With the NHL showcasing its talent via the Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden this week, there's been no shortage of awesome afternoon hockey to watch and wager on. Such is the case yet again today, with a total of 13 games on tap, including four matinee matchups.

Last week was profitable in terms of my Saturday picks, with a couple of my player props hitting. I’m going back to two more player props below. They make for nice straight-up plays, or solid additions to any parlay you might be building on this fine Saturday of NHL betting action.

It's been a bit of a wonky schedule this week in the NHL, due to the aforementioned showcase in Stockholm. Make sure you double-check Saturday's starting netminders and lineups to stay on top of the latest, so you can lock in the best odds possible.

As always, good luck and let's get this paper.

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2023-24 Saturday Record (Complete Daily Record Tracked/Posted @Flips_Picks):

Gold: 2-2-0

Silver: 3-1-0
Bronze: 2-2-0

Side Bets (Located at Bottom of Article) : 5-7-0

Overall Record: 12-12-0

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Gold Selection

Arizona Coyotes @ Winnipeg Jets – Pick: Jets ML (-170)

There was a hefty amount of question marks surrounding this Winnipeg Jets franchise entering the 2023-23 NHL season. Recent coaching changes, major shake ups to the core, uncertain futures of Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, not to mention a lack of success on the ice, led to many NHL experts pegging the Jets to miss the playoffs this year.

What a difference 60 days can make.

Not only are both Scheifele and Hellebuyck now locked up to matching team-friendly long-term deals, this Winnipeg group is playing its best hockey of recent memory while rolling three balanced, effective offensive lines. One of the keys to that equilibrium that's allowing the Jets to score the fourth-most goals in the league this year has been the arrival of young stud and emerging star Cole Perfetti. Perfetti just became the second player 21 years old or younger to register a five-game goal streak, joining Patrik Laine as the other in Jets/Thrashers history.

Aside from the fact Winnipeg has wins in five of its last six overall, it also owns a stellar recent track record when going up against this upstart Arizona Coyotes squad, taking wins in eight of the last 10 head-to-head. Actually, with a bit of a deeper look, Arizona has only two victories in its last 16 trips to Manitoba's capital. This is obviously a really great spot to be backing a red-hot Jets team, and even though the Coyotes are clearly a much improved squad, I'm still more than comfortable riding with the -170 and the better side in this situation in Winnipeg.

The Jets win this one by at least two. Lock it in as my Gold Pick of the night.

Silver Selection

Mikko Rantanen Anytime Assist (+115)

Seriously, somebody throw some respect on Mikko Rantanen's name and quickly.

This is a ninja-like player with all the tools to be a dominant power-forward-type offensive weapon for many years to come. Rantanen operates in silence and goes about his job with lethal efficiency, putting up 218 points over the past two seasons and change. He's a major reason why this team can score in bunches, something they've been doing of late, tallying 18 goals over their last four games.

Colorado heads into this potential Western Conference Final showdown with Dallas as slight underdogs, which is quite interesting considering it’s got four wins in its last six against the Stars, and Ws in 16 of 20 on the road overall. What I'm getting at here is I really think you're going to see the Avs' best game in this one and Rantanen has the tendency to step up in the clutch. Rantanen's 23-game NHL regular-season track record against Dallas doesn't exactly jump off the page, but six goals and 10 assists is nothing to shake a stick at either – especially when you remember Jake Oettinger is usually standing on his head at the other end in the Stars' blue paint.

Rantanen rarely goes back-to-back games without a point. With the rest of his teammates clicking and his 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) this season in mind, I'm feeling a very big night for Rantanen in what is sure to be a great game with playoff-like intensity.

The other intriguing angle in this matchup between the Oilers and Lightning in terms of expecting Edmonton to continue its recent winning ways, is the three wins the Oilers just posted.

Victories over the up-and-down Seattle Kraken (twice) and struggling New York Islanders aren't enough to convince backing the Oilers here on the moneyline. However, I really like the player prop angle for McDavid to get it going. Even if he is dealing with an injury, he's still better than 95% of his competition. Plus, in 10 career regular-season games against this very good Lightning club, McDavid has 10 goals and six assists for an impressive 16 points.

The Lightning are coming off an unnecessarily huge win against the Chicago Blackhawks in their last outing and they are one of the best home teams in the league. But this is a group also not firing on all cylinders right now, so they're ripe for McDavid's picking.

Bronze Selection

Connor McDavid Anytime Goal (+100)

If, for whatever reason, you've been living under a rock and haven't heard, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are off to a bit of a tumultuous start. It's been well-documented the Oilers have struggled at basically all important aspects of the game: Timely scoring, balanced special teams, responsible defensive play and of course, good goaltending – you name it, Edmonton is falling short on expectations across the board.

Enter McJesus. Fast forward a week and you really can't help but feel this group is beginning to turn it around – starting with its captain. Of course, it's only two games, two goals and one assist, but he's shooting more and looking increasingly confident, something his linemates are feeding off. We all know this group runs through 97. When he goes, it goes.

Side Bets

St. Louis Blues @ L.A. Kings – Pick: Over 6.5 (-110)

Seattle Kraken @ Vancouver Canucks – Pick: Kraken PL +1.5 (-170)

Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars – Pick: Under 6.5 (-125)

Flip Livingstone is an NHL betting and NHL fantasy writer and daily podcast host with experience at outlets such as theScore NHL, Narcity Media, Postmedia, and Hockey Night in Canada. You can follow him @Flips_Picks.