Spend up for Joe Pavelski and the Sharks in Daily Fantasy Hockey on Saturday, January 16th.

Top Budget Plays

Centers

Chris Tierney $2,500 – We are noticing a definite leveling of prices this week. That will make the true budget plays a bit more of a challenge. Anyone from San Jose can be dicey not named Joe Pavelski or Brent Burns but as far as a value play, this is one against an Edmonton team that has defensive problems galore. If Joseph Blandisi was playing at night instead of the afternoon, he would be an even better choice but Tierney faces an opponent that could be a solid play.

Wingers

Andre Burakovsky $3,100 – This is a high risk play because of the limited time that Burakovsky is seeing but it is hard to deny the talent the 20 year old forward has. He may only play 12-13 minutes at the most. However, the winger could see power play time like he did earlier in the week which is a bonus. At least he will not see the top defensive pairings in Buffalo. The bottom pairings are definitely not as good which makes this a little more promising.

Defensemen

Nate Schmidt $3,100 – Though Washington is getting healthy on the defensive side of the equation, it is hard to dismiss Schmidt’s hot streak. Basically, he becomes almost a plug and play because of his still very low price point. The defenseman will never be confused for a guy who can score goals but hey assists, blocked shots, and a few shots on goal never hurt at all. His minutes has gradually increased over the last ten games or so. These are risky plays not because of price but because of volatility.

Goalie

Robin Lehner $6,400 – This is a huge risk because no one really knows what Lehner will do considering how long he was injured for. Hey, half a season is very significant and basically his training camp was in the minors with Rochester. He fared decent against the Albany Devils but did give up four goals on 39 shots. Washington is a considerable step up so hopefully he has his “A” game ready to go and his head on straight. Let’s see where DraftKings has him listed at. If he is not listed for whatever reason then pivot on to one of the Edmonton goalies.

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.

Enter the DRAFTKINGS $6,000 sniper…just $3 to enter or FREE if you deposit today! This is for the early slate only so be sure to enter early.

Centers

Joe Pavelski $7,700 – The Sharks are going to have a fun time against a Dallas team on the back end of a back to back. When the Stars were on a similar scenario the last time, they had a wild 6-5 affair with the New York Islanders. Pavelski is one of the hottest players in the league right now. It seems like he is a legitimate threat to score every time he comes down the ice so the forward is a plug and play until further notice.

Wingers

Taylor Hall $7,100 – Though Leon Draisaitl has been taken off the Hall line at even strength, Hall still draws a good match-up against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. The Flames just do not play as well away from home and their track record against Edmonton of late has been spotty. The Flames penalty kill is still hovering around 74-75% and the Oilers feature a power play that can give teams fits. It certainly does with Calgary so Hall has to be in consideration on Saturday.

Defenseman

Brent Burns $8,300 – There is really little or no explanation needed here. Burns is hotter than a burning sun right now and he is the chalk defensive play. He is around $8300 currently but producing at a rate of over six points a night when it comes to DraftKings scoring. That is still exceeding value even at the highest price he can pretty much go. San Jose plays Dallas and this game has all the makings of a high scoring contest. One has to take a shot here!

Goalie

Tuukka Rask $7,700 – This is an uncertain idea but with Toronto, you never quite know what could happen. They are a team that can easily defeat Boston but yet lost at home to Columbus of all teams on Wednesday. Rask has been relatively stable in net but lost a heartbreaker earlier in the week to the New York Rangers. At some point, Boston has to get well at home and this is a type of game to get well if they play as expected.

Chris Wassel has been playing DFS for the last year and has played Fantasy Hockey for over two decades. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. Please note that this is a modestly large Saturday slate. We are targeting only the seven game evening schedule and will have all the breakdowns on Twitter.