NHL Wednesday player props: 3 forwards to target

Tuesday night was a good one for our player prop best bets. Tage Thompson (+110) and Cole Caufield (-105) both came through, helping us to a 2-1 night.

We'll look to build on that with three more plays for the upcoming four-game slate.

Martin Necas over 2.5 shots (-125)

Martin Necas has taken on a much bigger role for the Hurricanes this season and is making the most of it.

He has produced a whopping 17 points through just 12 games and, more importantly for us, shot the lights out in the process, especially of late.

Necas has registered at least three shots in six of his last seven games. He has done so sustainably, generating 46 shot attempts in that time. With an average of more than 6.5 attempts per contest, there's wiggle room for misses and blocks and Necas to still comfortably get there.

I think this line should be much more heavily juiced - or perhaps even moved to 3.5

Aleksander Barkov over 3.5 shots (+105)

Aleksander Barkov is one of the NHL's best volume shooters right now. He has attempted 57 shots over the last seven games, which is the ninth-highest total in the league, placing him ahead of snipers like Auston Matthews, Filip Forsberg, Jason Robertson, and Kirill Kaprizov.

Unsurprisingly, all those attempts have led to juicy shot-on-goal totals. Barkov has averaged more than four per game during this run.

Although the matchup is difficult, there's reason to believe Barkov can still take things up a notch. Matthew Tkachuk has taken a ton of shots this season and sits fifth in shots per minute. With him suspended, there's even more opportunity for linemates - like Barkov - to pull the trigger.

He has logged at least 23 minutes in five of the last six games. In a marquee matchup such as this, I doubt that usage drops. He's going to have every opportunity to hit this total.

Jake Guentzel over 3.5 shots (+100)

There is a lot to like about Jake Guentzel's shot total. He has gone over the number in three of four games since returning to the Penguins' lineup. He has logged over 21 minutes per game during that stretch, which is important as well. Volume shooters getting heavy workloads generally leads to success with these props.

What's really encouraging is Guentzel is getting the job done despite very difficult matchups. His last three hits came against the Kraken twice and Bruins. Boston is arguably the league's best team right now, and Seattle sits top five in terms of five-on-five shot suppression. These are not easy sides to generate opportunities against and Guentzel had no problem doing so.

Now, coming off extended rest, he draws a much more enticing matchup against the Capitals. They're missing a ton of key pieces right now and their penalty kill is really struggling to prevent shots and chances. Guentzel is the primary scoring threat on Pittsburgh's power play, so he should be the biggest beneficiary.

Look for his shooting success to continue.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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