Join Canada Sports Betting’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player prop bets available from Wednesday’s five-game slate.
Best bet-Jakob Chychrun over 2.5 shots on goal: +105
Jakob Chychrun over 2.5 shots on goal
Chychrun proved to be a great fit in head coach Spencer Carbery’s system in his first season with the Washington Capitals, racking up 20 goals and 47 points in 74 games played. The Capitals love to get their defenders involved in offensive zone sequences with scissor plays along the wall and work low-to-high quite often.
The Capitals’ offensive zone tactics have led to plenty of shot attempts for Chychrun once again this season, as he’s recorded 18.34 shot attempts per 60 this season and 31 shots on goal over the last nine games.
Chychrun recorded five shots on goal in the Capitals’ previous matchup versus the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, and his placement back onto the team’s top power-play unit was a key reason why. Chychrun is expected to remain on the top power-play unit in tonight’s matchup, which is quite relevant regarding his shot prop.
The Capitals’ power play will generally look to set up through elite playmaker John Carlson at the top, who will then typically slide it over to either Alex Ovechkin on the left side or Chychrun on the right. The book is out a little bit on this Ovechkin guy, so teams generally tend to overplay his side, which makes Chychrun’s current placement significant from a shooting perspective.
At +105, I see value in backing Chychrun to record at least three shots on target in tonight’s matchup versus the St. Louis Blues and I would bet it down to -105.
Best bet-Eeli Tolvanen anytime goal-scorer: +275
Eeli Tolvanen to score vs. Sharks
Though he’s not yet shown it this season, Tolvanen has proven to be an underrated goal-scorer that ranks quite highly in terms of goals per 60 rate in his career. Entering this season, Tolvanen had registered 55 goals in 210 career games with the Seattle Kraken while mainly playing in a bottom-six role and on the second power-play unit.
Tolvanen has not yet scored a goal this season, but he has a great opportunity to break through tonight versus the lowly San Jose Sharks. Tolvanen is expected to skate on the team’s top line alongside Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle and on the top power-play unit.
The Sharks have allowed a league-high 4.00 goals against per game this season, and have allowed 3.65 xGA/60. They have killed off just 67.5% of penalties taken, which is significant now that Tolvanen is on the top unit in a role formerly occupied by Jani Nyman.
Considering his expected usage versus a Sharks team leaking oil defensively, this appears to be the right time to back an underrated finisher in Tolvanen tallying his first of the season at +275.