Join Canada Sports Betting’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player prop bets available from Friday’s eight-game slate.
Best bet—Victor Olofsson Over 2.5 Shots on Goal: +155
Olofsson over 2.5 SOG
Olofsson is a fairly one-dimensional player, being a guy with high goal-scoring upside that doesn’t bring a lot else to the table. He’s bounced around three teams already in his young career, but he’s not been dubbed “Goalofsson” for nothing, having scored 114 goals in 418 games, while averaging a hair over 15:00 of time-on-ice per game in his career.
At various points in his career, he’s been elevated onto the team’s top lines and top power-play units as a short-term fill-in, as he does possess high-end finishing ability.
Olofsson skated a season-high 21:11 in Wednesday’s matchup versus the Anaheim Ducks, playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas on the Avs’ top line, as well as on the team’s top power-play unit. Regardless of Olofsson’s overall effectiveness, he’s always likely to spend a ton of time attacking in the offensive zone if he is to play alongside MacKinnon and Necas.
That makes Olofsson an enticing bet in this market, as he has been a volume shooter while playing in much lesser roles this season, averaging 8.49 shots per 60, which ranks third on the Avalanche and is no surprise considering who he is as a player.
I’ll be keeping my eyes out for official confirmation that Olofsson is set to remain in the same roles at Friday’s morning skate, but if he is to remain in the same roles, a price of +155 for Olofsson to record three shots on goal provides strong value.
Best bet—Cutter Gauthier Over 3.5 Shots on Goal: +105
Gauthier over 3.5 SOG
Gauthier has recorded over 3.5 shots on goal in four of the last five games. As we touched on ahead of Monday’s matchup with the New York Rangers, the lone game out of the last five in which he did not come in over 3.5 shots on goal was when he skated only 8:54, after seemingly coming back into the lineup while still dealing with an illness that kept him sidelined from the previous matchup.
Gauthier has attempted 25.03 shots per 60 this season, which is by a margin the highest rate in the NHL. He ranks second in shots on target per 60, and when he is in line for a strong workload, he is naturally a popular target in this market.
With Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson sidelined, Gauthier has averaged over 17 minutes of time-on-ice over the last three matchups. The Ducks have a more clear-cut top power play than usual right now, which features Gauthier on the right flank. I don’t love his current role at even strength alongside Jeffrey Viel and Ryan Poehling, but head coach Joel Quenneville did use the unit more than any other combination in Wednesday’s matchup versus the Avalanche.
Gauthier has been clearing this line versus some strong defensive sides of late, such as the Avalanche and Kings, which is encouraging given how many shots the Seattle Kraken have been allowing to opposing teams recently. The Kraken have allowed 30.68 shots against per 60 over the last 10 games.
You can follow all of Nick’s hockey bets on the Action Network App!