Best NHL player prop bets (Dec. 11): Back these two star players on Wednesday

Join Daily Faceoff’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player props available on Wednesday night.

Tage Thompson Anytime Goalscorer: +155 Sports Interaction

Over the last 10 games, the New York Rangers are 2-8-0, and have allowed 4.00 goals against per game. They have allowed 4.18 xGA/60 in that span, which is the highest mark in the league by a wide margin in that period.

There’s been numerous games that have felt like the potential “get-right” spot for the Rangers, including Monday versus the Chicago Blackhawks, yet they have continued to play terrible defensively in those matchups. It continues to feel like the only thing suggesting coach Peter Laviolette’s Rangers’ side will turn things around is that they did win the Presidents’ Trophy with a comparable roster a year ago.

While trading away Jacob Trouba has the potential to be a manoeuvre which provides an addition-by-subtraction effect, the Rangers were still outplayed by the Blackhawks in their first game without Trouba on Monday. They allowed 32 shots on goal and 12 high-danger chances.

There’s a solid argument to be made that in any matchup +155 is a good price for Thompson to score, and the Rangers look to be an excellent matchup right now. Thompson has scored 15 goals in 23 games this season, and recorded a single goal in 56.25% of games played this season.

Thompson is due for some regression in terms of shooting percentage, as he has scored on 19.5% of shots on goal this season. However, his larger body of work suggests that his shooting percentage may not fall off too significantly.

It’s well known that Thompson’s down season in 2023-24 was due to a significant wrist injury, and even still he scored 0.40 goals per game. In 2022-23, he netted 47 goals in 78 games shooting while scoring on 15.9% of shots on goal. In 2021-22 he scored 38 goals and scored on 15.0% of shots.

It’s pretty clear watching Thompson shoot the puck that he is simply just a far better-than-average shooter. He has good hands in tight, and does a good job of scoring goals in a variety of different ways.

Thompson has scored four goals over the last five games, and at +155, we are getting a good price to back one of the NHL’s best snipers staying hot.

Brady Tkachuk Over 4.5 Shots on Goal: +105 Sports Interaction

Things are getting ugly in Ottawa, as the Senators have lost six of their last 10 games and are suddenly closer to last in the Eastern Conference than a playoff spot. Their matchup versus the Anaheim Ducks tonight is close to a “must-win”, and I’m counting on Sens captain Brady Tkachuk to bring an inspired performance in this spot.

Tkachuk has looked determined to turn things around of late, and has been pouring shots on target amid a soft patch in the schedule. Over the last four games, Tkachuk has 26 shots on goal, including a 12-shot performance in his last matchup versus Anaheim.

Over the last 15 games, Anaheim has allowed 31.86 shots against per 60. Despite some superb goaltending, the Ducks have managed to play to a 6-7-2 record in that span.

While the Senators are heavy favorites at -245 in this matchup, I’m not convinced we see a blowout by any means. A realistic game script seems to be the Ducks hang around while owning far less of the overall run of play, which would be ideal for this prop.

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