The NHL season is underway and we’ve got plenty of action to break down. Tonight’s a three-game slate around the League so let’s try and hit a parlay and go into the weekend with a bang. Some intriguing names tonight include David Perron of the Detroit Red Wings and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche for our best NHL player props.
Let’s take a look at my top three plays from tonight’s NHL slate, which pays out at a price of around +591 on FanDuel.
*Odds courtesy of FanDuel
Tonight’s NHL Player Props | October 21
David Perron Over 2.5 Shots on Goal -136:
With Jakub Vrana and Tyler Bertuzzi currently sidelined from Detroit’s top-six, Detroit should remain be heavily reliant upon its proven wingers for the time being.
Which means a crucial role for offseason free-agent signing David Perron, and that is exactly what we saw Monday versus Los Angeles.
Perron skated on the top-line and top powerplay unit, managing six shots on goal, with two goals and one assist. He gets a very solid matchup tonight versus a Chicago team which will likely be bottom five in every defensive category this season, at best.
Perron averaged 3.5 shots on goal throughout the 12 playoff games to end last year, and I am projecting strong value at this number.
His other NHL player props are certainly on the table as well tonight, alongside Dominik Kubalik, who will also be skating in a heightened role on the Wings top line, and alongside Dylan Larkin that trio could also make quite the stack if DFS is your thing. Make sure to shop other intriguing bets on OddsShopper.
Tampa Bay Lightning Moneyline -105:
The Lightning have had a slow start to the season thus far, managing a record just 1-3-0 to this point, while the rival Florida Panthers have put together a 3-1-0 record and are seemingly well situated to get some revenge in this game for last season’s embarrassing playoff sweep.
Well not so fast, as Aaron Ekblad’s absence leaves a massive hole on the Panthers blue-line, a concern which should shine through more so tonight than it did versus a weaker Philly team, who were on a back-to-back to begin with.
The first leg of Philly’s back-to-back? A surprising win over the very Lightning, who should play with far more urgency tonight as it looks to avoid a 1-4-0 start,
I believe this is a good buy-low spot with the Lightning priced as slight underdogs at -105 to best their in-state rivals.
Nathan MacKinnon Over 0.5 Powerplay Points +104:
Backing Nathan MacKinnon to record over 4.5 shots at -115 or the game total to go over 6.5 will certainly both be very popular and valid options tonight, but this is actually my favorite play from the game.
Colorado’s powerplay clicked at a ridiculous 32.8% success rate throughout last postseason, and has not missed a beat to start this campaign, with a 53.9% success rate in the opening four games this year.
We know that mark won’t hold, but led by Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, this unit should be ridiculously good all season long.
Colorado suffered a rare home loss Wednesday versus the Jets, and I expect a strong effort tonight from its stars such as Mackinnon.
I actually am still holding strong to my belief that Seattle are still somewhat underrated as a side and in turn do not see much value playing the Avalanche as a side as gigantic favorites.
However in particular Seattle’s penalty kill has been atrocious again to start this season in the early going, with just a 65% success rate, and we saw Seattle struggle badly in that area over an 82 game sample last season, in which the Kraken had the league’s 31st rated penalty kill.
