Blackhawks vs. Maple Leafs Wednesday NHL injury report, odds: Toronto biggest betting favorite of season with Auston Matthews' expected return

The Toronto Maple Leafs were always going to be huge home favorites on Wednesday against a tanking Chicago Blackhawks team playing the second half of a back-to-back, but with Leafs superstar Auston Matthews now expected to return from injury, Toronto is the biggest betting favorite of the NHL season at Caesars Sportsbook, priced a whopping -600.

Searching an NHL odds database, I can't find a previous instance of the Leafs being priced at -600 – that doesn't mean it hasn't happened, as all books have different odds. The biggest number I could find was Toronto at -550 vs. the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 17, 2022. The Coyotes pulled off the 4-2 upset at +425. Chicago is +430 tonight. It's believed the biggest NHL upset since 2010 was the Coyotes at +450 when they won at the Colorado Avalanche (-550) 3-2 in a shootout on Feb. 1, 2022.

Matthews, the reigning NHL goal-scoring champion, last played on Jan. 25 against the New York Rangers before being shut down due to a knee sprain. The American has 25 goals and 28 assists with a plus-19 rating in 47 games. He has practiced in full this week and barring some unforeseen setback will play. Toronto went 2-3 in the five games he missed, including an embarrassing loss to the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

"It can't be overstated," head coach Sheldon Keefe said about what it would mean to get Matthews back. "It's significant. It changes a lot about our team. Not just what he brings with his contributions but also how it slots everybody else in, and makes you that much deeper and much harder to defend, especially at home-ice, last change. That creates some real challenges for the opposition."

According to the Toronto Sun, Keefe will bench defenseman Justin Holl, who played poorly in that loss against Columbus, and Conor Timmins will play in his place. Holl and Mark Giordano are the only Leafs defensemen who have played in all 54 games this season.

The Blackhawks have made no secret about their tanking intentions and have the second-fewest points in the NHL with 37, one more than Columbus. The Hawks were dominated 4-0 at Montreal on Tuesday and are 0-7-1 in the second games of back-to-back sets.

Star forward Patrick Kane very well could be traded to Toronto by the March 3 deadline. The former Hart Trophy winner and future Hall of Famer has a no-trade clause and reportedly will only waive it to be sent to the Leafs or New York Rangers, who probably don't need him after recently acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues.

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