An anytime goal-scorer bet is one of the most popular and straightforward player prop wagers in NHL betting. It allows you to bet on a specific player to score a goal at any point during the game, whether it’s the first goal, last goal, or any goal in between. This bet type offers an exciting way to stay engaged with the game, as your selected player can score at any moment to cash your bet.
Related: Check out Canada Sports Betting’s best NHL bets for Jan. 22 with our AI-generated recap.
Let’s take a look at three skaters to feature in an anytime goal-scorer parlay in the NHL on Thursday night, which prices out at +2238 on bet365. I’d personally recommend also staking these anytime goal-scorer picks as a round-robin wager, allowing us to profit off hitting two of three of our goal-scorers finding the back of the net.
Nick’s AGS parlay
Cole Caufield to Score: +145
Backing Caufield to score will likely be among the most popular bets from Thursday’s NHL slate, but this does seem to be the right time to keep it square and ride with the masses.
Caufield is one of the more dangerous shooters in the league, and he’s been feeling it of late with four goals over the last three games, following a four-game goalless drought. We liked Caufield to score at +140 in Montreal’s matchup versus the Buffalo Sabres last Thursday, and it’s surprising that the price for Caufield to score has actually gone up since the previous matchup considering his form since that game.
Over the last 12 games, Caufield has generated 5.61 individual expected goals and averaged 6.41 shot attempts per game. He’s also averaged 3.53 shots on target during that span. It seems likely that he will continue to get a comparable amount of scoring chances moving forward, as Nick Suzuki is in the midst of an excellent year and is a strong distributor at even strength, while the Canadiens’ top power-play unit has moved the puck well of late and has done a good job of setting up the team’s most threatening shooter in Caufield.
Caufield has scored on 16% of shots on target over the last two seasons, and it seems fair to argue that he will continue to finish chances at a high rate moving forward due to his pinpoint accuracy and excellent release. While his recent underlying chance creation metrics are strong, if anything they probably still undersell the quality of looks he’s been getting, given that he is capable of scoring from more difficult spots than the majority of NHL skaters.
As noted, Caufield scored last week versus the Sabres and had five shots on target. That’s not overly surprising, given that the Sabres have allowed 3.96 xGA/60 and 30.54 shots against per 60 throughout the month of January. The Canadiens are slight favourites in Thursday’s matchup, which features a total of 6.5, and at +145, Caufield presents as a strong bet to score.
Roman Josi to Score: +400
Backing Josi to record over 2.5 shots on goal at +100 made the cut for Thursday’s player prop guide, and at a price of +400, it seems reasonable to double-dip in backing the Predators captain to score in his 1,000th NHL game.
Josi has been pouring attempts toward goal recently, as he has averaged 6.28 shot attempts per game over the last 14 matchups. Six of those attempts have found the back of the net, which is obviously extremely encouraging given the price of Josi to score in Thursday’s matchup.
Over the last 15 games, the Predators power play has succeeded on 26.7% of opportunities. Steven Stamkos’ one-timer is still the team’s preferred look, but Josi has been getting some good looks from the top as teams have attempted to press Stamkos. At even strength, the Predators have been playing a better offensive game of late, generating 3.32 xGF/60 over the last 10 games, which is encouraging given the hefty workload that Josi handles on a nightly basis.
James Reimer has been sharp in his first two games with the Ottawa Senators, but still has to be viewed as a fairly unconvincing option. Maybe he won’t struggle as mightily as Leevi Merilainen and Linus Ullmark have this season, but it would still be logical to expect a decent offensive output from the Predators in Thursday’s matchup, and a price of +400 to back a red-hot Josi seems quite appealing.
Connor McDavid to Score: -110
The narrative that McDavid seems to have a little extra jump when he faces off against his childhood idol’s side seems to be pretty legitimate. In 17 head-to-head matchups versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, McDavid has racked up 34 points and 11 goals. He put up two goals and two assists in the first matchup of the season between these sides.
McDavid has been a little snake-bitten recently entering this matchup, as he’s not scored a goal over the last six games. He’s more consistently called his own number as a shooter over the last two months of play, and that theme has continued despite the drought, as he’s averaged five shots per game during the slump.
Looking at a larger sample of play, a price of -110 for McDavid to score a goal in a favourable matchup looks quite reasonable. Over the last 25 games, McDavid has recorded 19 goals, and absurdly enough, he’s generated 20.03 individual expected goals in that span, which suggests, based on Evolving Hockey’s model, he’s scored essentially at the exact rate that is to be expected based on a database of shots from those specific locations of the ice.
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