The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs have not disappointed, and entering night 11 of action, we have yet to see any team eliminated.
Thursday's excellent slate features two knockout games and a pivotal battle between the Devils and Rangers.
We have a prop pick for two of the matchups, as well as a 200/1 play on the futures side of things.
NHL Player Props for Thursday, April 27
Brayden Point Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (-130)
| Lightning vs. Leafs | |
| Puck Drop | 7 p.m. ET |
| Best Line | DraftKings |
The Lightning will be in do-or-die mode tonight in Toronto and will be highly reliant on their top stars to turn the tide.
That's especially true considering their second and third lines have had a pretty rough series, which could lead to extremely high usage for Point, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos.
Despite the 3-1 series scoreline, Point and Kucherov have both been true to form and have been mainly dominant in this series.
They have each proven themselves in big moments time and time again, and I expect them to make an impact Thursday.
These factors automatically make me very interested in backing Tampa's top stars to perform props wise.
Backing Point to record over 2.5 shots on goal at -130 is a very safe option to start with. He has 16 shots in the series and only missed this mark when he skated just 17 minutes in a Game 2 blowout.
Nikita Kucherov Over 1.5 Points (+158)
| Lightning vs. Leafs | |
| Puck Drop | 7 p.m. ET |
| Best Line | FanDuel |
The Lightning have been generating offense at a perfectly fine rate in this series, with four goals per game through four contests.
Despite losing results in Games 3 and 4, creating quality offensive chances was clearly far from the problem, and Kucherov — as always — was involved in many of the better chances to score.
As noted, I expect Kucherov and Point to bring it tonight and each could play big minutes. Kucherov has put up six points in four games so far this series and has recorded multi-point games in two of those matchups.
This is my second favorite way to target that duo to have a big night.
A powerplay point, four shots or backing Kucherov to record an assist are also all looks I could get behind.
Mika Zibanejad Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (-122)
| Rangers vs. Devils | |
| Puck Drop | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Best Line | BetRivers |
Thursday presents an interesting buy-low spot on Mika Zibanejad, who has one of the best one-timers in the league, yet has put just eight shots on goal in four games in this series.
Credit goes to the Devils for limiting a lethal scorer to so few chances, but I am not counting on it continuing in tonight's matchup.
The Rangers practiced with Zibanejad back in his regular spot at the top of the left circle, which should always be their go-to look on the powerplay. His one-timer should always be the "A" option.
We see fans wondering all the time why guys like Alex Ovechkin and Stamkos can pound in one-timer after one-timer from the same spot. It's extremely hard for penalty killers to cover reasonable puck movement when short a man.
At even strength, I feel like we should see Zibanejad find a way to be more involved as well, and I believe he is very capable of thriving in playoff hockey.
In last year's postseason, Zibanejad put up 24 points in 20 games, with a whopping total of 63 shots on target.
-122 for three shots on goal from Zibanejad is the best price we have seen in a while, so I love this prop.
Anytime goalscorer is another very reasonable look, and he would be my favorite Rangers target on that front.
Philipp Grubauer Conn Smythe (Playoff MVP) +20000 (Bet365)
There's a good chance the Kraken do not even finish off the defending champion Avalanche here in round one.
I get that. By no means do I love their chances to win the Stanley Cup, and I would hate the way they match up with Edmonton in a potential West Final.
At 200/1, I think this is an extremely fun bet, which is worth a sprinkle. The underdog Kraken are an extremely lovable side, and this is an excellent way to get a taste of a potential Cinderella story.
But things (mainly injuries) happen and hockey is very random. Oddsmakers are respecting Seattle enough to have it at just 17/1 to win outright.
The Kraken's play in this series has been really strong, as well. Anybody who has really paid attention would admit that a 3-2 series lead has not been simply favorable puck luck and has been very deserved.
If we give any credit to the shorthanded Avalanche, then the Kraken deserve lots of respect. So, maybe they are a little live to win it all, and since this Conn Smythe price does not make sense, I want to get involved.
Grubauer is priced below five other Kraken to win the Conn Smythe, which is why this number is too long and worth attacking.
Seattle was a win by committee team in the regular season, and that has been the case more than ever to start the playoffs in terms of production. Only Jaden Schwartz and Justin Schultz are at a point per game so far and are not likely to be the team's most valuable skaters moving forwards.
None of the most likely candidates have had an overly productive start to the postseason.
Jared McCann would be a threat, but he is now injured and was not producing to start the playoffs. Vince Dunn would be another threat to steal this award, but he has also had a tough go so far production wise.
Has Grubauer been great the last two years? Not at all. But it's easy to forget just two years ago he was a Vezina nominee.
Grubauer's +2.4 GSAx and .918 save % to start the playoffs have been a huge factor in Seattle's surprising 3-2 series lead.
If the underdog Kraken actually won the cup, it would need elite goaltending, and Grubauer has shown he is still capable of that in a small sample so far.
