The Toronto Maple Leafs have a good chance of extending their winning streak when they host the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
The pregame narrative: Toronto’s offence is firing on all cylinders, and now it gets one of the worst teams in the NHL. I expect it to be point night at Scotiabank Arena for the Leafs and am backing Morgan Rielly and William Nylander to find the stat sheet.
Check out my Maple Leafs prop picks vs. the Sharks for March 3.
Maple Leafs prop picks vs. Sharks
Best Bet: Rielly 1+ points (-109)
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies all hold odds of -150 or shorter to register a point.
That tells you two things: Firstly, Toronto’s offence is rolling. But more importantly, San Jose is terrible.
The Sharks rank last or near the bottom of the NHL in almost every defensive category on a 60-minute basis, per Natural Stat Trick:
- 32nd in goals (3.67)
- 32nd in shots (31.9)
- 31st in chances (66.33)
- 29th in high-danger chances (12.69)
Rielly is having a bad offensive year by his standards but has found some form recently with points in seven of his last nine games.
In that span, he’s scored two goals and logged eight assists.
Rielly leads the Maple Leafs in ice time and has been productive on the team’s second power-play unit lately. I expect him to turn in another strong performance.
Key stat: Rielly has recorded a point in nine of his last 10 games vs. the Sharks.
Quick pick
Nylander to score (+107): Nylander nonchalantly tucked his 35th goal of the season under the bar on Sunday, securing a victory for the Buds.
The Rocket Richard is likely out of reach with Leon Draisaitl (44 goals) boatracing the field, but Nylander is tied for second in the league and is on pace for a career-high 47 goals.
With that said, I’m shocked we can get him at plus money tonight.
I’ve covered the Sharks’ defensive problems, and all of that applies to Nylander. Toronto’s power play is cooking at the sixth-best rate since Feb. 1 (32.0%) and the Swedish winger is a big part of the first unit’s recent success.
San Jose has the ninth-worst penalty kill this season.
Picks made at 10:22 a.m. ET 03/03/2025.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.