A few Oilers should make for strong plays on Saturday.

Top Budget Plays

Centers

Mark Letestu $3600 – The center is almost a punt play at the least. However, playing against Vancouver, who has a poor penalty kill, seems to set up well. The past three games have not gone well for Letestu though. He does have two power-play goals in his last seven contests. It is not much to write home about, but pickings are slim among centers with this eight-game slate when it comes to value.

Wingers

Paul Byron $3400 – There is just a theme here that we must go insane. Byron has five goals on his last 12 shots! Why not ride the hot hand here? Exactly! He has six shots on net in the previous two games and his price is still reasonable enough where a bad night does not kill a DFS player as much. Benoit Pouilot is another high-risk counter at $3200 from Edmonton (two goals in last two games).

Defensemen

Ben Hutton $3200 – Hey, why not! Hutton had a goal and four shots in his last game. He does not shoot a ton and his defense is at least okay. It does seem that Edmonton is giving up three goals a game in their last five outings. There may be some room for a little point potential at a value price. Again, the defenseman has been producing at a good enough rate (about $1250 per point). A slightly safer pick may be Darnell Nurse at $3000 for Edmonton.       

Goalie

Antti Raanta $7300 – This is a dangerous GPP play, but Minnesota has been 4-6 since the trade deadline. That sounds crazy and yet here we are. Raanta has been alternating good and bad starts of late and the trend indicates good start. Minnesota has the potential to easily put up 30+ shots against a Rangers’ defense that is below average. It comes down to the same old same old for New York. They need their goaltender to steal one on the road. More often than not, they do.                 

Since we saved some money on the budget plays let’s look at the few of the pricey options that are worth paying up for today.

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Centers

Connor McDavid $8100 – People will run to this as it will be chalky. That just means McDavid will be owned at an elevated rate. He had a nice run with 12 points in his last ten games! Expect him to get more opportunities against the depth of Vancouver which is below average to say the least. He still has great shot (33 shots in the last ten games) and chance volume. There are several ways to stack him on Saturday including using the first-unit power play. He will be a nice cash play as well.

Wingers

Vladimir Tarasenko $7100 – Though we may be going all in, Tarasenko had two goals last Saturday and came up clutch against San Jose last night with two more goals. He may be a bit hit and miss, but it is all about goal potential. The Blues’ winger has that and then some on Saturday facing Arizona. The best part for St. Louis is they face Arizona a few more times in the coming weeks. What a way to close out the season. It just means one may see Tarasenko on here at least once more before the regular season is finished.              

Defenseman

Erik Karlsson $7300 – Again this might be a chalky play, but Karlsson at home against Montreal is a good option in GPP or cash even. He averages around four shots and three blocks a night which creates an automatic floor for one. His point potential is high given the eleven points in the last ten games. He has 23 power-play points on the year, which adds to the man-advantage possibilities. Montreal is not that good on the road on the penalty kill. It is okay to spend up here and still stack around or use him as a one-off play.

Goalie

Craig Anderson / Mike Condon $7700 – The choices out there may appear to be better, but this has high risk potential which might work. Check to see who starts first and play accordingly. Ottawa is in a good spot regardless here, and Montreal could be due to give up some goals here, as the Senators were not too pleased with their third period against Chicago. They did put up a lot of shots, which might limit the goalies’ value here a bit. They make a decent cash option but have upside geared toward a moderately high save count if the pace starts hot early.

Chris Wassel has been playing DFS for the past couple years and has played Fantasy Hockey for over two decades. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. We are targeting the eight-game evening slate to give readers more of a range on what to go on. Finally, please note that Saturday’s slate has several options and smaller late options. Thanks for reading and enjoy the slate daily fantasy hockey fans!