The Toronto Maple Leafs head on the road to face the Carolina Hurricanes.
The pregame narrative: The Leafs need three more points to clinch the division and can continue their pursuit on Sunday. I’m backing John Tavares and Matthew Knies to contribute on the offensive end.
Check out my Maple Leafs prop picks vs. Hurricanes for April 13.
Maple Leafs prop picks vs. Hurricanes
Best Bet: Knies over 1.5 shots (-154)
This was one line I couldn’t pass on when exploring the markets for this game.
Knies is at the end of a breakout season where he became an integral part of the Leafs’ offence.
He plays left wing on the first line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
Knies also sees time on the top power-play unit, featured alongside John Tavares and William Nylander. That’s a premium spot for offensive production.
As a result, he has enjoyed a career-high in points (55) and, more importantly for this wager, shots (149).
Carolina provides a woeful matchup as the side allows the fewest shots per game (24.9), but this line is simply too low for the 22-year-old.
Key stat: Knies has cleared this total in 10 of the past 13 games, averaging 2.9 shots per game.
Quick pick
Tavares to score 1+ points (-138): I love jumping on this wager when the price makes sense, and I believe that’s the case here.
- The former captain is having a great contract year, tallying 73 points in 72 games.
- Since the all-star break, Tavares has at least a point in 18 of 25 games (72.0%).
In the Leafs’ last game against Carolina, just after the break, Tavares scored a goal and bagged an assist in a 6-3 Toronto win.
If I narrow it down even further, Tavares has 13 points in his last 10 games and is 8-2 against this wager.
Other top Toronto forwards carry a price tag ranging from -165 (Nylander) to -235 (Matthews), so I’d much rather bet on Tavares, who’s been the best of the bunch recently.
Maple Leafs vs. Hurricanes prop picks made at 1:53 p.m. ET 04/13/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.