Join Canada Sports Betting’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player prop bets available from Wednesday’s eight-game slate after the Olympic break.
The NHL schedule will resume Wednesday following a 20-day pause, and I’m excited to outline my favourite player props from the card below. These guides are up 17.2 units across 119 selections this season, and hopefully we can keep it going as we get into what should be an enthralling conclusion to the year.
William Nylander Over 2.5 Shots on Goal: +160
William Nylander over 2.5 SOG
Oddsmakers at online sportsbooks seem to be underrating the shot volume that we will likely see out of Nylander moving forward, as most of his recent letdown performances in terms of shot volume hold pretty logical explanations.
On January 15th in Vegas, Nylander recorded only one shot after being injured early in the first, finishing with just 2:17 of ice time. On January 13th, the Utah Mammoth completely dominated the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were in a nightmare spot, and Nylander recorded only one shot on target. In Nylander’s return from injury on January 10th, he recorded only one shot across 13:16 of ice time. In the game in which Nylander was originally injured on December 27th, he played only 8:27 while recording one shot.
Excluding those performances, Nylander has recorded at least three shots on goal in six straight games. Even if we include those recent performances where Nylander played drastically fewer minutes than usual, Nylander has still recorded over 2.5 shots on goal in six of his last 10 games, which is an excellent hit rate for a prop priced at +160.
Nylander was still dealing with an injury at the Olympics, as at no point did he participate in Team Sweden’s practices. Still, he registered 17 shots and four points across five games and did not look to be too hampered.
It’s possible that we see some of the skaters who played big minutes in the Olympics look a little fatigued at the initial part of the restart, but that will likely apply most notably to skaters from nations that made the medal round and who just returned to North America on Tuesday.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are an excellent defensive team, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Wednesday’s matchup is not exactly the sharpest defensive game they play this season coming off the lengthy layoff. Nylander was priced at +145 to record three shots in his most recent game versus the Edmonton Oilers (finished with three), so the price here is up a fair bit due to the quality of competition.
A long price of +160 for Nylander to record three shots or more seems to provide excellent value Wednesday.
Jared McCann Over 2.5 Shots on Goal: +132
Jared McCann over 2.5 SOG
A matchup at the American Airlines Center in Dallas to take on the Stars is never ideal for the visitors, but McCann and the Seattle Kraken do seem to be handling one of the toughest road matchups the league can offer at a good time.
All three of the Stars’ top defenders, Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley, played big minutes at the Olympics, and could be fatigued, having travelled home following the medal round in short order before this matchup. Mikko Rantanen will be out of the lineup due to injury, and more notably for the sake of this prop, elite two-way centre Roope Hintz may also miss the game due to illness.
If Lindell, Heiskanen, and Harley aren’t at their best, or Hintz is to sit, Seattle’s top line of McCann, Jordan Eberle, and Matty Beniers could have an easier time creating scoring chances. in this matchup than they would on average versus the Stars.
The trio had been on a tear entering the break, led by a return to form from McCann, who is without question Seattle’s best goal-scorer when at his best.
Over the last 20 games, McCann has put up 11 goals and 23 points and recorded over 2.5 shots on goal 12 times. He possesses a tremendous shot and should always be encouraged to fire away with impunity given the lack of high-end finishing ability in the Kraken’s lineup.
Over the last five games, McCann has attempted 5.0 shots per game. Seattle’s top line has played to a 59.3% expected goal share across 208.6 minutes of play this season, and McCann should be well-situated to continue getting a lot of scoring opportunities down the stretch if they can continue to play at the level we saw immediately prior to the break.
A price of +132 looks to provide strong value to back Seattle’s top goal-scoring threat to pour three shots on target Wednesday in a matchup versus a Dallas side that may not be as stout defensively as we have typically seen.
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