Odds were released by Bodog today for NHL individual player props. Last year, many of us were hopefully able to cash in on Malkin and his 30/1 odds for the hart/ross. No such luck this year as the oddsmakers have him at 5/1. I'm always looking for value bets at the start of the season so here are a few that stuck out for me:

Long shots:
Anze Kopitar 100/1 for Art Ross: News out of LA today suggests that Anze expected to miss 2-3 weeks with his knee injury. That means he is likely to miss, at the very least, the season opener (probably closer to 2-3 games missed). But Anze is notorious for coming out of the gate hot and one multi-point game could get him right back in the race early. $10 for a cool grand is not a bad gamble.

James Neal 85/1: Guy dropped for 81 points last year riding shotgun to Geno and if Sid can add an extra dimension to the penguins powerplay he should be right up there again. Is he likely to beat out Crosby and Malkin for the NHL scoring race? No, but if there was any season he was going to do it, it’s a condensed one where a couple blowout games by the pens could propel this winger over the top. Skip the latte today and your 5 bucks could pay you over 4 hunny come May.

Safer Bets:
Evgeni Malkin 5/1: I know I know, no where close to the 30/1 we saw last year and the value really isn’t that great. But this guy is coming back from dominating the KHL during the lockout and I personally think he is just going to pick up right where he left off. He’s about a safe a pick you can get for the Art Ross and he’s not even the favorite.

Claude Giroux: 10/1: At 10/1, Giroux offers some pretty good value here. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to see him on top of the league at seasons end. A small step forward for Claude could mean some decent cake for you when the hardware is given out.

Notables:

Carolina Hurricanes Over/Under 53.5 (Over): Last year the hurricanes finished with 82 points. Prorated over 48 games and you obviously get a 48 point season. With addition of Staal and Semin one has to believe the Canes are going to be a better team this year and just a few more wins should get you the over when all is said and done.

Alex Pietrangelo 10/1 (Norris): The usual suspects at the top of this list (Chara, Weber) but at 10/1 Piet offers some solid value. If he can build on his +16, 51 point season last year, he will undoubtedly be in the mix when the dust settles.

Those are a few that stuck out for me, anybody else got their eye on something this year??