The Bruins continue to lead the way at +350 in the odds to win the Stanley Cup title, according to the NHL predictions. Colorado (+700) has the best odds among Western Conference teams.

Those making NHL picks might want to keep reading for information on the hottest forwards, defensemen and goaltenders in the NHL, as well as those players recently struggling.

Who’s Hot

Forwards

• David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins: Pastrnak is back on the list once again as he scored the game-winning goal to give the Bruins a 65-12-5 record in the regular season. The Bruins won the Atlantic Division by 24 points and are 22 points ahead of any other team in the league.
  Pastrnak’s goal was his 61st of the season as he joined Phil Esposito as the only Bruins with at least 60 goals in a season.

Sixty-WON for 🍝 pic.twitter.com/zBe2OLepuF

— p – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 14, 2023

Even with the Bruins resting some players late in the regular season, Pastrnak leads the NHL with eight goals and is tied for second with 14 points in April. He won’t win the Hart Memorial Trophy even though he is viewed by the NHL odds as the closest thing to a competitor for the NHL MVP award to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid.
Pastrnak has points in each of his last 10 games with 12 goals and six assists during that stretch.

• Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche: The nod could easily have gone to teammate Nathan MacKinnon as well.
  Rantanen might have had the quietest 55-goal season in quite some time with so much attention focused on Pastrnak leading the Bruins to the best regular-season record in NHL history and Edmonton’s McDavid hitting the 150-point mark.
  Rantanen had seven goals and 15 assists with a +5 defensive rating in seven games played in April.

• Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars: in a season when six U.S.-born players had at least 85 points, Robertson was tied with Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk for the lead with 109 points.
  Robertson finished strong with five goals and 13 assists over the last eight games to give him 46 goals, 63 assists and a +37 plus/minus rating.

Defensemen

• Matthias Ekholm, Edmonton Oilers: What an addition the veteran Ekholm has been to an Edmonton franchise that has had defensive issues in recent years.
  Edmonton is 18-2-1 since Ekholm was acquired from the Nashville Predators. He leads all NHL players with a +13 rating in April.
  Ekholm is a major reason why Edmonton has allowed just six goals in the last seven games.

• Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks: It has been quite the season for Karlsson as he became the first defenseman since Brian Leetch during the 1991-92 season to have at least 100 points. Yet, he also finished with a -26 defensive rating.
  In seven games in April, he had three goals and seven assists. However, among the 12 blue-liners with at least six points in the month, he is the only one with a minus number as he was -11. Karlsson was on the ice for six even-strength goals by the Sharks and 15 by the opposition.
  The Las Vegas NHL odds still love Karlsson to win the Norris Trophy despite some frightening plus/minus splits.

ERIK KARLSSON IS THE FIRST DEFENSEMAN SINCE 1992 TO HIT 100 POINTS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6S4DBrcHrd

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 11, 2023

• Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche: With his defensive partner Cale Makar sidelined, there was even more responsibility for Toews and he has responded.
  Not only does he lead all NHL defensemen with eight assists in April, he has a +6 rating while playing more than 25 minutes per game.
  Those numbers could grow with Colorado meeting Nashville on Friday with a chance to win the Central Division title.

Goalies

• Lauren Brossoit, Vegas Golden Knights: Brossoit won his last five starts as the Golden Knights not only won the Pacific Division title, but earned the top seed and home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
  Brossoit had a .946 save percentage and goals-against average of 1.59 down the stretch after spending most of the season in the AHL.

• Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers: Is Skinner the goalie that will allow the Oilers to have an extended playoff run?
  He has won six games in a row as the Oilers will take a nine-game winning streak into the postseason.
  Skinner was 4-0-0 with a 1.25 goals-against average and .961 save percentage in April.
• Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins: Jeremy Swayman actually had better numbers in April in some categories. However, Ullmark led the NHL with 40 wins, a .938 save percentage and 1.89 goals-against average to win the goaltending triple crown.
  He had a 2.06 GAA in three games he played in April as the Bruins set regular-season records for wins and points. Ullmark didn’t start the season listed by the sportsbook as a top contender for the Vezina Trophy, but he did end the year that way.
  Ullmark and Swayman helped the Bruins win the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the NHL.

Who’s Not

Forwards

• Nicholas Aube-Kubel, Washington Capitals: Aube-Kubel had a -5 defensive rating and no points in six games he played in during the month of April.
  He ended up with no goals over his last 12 games.

• Quinton Byfield, Los Angeles Kings: The former No. 2 overall pick had no goals and one assist in seven games played in April.
  He didn’t have a goal in his last 14 games as he finished the regular season with three goals in 53 games.

Does Quinton Byfield have a NHL shot?

He popped in 21 goals in 59 career AHL games.

Dominated junior.

One third of a very successful first line which has tapered off of late.

But his shot…doesn’t strike much fear.

Something to work on. pic.twitter.com/TgGmIjd9PY

— Jari the Hutt (@kurri_jari) April 6, 2023

• Nick Paul, Tampa Bay Lightning: Paul didn’t have a goal in his last 26 games of the regular season and went 12 straight games without recording a point as the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion limped into the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division.

Defensemen

• Mario Ferraro, San Jose Sharks: The physical defenseman missed 10 games this season and that brings his total to 76 in his four seasons.
  He finished with a career-worst -31 defensive rating and was -5 in the last five games. He failed to record a point in seven games in April.

• Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings: A difficult sophomore season for the former Calder Trophy winner ended with Seider being on the wrong side of the plus/minus ledger in each of the last five games.
  He was -7 in those games and didn’t record a point in his last four as the Red Wings missed out on the playoffs yet again.

• Cam York, Philadelphia Flyers: The former first-round pick will be a key piece of the rebuilding project in Philadelphia. However, it was a tough end to the season as York posted a defensive rating of -2 or worse in four of his last eight games.
  York played more than 20 minutes in five of the last seven games and that could be the norm moving forward.

Goalies

• Ville Husso, Detroit Red Wings: Husso did finish the season with a 26-22-7 record. However, he was 1-3-1 with a 4.23 goals-against average in April when he stopped just 106 of 124 shots.
• Darcy Kuemper, Washington Capitals: What a difference a year makes. At this time last season, Kuemper was preparing to help the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup.
  He ended a tough season with the Capitals by allowing at least five goals in three of his last five appearances.
• James Reimer, San Jose Sharks: Reimer was 0-3 with a 5.41 goals-against average in April. He allowed 19 goals in his last four games as San Jose lost six games in a row.