season with a quality performance here on Friday night as well. They recently had a lengthy winning streak snapped and their previous game against the Vancouver Canucks and they will be looking to get right back into the column with a solid performance here on Friday night against the Edmonton Oilers. 

Edmonton had high expectations coming into the regular season but an early season injury to Connor McDavid put them out of contention for the early part of the year. They are slowly starting to make their way back to .500 coming into this game against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. They will be looking to record a fantastic performance here on Friday night at home as they look to pick up another crucial victory early on in the year as they look to recover from their slow start to the season and establish themselves as a contender. Edmonton comes into this game with 13 losses through their first 23 games of the regular season as they are hovering right around the .500 mark and they will be looking for their 11th victory of the season here on Friday night at home. That is exactly what I expect as I look for Edmonton to pick up the win here in this game at home on Friday over Minnesota.

If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our NHL hub page for all your hockey needs!

*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.