Let’s dive into my favorite widely available plays for Tuesday’s 11-game NHL slate.
For tonight’s lineup, we’re going to focus on three player prop bets, including a long-shot goalscorer bet from a pivotal game between the Senators and Panthers.
NHL Player Props For Thursday, April 6
Anthony Duclair Anytime Goalscorer +310
| Matchup | Senators vs. Panthers |
| Game Pitch | 7 p.m. ET |
| Best Line | FanDuel |
After a late start to the campaign due to Achilles tendon surgery, Duclair has not broken through with the kind of offensive play one might expect through his initial 10 games.
Last year, Duclair scored 31 goals and 58 points in 74 games while often skating in roles worse than he will be in tonight — when he skates on the top unit alongside Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov.
Duclair has been generating a ton of chances as well, but has been snake bitten by a 2.5% shooting percentage, which is 10.6% below his career mark.
He has generated 18.34 shot attempts per 60 and has been more noticeable of late, including a strong performance against Buffalo thanks to a 0.72 individual expected goals mark.
His -5.6 goals scored above expected rating is, on a per game average, one of the worst in the entire league, yet he does have some real finishing ability and is skating in a tremendous position to eventually even get some tap-ins/easy finishes.
Florida should be able to generate four-plus most of the time against the Senators, and I believe Duclair is definitely liable to score one of those — more so than a price of +310 suggests.
Always double check both goalscorer sections on FanDuel, as well. Duclair is +310 in one area and +200 on another.
Pick: Anthony Duclair Anytime Goalscorer +310
Dougie Hamilton Over 3.5 Shots On Goal
| Matchup | Blue Jackets vs. Devils |
| Game Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| Best Line | Bet365 |
With very little in the way of true NHL talent in the lineup, Columbus has continued to allow a ridiculous amount of shots against over the last 10 games and is not likely to clean up that concern anytime soon.
The Blue Jackets gave up 50 shots in Toronto on Tuesday, and I do not believe the Devils will come in too far below that mark in this matchup.
Hamilton has been pouring the puck on goal recently — both at even strength and on the power play — and I believe backing him to go over 3.5 shots for the fifth time in six games is a good bet.
Hamilton may not play to his season average of time on ice in this matchup — which could easily be a blowout — but that is perfectly fine for this bet, considering how likely he is to spend the majority of those minutes in the offensive zone with his side firing away.
Teams are also clearly saying "let's let somebody other than Jack Hughes beat us on the power play," which can lead to a lot of shots from Hamilton at the top, and has been the case recently.
Pick: Dougie Hamilton Over 3.5 Shots On Goal
Juuse Saros Over 32.5 Saves
| Matchup | Hurricanes vs. Predators |
| Game Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| Best Line | N/A |
Carolina has consistently generated a ridiculous amount of shots on goal this season, and that trend seems very likely to continue on Thursday vs. the Predators.
Skating with an extremely shorthanded roster, Nashville is not controlling much of the overall play and is looking to avoid allowing any kind of odd-man rushes or true breakdowns and hang around contests on the strength of its goaltender Juuse Saros.
Saros has been in incredible form of late and is keeping the Predators in games, which they really should not be winning.
Carolina still has much to play for with the division on the line, and if it's true to form, it should generate 36+ shots often enough that betting on Saros to record over 32.5 saves holds some strong value.
Since books have not yet posted this prop, I am estimating, but if it's set at 32.5, I would play it down to -125. And if it's 33.5, I would bet it down to +100, and a sprinkle on some alternative save props at higher prices will be another worthy look.
