NHL Player Props Top Betting Picks For January 8

Join Canada Sports Betting’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player prop bets available from Thursday’s 10-game slate.

Best bet—Jesper Bratt Over 0.5 Assists: +132

Things have gotten surprisingly ugly in New Jersey, as following a 9-0 loss on Tuesday on Long Island, the Devils now hold the third-worst points percentage in the Eastern Conference after entering the season priced at -330 to make the playoffs. Jacob Markstrom’s play in goal has once again been a concern, blue-liners such as Luke Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler have heavily underperformed expectations, and suddenly the Devils’ trio of elite forwards, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier have pretty modest numbers.

While I don’t know that enough of the Devils’ issues will be alleviated in the second half for them to make the playoffs, I’m still a firm believer that a top line of Hischier, Hughes, and Bratt should be among the best units in the Eastern Conference if head coach Sheldon Keefe continues to ride with that unit, which is the case for Thursday’s matchup.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been fairly average defensively over the last month and are fighting an uphill battle with Stuart Skinner in goal, as he’s played to a save percentage of .888 across 28 starts this season.

Bratt is excellent at creating high-quality scoring chances off of the rush, which is a good way to find success versus the Penguins. He’s also a key piece of the Devils’ top power-play unit, which should prove to be a much better than average unit the rest of the way.

There are a number of ways you could target the Devils’ top line in this matchup, but I’m high on the angle that they will be productive in this matchup. Backing both Hughes and Bratt to record a point at +115 appears to be an option, and backing Hughes to record four shots at +130 will also rightfully be a popular play.

With the price up to +132 for Bratt to record an assist, it comes in as my favourite look. With 147 assists over his last 206 regular season games, Bratt has proven to be one of the better playmakers in the league. Considering his linemates and Thursday’s opponent, a price of +132 looks worthy of a bet.

Best bet—Bobby McMann Over 2.5 Shots on Goal: +155

Though he has recorded only two shots on goal over the last two games, McMann has consistently offered greater shot volume when playing further up the lineup card. With Auston Matthews back in top form and firing a ton of pucks on target, McMann certainly isn’t the primary shooter on Toronto’s top line right now, but we can look past that considering his recent volume.

Over the last 10 games, McMann has recorded over 2.5 shots on goal five times. He ranks third on the Maple Leafs in shot attempts per 60 this season and fourth in shots on target per 60, after attempting 16.81 shots per 60 a year ago.

Toronto’s current top line of Matthews, McMann, and Max Domi holds a 63.6% expected goal share and has generated 3.19 xGF/60. Matthews is the primary shooter, but the line has controlled play quite effectively, and McMann is still in a solid role to generate shots on target as a result, particularly given that Domi almost always opts to pass.

Part of the very long price comes down to the fact that Philadelphia does suppress shots quite effectively, which is the concern here. Matthew’s unit still looks formidable enough right now to spend more time attacking in the offensive zone though, which is something the Leafs have been doing more so as a whole of late.

This bet will lose more than it wins, but a price of +155 looks too long for McMann to record three shots against the Flyers looks worth backing given his current role and a large sample of results suggesting he calls his own number quite often, despite that point not always being prominent given that he’s typically skated on the third line over the last two seasons.

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