NHL Player Props For Thursday | Apr. 18

It’s the final day of the NHL regular season!

There are six games on the slate for Thursday, and those 12 teams taking the ice should provide an abundance of player props for hockey bettors.

It has certainly been an interesting season in the scoring department across the NHL, with some gaudy numbers being recorded by individuals.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov tallied his 100th assist last night, and with his 44 goals, he now has a whopping 144 points!

Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers has collected 100 assists as well.

The last player to total 100 assists in a single season was the Great One himself, when Wayne Gretzky picked up 122 assists for the Los Angeles Kings in the 1990-91 NHL season.

This season was also the first since 1988-89 that two players recorded 100 or more assists, when Gretzky (114) and Pittsburgh Penguins’ legend Mario Lemieux (114) each eclipsed the century mark in helpers.

On the goal scoring front, Toronto Maple Leafs’ center Auston Matthews has claimed the Rocket Richard Trophy, leading the NHL in goals with 69; the most since Lemieux scored 69 himself in 1995-96.

The 2023-24 season has been a wildly entertaining deluge of goals and assists.

Remember when Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars led the NHL in points with 87 in 2014-15?

Those were dry times.

In this incredible season of scoring, let’s cap it off with one more look at some regular season player props.

As always, all props are paired with the best odds!

Jared McCann – C, Seattle Kraken

The Seattle Kraken and Minnesota Wild both came up short in the Western Conference standings, so in tonights’ contest, both teams will be playing for purely bragging rights.

For Seattle’s center Jared McCann, 29 goals on the season isn’t much to brag about, but a nice, round 30 goal season sure is.

Thanks to his unreal release, Jared McCann is now one goal shy of his second consecutive 30-goal season! 🏒#NHLStats: https://t.co/YRhCrFp16X

📺: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/yWfPACsxJT pic.twitter.com/84YyVUlRlD

— NHL (@NHL) April 14, 2024

McCann is no stranger to putting the puck in the net, scoring 40 goals last season, and against the Wild, he should have plenty of chances to nab No. 30.

Marc-Andre Fleury (2.98 GAA, .895 SV%) will get the start tonight for Minnesota, and things have not been going smoothly for the 39-year-old future-hall-of-fame goalie.

Fleury has allowed four or more goals in four of his last five appearances, including a seven-goal drubbing from the Vegas Golden Knights in his last outing.

Pick: McCann – Anytime Goalscorer

Best Odds: (+260) FanDuel

Kyle Connor – LW, Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks both finished with over 100 points in the standings this season, so this final regular season game could be the calm before the playoff storm.

Jets’ winger Kyle Connor has appeared in just 65 of Winnipeg’s 81 games, but he has still played at nearly a point-per-game pace, collecting 61 points.

One thing Connor seems to do regularly is fire shots at the net.

Connor has whipped 221 shots on goal in 65 games, which is 3.4 shots on goal per game, and his 221 shots trails the team leader Nikolaj Ehlers (231 shots) by only 10, despite playing in 16 less games.

The Canucks have allowed the fifth-fewest shots on goal against in the NHL, but if the Jets are going to lean on anyone to put the puck on the net, I’d expect it to be Connor.

The last time Winnipeg faced Vancouver on March 9th, Connor failed to get the puck past the Canucks’ goalie tandem of Thatcher Demko (12 saves) and Casey DeSmith (10 saves) in a 5-0 loss, but he still picked up four shots on goal.

Even if Connor comes up short in the goal scoring column once again, it won’t be for a lack of effort.

Pick: Connor – OVER 2.5 Shots On Goal

Best Odds: (-130) BetMGM

Nathan MacKinnon – C, Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche host the Edmonton Oilers in a regular season finale, which will be the next chapter in the “McDuel” between Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche and Connor McDavid of the Oilers.

In two head-to-head games this season, each team has come away with a win, and in this rubber match, I’d expect some offensive fireworks.

HATTY FOR MACKINNON 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/uO7qIP5dSd

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 10, 2024

MacKinnon has recorded a ridiculous 138 points (51 goals, 87 assists) thus far, but in those two games against Edmonton, he has only picked up two points; one assist in each game.

Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner (2.57 GAA, .907 SV%) has been strong between the pipes lately, allowing two goals or less in each of his last four starts, but all of those were home games, as were both of his appearances against Colorado this season.

Skinner’s save percentage on the road is an unspectacular .898, and he has allowed at least three goals or more in his last three road starts.

MacKinnon centers the Avs’ top line, being flanked by both Mikko Rantanen and Jonthan Drouin, and those savvy wingers could propel MacKinnon to a multi-point night.

Two more points for MacKinnon would push his season point total to 140, and as an offensive force all season long, the juice is worth the squeeze for MacKinnon to go over 1.5 points.

Pick: MacKinnon – OVER 1.5 Points

Best Odds: (-110) DraftKings

Anze Kopitar – C, Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings will host the Chicago Blackhawks and in two games against Chicago this season, Los Angeles has won big both times.

The Kings shutout the Blackhawks 5-0 on March 15th, then dusted them again four days later, winning 6-2.

Los Angeles’ long-time center Anze Kopitar tallied a combined five points in those two games (4 goals and one assist).

Los Angeles goal!

Scored by Anze Kopitar with 08:08 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Adrian Kempe.

Los Angeles: 3
Chicago: 1#CHIvsLAK #GoKingsGo #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/dVCEx7cUfE

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 20, 2024

Chicago’s defense has been garbage all season, with Petr Mrazek (3.05 GAA, .908 SV%) and Anton Soderblom (3.88 GAA, SV%) just getting peppered in the net.

Early indications are that Soderblom will be manning the crease tonight, but either way, the Kings should put a crooked number up on the scoreboard.

Kopitar has produced 70 points in 80 games this season, including 18 multi-point games.

Half of Kopitar’s multi-point games have come in the last 22 contests, which is two or more points in 41% of those games.

Pick: Kopitar – ALT Points: 2+

Best Odds: (+245) DraftKings