The second full slate of Olympic men's hockey appears to offer some strong prop betting options, and I'm excited to outline my two favorites below on Friday morning. Both games have a puck drop scheduled for 6:10 a.m. ET.
l'll also note that the disparity among various sportsbooks for player props has been much wider on Olympic hockey than it typically is on the NHL, so we recommend more than ever line shopping when possible. Unfortunately, the huge disparity between books does make writing these articles a little more difficult than others, as prices are more likely to be playable in one spot but not others.
On top of that, lines have proven to be less rigid than they normally are at open on NHL markets, and player props prices have been moving significantly in this tournament thus far, so please keep in mind that these were the prices available at the time of writing and are subject to change.
For our Men's Hockey Olympic player props, we are targeting Rasmus Dahlin and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Continue below for our Men's Hockey Olympic player props for Friday.
Men's Hockey Olympic Player Props for February 13
- Rasmus Dahlin Over 1.5 Total Points, +320 (FanDuel, Play to +300)
- Juraj Slafkovsky Anytime Goalscorer, -107 (Bet365, Play to -120)
Friday Olympic Player Props
Rasmus Dahlin Over 1.5 Total Points (+320)
Dahlin still seems to be flying a little under the radar relative to other elite defenders in this tournament, such as Zach Werenski, Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar. He may not quite be at their level, or at least not consistently, but in a short tournament, the former first overall pick might be capable of elevating his play up into that range.
Dahlin did not receive a ton of ice time at the 4 Nations Face Off last February, but skated 19:52 in the opener and may become the full-fledged number one for the Tre Kronor this time around. It certainly looked like it in the team's opener, as he led the team with three points, and though he is a defender, his offensive upside stood out most notably.
Those who are most familiar with my work will be aware of how high I've been on Dahlin in recent years (I'm sorry if you tailed bets on him to win the Norris last season at +2500), but hopefully we can make up for that by hitting Dahlin to lead Team Sweden in points in this tournament at +900.
Dahlin quarterbacks Sweden's top power play unit, and the majority of shooting sequences will likely come with him in line to at least receive the second assist. Though it's not that sharp to base that much off of their win over Italy, who will likely prove to be well worse than the field in this tournament, he and Gustav Forsling were excellent at even strength and should be one of the best pairings in this tournament.
Though Friday's rivalry matchup versus Finland could prove to be somewhat defensive, there are enough potential concerns on Finland's back end to ride with Dahlin to record two points at this kind of number, given that he appears poised for a huge tournament.
While Finland has three high-quality defenders in Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Nikko Mikkola, the rest of the group is far from convincing. Finland allowed our goals in the opener versus a thin Slovakian side. Based on the run of play, they arguably could have fared better, but the more significant defensive mistakes were made by Finland, despite much of the play happening at the other end of the ice.
While he was once among the best goaltenders in the NHL, Juuse Saros has become a questionable option in goal. He holds a -20.4 GSAx across his last 102 starts at the NHL level, struggled in 4 Nations, and was not overly sharp in the opener. Finland may hand the reins over to Kevin Lankinen in this game, who also looks unconvincing, with the pivot to Lankinen a -9.9 GSAx and .876 save percentage across 32 appearances with the Vancouver Canucks this season.
Pick: Rasmus Dahlin Over 1.5 Total Points, +320 (FanDuel, Play to +300)
Juraj Slafkovsky Anytime Goalscorer (-107)
As a 17-year-old in the 2022 Olympics, Slafkovsky recorded seven goals in seven games for Slovakia, leading the side to a Gold medal. Slafkovsky's performance in that tournament solidified him as the number-one pick in the upcoming NHL entry draft.
Since the 2022 Olympics, Slafkovsky's game has come a long way. He has much greater awareness and hockey sense now than he did when he first entered the NHL and has become a much better decision-maker with the puck. Those skills have helped his raw physical play have a greater effect on the overall game. This tournament obviously offers stiffer competition than it did when Slafkovsky competed without NHL skaters being involved, but he appears prepared to handle the jump in competition.
Slafkovsky made a huge statement in Slovakia's tournament opener, recording two goals and an assist versus a strong Finnish side. He will, without question, play big minutes for Slovakia in any remotely competitive matchup in this tournament, which makes him an enticing target in the prop market relative to forwards whose ice time may be hit-or-miss on deeper rosters.
Friday's matchup offers an Italian side that is likely to be closer to the ones that Slafkovsky dominated in 2022, than the ones that are now stacked with NHLers back in the mix. Italy allowed 59 shots on goal to Sweden in the tournament opener, and though they kept the game close for almost two whole periods, they arguably looked as bad as expected for a team with zero NHL skaters and few even coming from the higher European leagues.
Slafkovsky should be capable of absolutely dominating the Italians on Friday, and though -106 might actually be the lowest price we will see for Slafkovsky to score for the rest of his career, it's a number that seems very playable in this unique spot where he is the team's undisputed top dog and taking on a very weak Italian roster.
Pick: Juraj Slafkovsky Anytime Goalscorer, -107 (Bet365, Play to -120)
