NHL PrizePicks Today: Top NHL Player Props & Picks for April 4 – Best Plays

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Note: Time on Ice projections and picks can change frequently throughout the day due to injuries and changes to line combinations, especially power-play lines. I encourage readers to check the comments section below for any last-minute updates prior to puck drop.

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Analyzing NHL Time on Ice PrizePicks Plays

Card Overview: I went 3-3 on Thursday, but it was a tough one to swallow as all the wins came easy and at least one of the losses should not have unfolded the way it did. More on that below.

My assumption that teams in the playoff hunt would play their stars more has held true for some teams and not so much for others. As I mentioned on Thursday, though, desperation to win a game should not be the main factor in any play we make; there has to be more to it than that. 

With that in mind, we've got several plays that look solid on this card, largely based on the player's situation on the team, not the team's situation necessarily.

BUILDING BLOCKS

Zach Werenski 27.5 vs. Winnipeg Jets  - 7:00 p.m. ET (MORE) 

I have to admit, I'm not quite sure what Columbus is doing with its D-lines, as Werenski should be getting 30 minutes a game down the stretch, yet he played just over 22 minutes on Thursday. That game turned into a blowout, but even when it was close, Werenski was getting minutes that had him on a pace of about 24. Makes no sense, but since we've seen Werenski get big minutes before, I'm going to assume that Columbus didn't want to keep him on the ice in a game that probably wasn't winnable. Now back at home, as a favorite, we should see Werenski on the ice a lot tonight. Just need to keep this one close. 

Lane Hutson 24.25 at New Jersey Devils - 7:00 p.m. ET (MORE) 

I was a little worried about this play on Thursday as Hutson got off to a slow start, but even with a positive script, he managed to sail above this number. That's two consecutive games where the Canadiens have leaned on Hutson in the absence of Alexandre Carrier, which leads me to believe that the plan is to ride Hutson until Carrier comes back. As I mentioned on Thursday, there are two paths here, even if Montreal switches course and plans to give minutes to someone else, Hutson always has a chance to hit this number in a negative script.  

Noah Hanifin 20.75 at Edmonton Oilers  - 10:00 p.m. ET (MORE) 

This was the play mentioned above. I had this same play on Thursday, and Hanifin should have gone over with ease, but Vegas had 10 minutes of power-play time! I'm not talking about 10 minutes of penalties drawn, I'm saying the Golden Knights were on the ice for 10 minutes in power-play mode. That meant that 1/6 of the game was off limits to Hanifin...and he still came within a minute of going over. If Vegas had scored early on any of its power plays, Hanifin probably goes over, or if Calgary could have just stayed out of the box at all, he goes over. We shouldn't have to worry about that scenario in this game, however, as Edmonton averages just 2.12 PKs per game. If anything, we should see some more PK time for Vegas, which helps our cause as Hanifin is on PK1. 

Rasmus Dahlin 24 at Washington Capitals  - 7:00 p.m. ET (LESS) 

Before I get into specifics with Dahlin, I want to point out that home ice in hockey is not a big of an advantage. With that in mind, I don't think teams get hung up on where exactly they finish in the standings. Sure, the higher you finish should result in an easier matchup in the first round of the playoffs, but honestly, with so many teams in the mix, there's no way to know who you are going to play anyway. I mention this because it seems like Buffalo is getting ready for a long playoff run by not pushing Dahlin too hard down the stretch. Dahlin has a motor to go 30 minutes a night if needed; he proved that last season, but Buffalo knows it needs to play the long game. Dahlin has played over 24 minutes in just two of his past nine games, and four of those games were losses. It's clear what Buffalo is doing; it's what the Wild should have been doing with Quinn Hughes for the past couple of weeks. These games just don't mean that much. Get ready for the playoffs. 

SCRIPT/LINE/INJURY DEPENDENT

Filip Hronek 26 vs. Vancouver Canucks  - 7:00 p.m. ET (MORE) 

This was almost a building block, because we don't need a specific script here; we just need a relatively tight game. I say relatively because all of Vancouver's games over the past four have been at least two-goal margins, and yet Hronek has sailed over this number, with ease in most cases. Heck, in a four-goal loss at Calgary this past week, he still went over 26 minutes. Since being paired with Zeev Buium a few games back, we've seen an uptick in Hronek's minutes. It could be a coincidence that Vancouver has played in tight games since then, or maybe the Canucks want to see more from this pair. Whatever the case, the Canucks aren't shy about giving Hronek plenty of ice time, so just keep this one close, and 26 minutes should be fairly easy. 

Moritz Seider 26.75 at New York Rangers - 12:30 p.m. ET (MORE)

We missed the over on Seider on Tuesday, and quite honestly, I'm not sure what happened there. The Red Wings were down early, and instead of putting Seider out there more often, they chose another route, and the end result was a key loss. That wasn't the case on Thursday as Seider played nearly 29 minutes in what was a lead script for most of the night. There's no time to mess around for Detroit any longer, so I would expect Sieder to get plenty of ice time in this game. We just need a tight game, which shouldn't be a problem as New York has played fairly well over the past week. Seider has gone over 28 minutes in four of his past five games, so I'm just going to write off Tuesday's game as a fluke.