NHL Player Props Top Betting Picks For January 20

Join Canada Sports Betting’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player prop bets available from Tuesday’s eight-game slate.

Best bet—Jake Sanderson Over 0.5 Points: -120

The Ottawa Senators have been in pretty strong form offensively of late; over the last 10 games they have generated 3.76 xGF/60 and scored 3.40 goals per game where it counts. Sanderson made waves for his criticism of the team’s goaltending following Ottawa’s 6-5 overtime loss versus the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, and his point was certainly reasonable, even if perhaps not necessarily ideal for a team that was already dealing with enough drama.

Sanderson’s frustrations are certainly more reasonable given that the defender has played at a high level of late. Sanderson has racked up 13 points over the last 11 games while averaging 25:15 of time-on-ice. Sanderson quarterbacks a Senators power play that has succeeded on 21.6% of opportunities over the last 10 games, and does an excellent job of helping drive offensive zone possession, as well as jumping up as the fourth man in the attack.

Tuesday’s matchup versus the Columbus Blue Jackets features a betting total of 6.5 with the over currently priced at -130 and the Senators priced as slight betting favourites at -115. A price of -130 for over 6.5 goals makes this one of the higher totals of the season, and it seems reasonable given that Columbus still looks shaky defensively, while the Senators’ goaltending remains entirely unconvincing.

Considering Sanderson’s recent offensive form and the hefty workload he is handling on a nightly basis, a price of -120 for Sanderson to record at least one point in this potential shootout appears to be a strong bet.

Best bet—Vladimir Tarasenko Over 2.5 Shots on Goal: +175

With Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Marcus Johansson on the IR, Tarasenko has been elevated back onto Minnesota’s top power-play unit as well as the second line. With those skaters missing, the Wild certainly needed some depth skaters to step up, and Tarasenko certainly has with three goals, six points and 12 shots on goal over the last three games.

Though Tarasenko’s best years are well behind him, he’s most known for his extremely heavy wrist shot, which is why he becomes an enticing skater in this market while he’s playing in more offensive roles. He’s generated 18 shot attempts over the past three games, and based on his production it seems likely that head coach John Hynes will continue to lean more heavily on Tarasenko in Tuesday’s matchup than we have seen for much of the season.

At a long price of +175, I see value in riding with Tarasenko to record three shots on goal in Tuesday’s matchup versus the Montreal Canadiens, as it does not seem to be enough of an adjustment to Tarasenko’s current usage from online sportsbooks.

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