Skip to main content

NHL Player Props & Best Bets Today: Expect Wild One in Tampa Bay

Ryan Gilbert

Last Updated: January 18, 2024 6:38 PM EST • 3 min 35 sec read.

NHL best bets
NHL best bets

The NHL delivers a full slate Thursday with 11 games on the schedule, and we're offering our top NHL prop picks and best bets based on the leading NHL odds.

There's a loaded Thursday night on the ice, with 22 teams in action as we cross into the second half of the NHL regular season.

One of the headliners comes at 7 p.m. ET when the Colorado Avalanche travel to face the Boston Bruins in an interconference showdown, while the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Calgary at 9 p.m. ET as they look to rebound against the Flames. A battle between the New York Rangers and Vegas Golden Knights closes out the evening as one of three contests at 10 p.m. ET.

Here are our top NHL prop picks and best bets for Thursday (odds via our best NHL betting sites; Pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Thursday’s NHL schedule and odds

(Odds via DraftKings)

Thursday’s NHL best bets

Not intended for use in MA
Affiliate Disclosure: Sportsbook Review may receive advertising commissions for visits to a sportsbook

Thursday’s NHL prop picks

Nazem Kadri to record a point vs. Maple Leafs (-135 via DraftKings)  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri has already had several revenge games against his former team. The Calgary Flames center has put up eight points in seven games against the Leafs in his career.

Kadri has been red-hot for the Flames recently. He’s riding a seven-game point streak and has a point in nine of 10 games since the holiday break. Overall this season, Kadri has a point in 28 of 44 games, including 27 of 36 games since Oct. 29.

The Maple Leafs have struggled defensively all year, and that hasn’t changed recently with at least four goals allowed in four straight games. Kadri should get in on the action tonight.

Charlie Coyle Over 1.5 shots on goal vs. Avalanche (-167 via BetRivers) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Bruins have been struggling to find some center depth after Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired, and Charlie Coyle has stepped up a bit in that sense. He’s centering the top line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, as well as the top power-play unit.

Coyle is averaging over two shots per game (89 shots in 43 contests). He has gone Over 1.5 shots on goal in six straight games and 14 of his last 16 overall.

This could be a good ladder spot for Coyle, as he’s gone Over 2.5 shots in four of his last five games (four, five, two, three, and five shots). This is also a great price at -167 via BetRivers as Coyle is priced as high as -200 at our other best sports betting apps.

Visit our Google News page and click "Follow" (⭐) for the latest odds, picks and news! 

Thursday’s NHL game picks

Lightning ML vs. Wild (-135 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Tampa Bay Lightning were happy to return home last week after going 1-2-0 on their three-game road trip. They’ve now won three games in a row to bring their record at Amalie Arena up to 14-5-3 this season. The Bolts have been much better at home than on the road (8-12-2) so far this year.

The Minnesota Wild have similar splits with an 11-9-3 home record but just 7-11-2 on the road. They took down the New York Islanders 5-0 last time out, but that was just their second win in their last 10 games.

Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start for the Lightning tonight. While his overall numbers (12-9-0, 2.86 GAA, .898 SV%) aren’t too great, he’s been solid recently with three straight wins and just six goals allowed in that span.

The Lightning are a great home team and the Wild are an abysmal road team. Take the Bolts as just -135 favorites with BetMGM.

Rangers ML vs. Golden Knights (-130 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Golden Knights looked like they might be able to run it back this season all the way to the Stanley Cup, and they still could, but injuries have taken a toll thus far.

Shea Theodore has been out since early December and top-six centers Jack Eichel and William Karlsson joined him on the shelf this month. Of course, they’re still without Adin Hill, who was once a top candidate for the Vezina Trophy.

Vegas has been extremely inconsistent recently with a 4-8-0 record since Dec. 19. The Knights have the ninth-worst expected goals-for percentage in the last 10 games.

The Rangers have been due for some regression for a while, but they’re battling through it. After a tough four-game losing streak, they bounced back with home wins against the Washington Capitals and Seattle Kraken.

The good news is they’re rather healthy, and Igor Shesterkin may be turning a corner in net with just three goals allowed on 56 shots in the past two games.

NHL best bets made Thursday at 11:00 a.m. ET

Here are our best NHL betting sites:

(21+. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER)
* Bonuses not applicable in Ontario.

Related pages

Written By:
Ryan Gilbert
Ryan Gilbert is a contributing writer at SportsbookReview.com, covering hockey and baseball. He is the lead NHL writer and editor at the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, where he also co-hosts the Hockey Gambling Podcast. Ryan covers the Philadelphia Flyers for Broad Street Hockey and co-founded Sons of Penn. His past stops include NBC Sports Regional Networks and NHL.com.