Mark Lammey
Show Bio
It’s finally here — the 2023-24 NHL season drops the puck tonight with a tripleheader that gets started in Tampa Bay with the Lightning hosting the Nashville Predators. The night ends with the Vegas Golden Knights raising their Stanley Cup banner. However, given that we haven’t seen a regular-season game from any team yet, it can be tough to back any winners. That’s why we’re here to provide our best NHL player prop bets so that we don’t even need to worry about who wins each matchup! Along with our best NHL player props, be sure to check out all of our NHL picks for today’s action.
Steven Stamkos over 2.5 shots on goal (-140)
With the entire season getting started in Tampa, it’s only right to have our first NHL player prop featured in that matchup. The Predators are coming off a disappointing season in which they didn’t make the playoffs, and to make matters worse for Nashville fans, they were major sellers at the trade deadline. So, we’re going to target a Lightning skater on home ice.
It’s likely no surprise as to who we’re rolling with — Steven Stamkos. The Tampa Bay captain has been rather outspoken throughout the offseason about his contract extension, and we expect him to come out to prove himself. Not that he has anything to prove, but rather put his money where his mouth is. He’s had a career’s worth of doing so, and we see him peppering the net with shots. The Preds allowed the 6th-most shots on goal last season, and in two games against Nashville last year, Stamkos recorded seven shots on goal. He has one of the NHL’s best shots, and with Victor Hedman and Brandon Hagel feeding him the puck, we see him getting at least three shots on goal.
Check out our NHL mega parlay for opening night at +747 odds!
Over 2.5 shots on goal (-140) available at time of publishing. Playable to -155.
Sidney Crosby over 0.5 assists (-110)
As much as we’d love to target the nightcap with the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Seattle Kraken and Knights are simply strong defensive teams. Rather than sweating out an under, let’s target the matchup featuring the #1 overall pick Connor Bedard. We’re sure we’ll include his props at some point this season, but until we see him in real game action, we’re going with the tried and true.
For all the hype Bedard has given the Chicago Blackhawks, they still don’t exactly have the strongest roster. That was clearly evident in the past few seasons, and that was before trading away Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. So, we’re expecting a big night from some Penguins on home ice. Specifically, we’re looking at Bedard’s childhood idol — Sidney Crosby. There’s no need to go outside the box on opening night, and assists have been synonymous with Crosby. His 952 are the 16th-most in NHL history, and he had three of those in one game against Chicago last season. Until the Blackhawks prove us wrong, Crosby to record an assist is another of our favorite NHL player props for today.
Over 0.5 assists (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -125.
Read our full Chicago Blackhawks vs Pittsburgh Penguins predictions
