NHL Player Props & Picks for Opening Night of Stanley Cup Playoffs

• The Stanley Cup playoffs begin on Monday with four games
• There is a bevy of player props available to bet on for Panthers vs Bruins, Kings vs Oilers, and more
• See the main NHL player props for Monday, plus a pair of wagers to target

The quest for Lord Stanley’s mug begins on Monday, as eight teams hit the ice for the opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

There’s no shortage of star power on the slate, as the top three point producers in the league (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and David Pastrnak) are all in action, along with the Presidents’ Trophy winning and Stanley Cup odds favorite Boston Bruins.

Online sportsbooks are expecting to take a significant handle in Monday NHL odds, especially in the player props market.

NHL Player Props for Monday, April 17

McDavid, the runaway favorite in the Hart Trophy odds, has the shortest odds to record multiple points, as well as the shortest price to light the lamp. We won’t be targeting him for our Stanley Cup Playoffs player props card however, instead focusing on a fade of the Islanders Noah Dobson to kick things off.

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Odds as of April 16 at DraftKings Sportsbook. 

Pick #1: Noah Dobson Under 2.5 Shots

Dobson finished third on the Isles in shots on goal this season, firing 206 pucks at enemy netminders. That was significantly more than any other New York defensemen, as well as some pretty prominent names like Zach Parise and Matthew Barzal.

But that was the regular season, and now the Islanders have to face the Metropolitan Division champion Hurricanes in the NHL playoff bracket. Carolina allowed the fewest shots on goal in the NHL this season, yielding 430 fewer than the league average.

The Loudest House in the NHL is ready pic.twitter.com/UuDwE5BQMP

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) April 16, 2023

A major reason for that was the Hurricanes number one ranking in corsi. Carolina dominated the possession battle throughout the regular season, spending more time in the offensive zone than any other club.

As for Dobson’s track record against the Canes, he was in the lineup for all four of New York’s meetings with Carolina this season, recording more than one shot in just one of those contests.

Pick: Noah Dobson Under 2.5 Shots (+105)

Pick #2: Brad Marchand Over 0.5 Points

Some players were born to play playoff hockey. You could argue Boston’s Brad Marchand is one of them. The 34-year-old has racked up 118 points in 139 career postseason games, averaging north of a point per game over the Bruins last five playoff runs.

Marchand and Co. will take on the Panthers in the first round, a matchup they should feel confident about. No playoff team had a worse goals against average than Florida this season, and the Bruins found the back of the net 17 times in their four regular season tilts with the Panthers.

🎥 Brad Marchand on the Stanley Cup Playoffs: "Everyone's really proud in this room. Everybody dreams of the opportunity to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Everybody understands that, they know what the stakes are. There's a long road to get to that point." pic.twitter.com/xbZ95rKRhy

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 16, 2023

Marchand was in the lineup for three of those contests, recording four points. He was Boston’s second highest point producer this season behind Pastrnak, and logged the second most ice time among Bruins forward.

He’s a key cog on Boston’s number one powerplay unit, and should see plenty of ice time with the man advantage on Monday and throughout this opening round series. Florida took more penalties than any other playoff team during the regular season, while only three teams drew more penalties than the Bruins.

Pick: Brad Marchand Over 0.5 Points (-165)