Free NHL Picks Today for Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

Our free NHL picks are out for Wednesday, December 20th 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!

New York Islanders @ Washington Capitals – 7:30PM ET

Tony Battalio

The New York Islanders come into this game looking to get a solid victory on the road against Washington here on Wednesday night. It has been an up-and-down start to the regular season for the New York Islanders as they come into this game one game below .500 through their first 31 games of the year. They will look to get things going in the right direction with a quality victory here on Wednesday night against Washington, as they look to get a massive momentum boost heading into the last two weeks of December. If New York wants to maintain any long-term success throughout the season, they need to clean up their play on the defensive end of the ice. They are giving up over three goals per game throughout the early part of the year and that will cost them somebody important coming down the stretch if they don’t get their goaltending issues in check. They do have a little bit of momentum coming into this game after picking up a victory over Edmonton in their previous contest.

Washington is off to a respectable start to the regular season, and they will look to keep them rolling in the right direction with another quality performance here on Wednesday night at home. They come into this game two games above the .500 mark through their first 28 games of the regular season and they will look for their 16th victory of the year here on Wednesday night. They will look to string some consistency together heading into the last two weeks of the year as they look to pick up as much momentum as possible before turning the calendar to 2024. They have been inefficient on the offensive end of the ice, and that has been most of their problem throughout the early part of the year as they are only scoring around two goals per game. They need to improve that throughout the year if they want to remain successful and that is exactly what I expect out of them in this one, as I do look for them to pick up the win at home over New York. 

Detroit Red Wings @ Winnipeg Jets – 7:30PM ET

Tony Battalio

Detroit comes into this game looking to pick up a solid victory north of the border in Winnipeg here on Wednesday night. They are off to a respectable start to the regular season, but they certainly need a momentum boost, and they have the opportunity to get one here in this game against the Winnipeg Jets. Despite being under .500 they have shown flashes of being a potential playoff team this season they just need to get some consistency together and start putting some victories together back to back. They come to this game only a single game under .500 through their first 31 games of the regular season and they will look to get back to the .500 mark with a quality performance here on Wednesday night in Canada. They will look to snap a three game losing streak in this game on Wednesday night as they have been in a slump, losing four out of their last five on the season.

The Winnipeg Jets have put together a quality start to the regular season and they will look to keep the momentum rolling throughout this game on Wednesday night at home against Detroit. Along with the Vancouver Canucks, and the Toronto Maple Leafs they have been very solid as they are the top three Canadian teams in the league this season. Winnipeg and Vancouver are the two most surprising successful teams, as most people expected it to be Calgary and Edmonton along with Toronto, that would be the Canadian leaders throughout the regular season. Winnipeg comes into this game six games above the .500 mark through their first 30 games of the regular season and they will look for their 19th victory of the year here on Wednesday night against the Red Wings. They have won two out of their last three on the year, but they will be looking to bounce back after losing to Montreal in their previous game. That is exactly what I expect out of them as I look for them to pick up the win and cover the spread here on Wednesday night at home against Detroit.

Seattle Kraken @ Los Angeles Kings – 10PM ET

Tony Battalio

After making their first playoff appearance in franchise history the Seattle Kraken have been unable to capitalize on that momentum throughout the early part of the regular season. They are off to a rather rough starts the regular season, and they will look to get things turned around throughout the rest of December and it starts with grabbing a victory here in this game against Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Seattle is in massive need of a momentum boost heading into the last two weeks of the year and they have an opportunity to get one with a victory here in this one of the toughest venues in the league here on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Kings. Seattle comes into this game 13 games below the .500 mark through their first 33 games of the regular season and they will look for their 11th victory of the season here on Wednesday night. If they want to maintain any type of long-term success this season they need to improve their play on both ends of the ice.

It has been a pretty respectable start to the regular season for the Los Angeles Kings as they come into this game eight games above .500 through their first 28 games of the year. They come into this game on a two game win streak, and they will be looking for a third consecutive victory here in this one as they look to defend their home ice against the Seattle Kraken. They will also be looking to gain some ground within the Pacific division as they currently sit in third place, heading into the last two weeks of December and they will look to gain ground on Vegas and Vancouver throughout the next two weeks. Los Angeles has been a very tough team to beat this season and they’ve been even tougher to beat at home and I expect them to keep that narrative alive with another quality performance here on Wednesday night. As I look for them to pick up the victory over the Seattle Kraken and cover the spread in the process here in this one.

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