We’re in prime time of the NHL calendar tonight as the puck drops on the 2026 Stanley Cup Final. The Carolina Hurricanes cruised through the postseason to their first Cup appearance in 20 years; the Vegas Golden Knights seemingly flipped a switch on a tumultuous season to make it here. Just in time for puck drop, DraftKings Sportsbook is bringing back its NHL Ice Breaker promotion for the first matchup of the Cup!
The promotion is simple. Just opt in to receive an Ice Breaker token and use it on any single NHL first goalscorer bet (minimum $5 wager). If that player scores the first goal of the game, you win a share of $500,000 in Bonus Bets!
Here are a couple of the best value picks for the Stanley Cup Ice Breaker promo on DraftKings Sportsbook tonight.
NHL Ice Breaker Value Picks for Stanley Cup Final Game 1
Rasmus Andersson (+4000)
For those new to the first goalscorer market, it’s important to note that all these picks are long-shot plays. After all, just one player can score the first goal of a game, so the shortest odds we see for anyone in tonight’s Game 1 are +1200. With that in mind, we’re targeting an even longer shot with Rasmus Andersson to score the first goal of the Stanley Cup Final tonight.
The Golden Knights defenseman came to Vegas via trade, getting shipped to Sin City by way of the Calgary Flames. His addition was supposed to add an offensive-minded blueliner to this core, especially after he notched 30 points in 48 games with his old team and nearly matched his career-high in goals (11) with 10 over that span. In 33 games with the Knights, Andersson tallied 17 points with seven goals in the regular season. That blasted past his previous high mark, totaling 17 goals in 81 games. He also averaged 2.0 shots on goal per game with Vegas during that span.
Andersson’s playoff run has been solid, if unspectacular. He’s tallied five points in 16 games but is yet to find the back of the net, even despite putting 22 pucks on goal. It feels as though positive regression must hit at some point given that he finished his attempts at a 9.6% clip during the regular season — zero goals to show for his shot volume means the shooting percentage is bound to improve at some point. There’s a reason his odds to score the first goal sit at a staggering +4000, but with over 23 minutes of TOI per game on the second line, there’s plenty of value here. It’s also unlikely that many bettors would pick him in this market, so the Bonus Bet payout if Andersson strikes first would probably be huge.
Jordan Staal (+2500)
The Hurricanes’ captain makes for a compelling Ice Breaker pick tonight, especially since he’s another player unlikely to garner significant volume in the first goalscorer market. Jordan Staal is buried down the odds leaderboard at +2500 but brings very intriguing value in this promotion as well.
Among all 32 NHL teams and a smidge over 700 total active players at any given time, there are fewer than 90 skaters who scored the first goal of a game at least five times this season. Staal was one of them, doing so on exactly five occasions. The longtime veteran recorded his first 20-goal campaign since 2015-16 (can you believe that?) at the age of 37 during the regular season, doing so in 75 games at that. He didn’t post high shot volume, but he did produce when it mattered for Carolina.
Now, Staal has two goals in 13 games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He’s only recorded 18 shots on goal, but his TOI has ticked up to almost 18 minutes a night and is still anchoring the third pairing. Given that he scored the first goal of the game during the regular season more often than any other Hurricane not named Andrei Svechnikov or Sebastian Aho, the captain gets a nod for tonight’s Ice Breaker promotion as another long-shot value.
How to Play NHL Ice Breaker
- Opt in to receive your single-use qualifying bet token on the promotions page
- Place a single $5 bet on any first goalscorer prop bet
- If the player you bet on scores the first goal, you will win a share of $500,000 in bonus bets (the less popular the player, the higher the payout!)
For more information on this promo, click here!
