Stanley Cup Final Player Props: Barbashev and Bennett Make Good Longshots
With names like Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Aleksander Barkov, and Mark Stone, there won’t be a shortage of star power in the Stanley Cup Final, but the depth of both teams should shine through in this series and, therefore, I’m looking at prop bets involving players like Ivan Barbashev and Sam Bennett with longer odds.
The Golden Knights acquired Ivan Barbashev at the trade deadline and the 27-year-old has scored 31 points in 40 games with Vegas dating back to the regular season. Barbashev has scored at nearly a point-per-game pace in the playoffs, though, and he’s situated nicely on the top line alongside Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault. Barbashev is currently third on the team in scoring with six goals and nine assists.
That puts him just two points behind Marchessault and three points back of Eichel. He doesn’t play as many minutes as his five-on-five linemates because he’s on the second power play unit, not the first, but he leads the team in points per 60 minutes and he finished among top-three in scoring against the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars and 75/1 is a big number for a player who will can flirt with being the team leader in points over a small sample of games.
Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk have teamed up to play well over 200 even-strength minutes together this postseason and it’s paid off. The duo has dominated at even strength whether linemate Nick Cousins is on the ice or not, and while Tkachuk is a lot more likely to score more goals in the series, Bennett shoots the puck often, and a lot of the time, those shots are coming from high danger areas.
Bennett ranks second on the team in shots on goal behind defenseman Brandon Montour, and he’s only scored four goals in the playoffs, but he ranks second behind Tkachuk on the team in high danger shot attempts, according to Natural Stat Trick, and he leads both teams in individual expected goals (per 60) heading into the Stanley Cup Final. Bennett doesn’t have the shooting talent of Tkachuk or Carter Verhaeghe, but he’s going to be all around the net in the series.
Get the latest odds for each game of the Stanley Cup Final at VSiN’s NHL Odds Page and check out my prediction for the series here. And, of course, check out the VSiN Hockey Betting Podcast Monday – Friday throughout the Stanley Cup Final.