NHL picks: 4 best player props for Thursday
08 Dec
NHL
Guy Giles1
Chris Peters picks out his four best player prop bets for Thursday night's busy slate in the NHL.

All the latest NHL lines can be found on the Betway sportsbook. Before finalising your online sports betting selections, make sure to check out our expert’s NHL picks and NHL predictions.

Johnny Gaudreau to score 1+ points vs Carolina 1.44

The Calgary Flames have gotten great balanced scoring, but their most consistent offensive player all season has been Gaudreau. Whether at home or on the road, he is averaging a point per game or better. In his career against Carolina, he has 10 points in 12 games.

Gaudreau has also had at least one point in each of his last four games and 10 of his last 11. I like the Flames to find a way to get a win against Carolina on home ice and if they do, you’d have to think Gaudreau is playing a significant role. If you want to goose the value a bit, you could consider a Gaudreau to score 2+ points play, too.

Auston Matthews to score anytime vs Tampa Bay 2.05

He’s riding a seven-game goal streak into Thursday night’s contest, so why not play the hot hand? Matthews has reinserted himself into the Rocket Richard discussion after getting off to a slower start than we’re used to seeing from him on the goal-scoring front.

He does have five career goals in 14 games against the Lightning, so this is not a team he has traditionally torched or anything, but when you see a player as dialed in as Matthews has been, it’s worth giving it a play until he decides to cool down. Goal streaks don’t last forever, but ride the hot hand.

Mark Scheifele to score 1+ points vs Seattle 1.50

It hasn’t been the best start to the season for Scheifele, but he’s been picking it up lately with eight points over his last four games. He’s been a positive factor in games more frequently even though his defensive play has seemed to suffer a bit more of late.

With Scheifele on fire offensively and Seattle not always being the sharpest team defensively, I think there’s a good case to expect Scheifele will continue to produce. He did take a knee-on-knee hit in his last game, but looked like he would be good to go.

Connor McDavid to score 3+ points vs Boston 3.25

Let’s go out on a limb for this one.

After just one point in his last two games, I like McDavid to go off a little bit against Boston. He has 12 points in eight career games against the Bruins, but only one in the last meeting between the two teams, which was on the road.

While McDavid has been consistent at home or away, he’s been a little better at home, averaging two points per game. Dave Tippett can get him some favorable matchups over the course of the game, too.

The league’s most dynamic offensive player has three or more points in six different games this season, four of which have come at home. With Edmonton currently in a three-game skid, look for the captain to put the team on his back against a quality Eastern opponent and have one of those signature McDavid performances.