Join Canada Sports Betting’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player prop bets available from Tuesday’s 10-game slate.
Best bet-Trevor Zegras Over 0.5 Assists: +128
Trevor Zegras over 0.5 assists
Hindsight is 20-20, but it’s certainly fair to say that it was foolish for the Anaheim Ducks to have traded Zegras at his lowest value, given how obvious it was that former Ducks head coach Greg Cronin was holding back all of the team’s young forwards last season.
Zegras has had an excellent start to the season under Rick Tocchet and leads all Flyers skaters with 16 assists and 26 points in 27 games played. Zegras has tremendous awareness of where the other nine skaters on the ice are at all times, and has done a great job of driving possession this season with his excellent ability to keep plays alive by finding open teammates.
The knock on Zegras is obviously that he’s not remotely imposing physically and doesn’t compete in all areas of the ice. While those faults may be true, his excellent offensive upside has been consistently visible this season, and he’s rightfully worked his way onto the Flyers’ top line alongside Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny, as well as the team’s top power-play unit.
In 181.2 minutes of play, Zegras, Konecny, and Dvorak have scored 4.30 goals per 60 and have displayed strong chemistry, with each skater bringing a different mix of strengths to the table. Philadelphia’s power play has been much improved this season after being a massive weakness for several consecutive seasons, as it ranks 20th in success rate, and much of that comes down to the fact that it runs through Zegras on the half-wall.
The San Jose Sharks have allowed 3.40 goals against per game over the last 10 matchups, and as they are still offering plenty of below-average NHL skaters meaningful roles, they will likely continue to provide strong matchups for opposing offensive stars moving forward.
Zegras has recorded at least one assist in 55.5% of his 27 games played this season, and given that this prop is priced at +128 in a favourable matchup, there appears to be value in riding with that trend Tuesday evening.
Best bet-Connor McDavid Over 1.5 Points: +115
Connor McDavid over 1.5 points
Bet365 is running a superboost on McDavid to record two points at +175 in Tuesday’s matchup versus the Buffalo Sabres, and given that I believe there is value at +115, I’d certainly recommend utilizing the boost if possible, though the limit will be quite low for the majority of users.
After a slow start to the season, McDavid has looked more like his usual self with 28 points over the last 17 games, including five two-point games out of his last 10 matchups. He’s obviously still not recording two points on average, but a home matchup versus a Buffalo Sabres side that skated last night in Calgary provides a better-than-average spot for production, particularly if Colten Ellis is to start in goal.
There have been some positive developments for the Oilers recently, which should help McDavid continue to build on his strong recent production. With Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins both back in the lineup, Edmonton’s power play has succeeded on 46.7% of opportunities over the last six games.
McDavid practiced alongside Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman on Monday, a trio that has played a huge sample of minutes together over the previous two seasons, and has generally been effective. They have spent only 25.4 minutes together this season, but have scored 4.72 goals per 60.
Playing Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman with McDavid leaves some question marks further down Edmonton’s lineup card, but it is a favourable lineup for McDavid to produce in Tuesday’s matchup.
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