Brad Marchand is shooting the puck so frequently that he makes a good daily fantasy play on any night.

Top Budget Plays

Centers

Jean-Gabriel Pageau $4,300 – We thought Pageau was going to be a killer for us on Tuesday but in a few, short minutes, the center pulled off a magic act that left his owners stunned. He had two goals and four shots in about a 150 second span to lead Ottawa to overtime. The eventual result did not matter but the pivot was just right place at the right time. He has become a bona fide top six threat in Ottawa with this latest hot streak. Ottawa plays Toronto on Saturday and the penchant for goals will be high.

Wingers

Joakim Nordstrom $3,600 – There is just something about Nordstrom and his ability to score unexpectedly. He was on the verge of a really bad night against New Jersey where he took advantage of a mistake to score a goal which made his daily fantasy night for him and owners alike. Nordstrom is a pretty good player who is still reasonably priced. He can fire shots on net in abundance when he is pushed. Carolina has a decent match-up against Tampa Bay after the top line.

Defensemen

Michael Stone $4,800 – There is at least the hope that Arizona will score some goals on Saturday against Florida. Stone has a pretty solid floor as far as blocks and shots on goal. He is still playing on the first power play unit with the likes of Oliver Ekman-Larsson. That is not all that bad. Overall his price provides cap relief to spend up and honestly there are a few options from Toronto but Stone has been a bit more consistent.

Goalie

Louis Domingue $6,500 – It is not a desirable idea but Domingue will start on Saturday after what happened on Thursday in Glendale. He has been in a slump much like the rest of the Arizona team but this is a high risk GPP play. If one feels really skittish, then they can try whomever is starting for Winnipeg as both of those goalies are likely to be in the mid 6000’s. Cheap goalie plays are really not the best of ideas on a Saturday night.

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!

Centers

Joe Pavelski $7,500 – Pavelski gets the nod here only because Vancouver gives up so many shots a game and literally comes off of facing Vancouver once already this week. Pavelski has a multiple point game against the Canucks already this year and has 13 shots with five points in the last couple contests. It would be awfully hard to stray and pivot away from him. The price does not even matter. This is too tough to pass up, period!

Wingers

Brad Marchand $6,900 – Marchand may go down as one of the two or three most annoying players to play against in his generation. That is saying something. He had slowed down a bit but the “Junior Ovechkin” keeps firing up those scoring chances. The left winger has eight of them in the last couple games. Hang tight on the points and remember that Boston draws against a Washington team that has been playing sloppy of late. The first Boston line at home even versus the Capitals is not that bad of a risk.      

Defenseman

Erik Karlsson $7,900 – Toronto is a feisty team but they are going to give up three or more goals on most nights from here on out. The mandated Saturday Karlsson point is actually quite a likelihood. Our projections give it an 85% chance of occurring. That is one of our higher probabilities on the season. Karlsson’s floor in these games is through the roof on DraftKings with the combined shots, scoring chances, and blocks. The only thing really that would be nice is a goal but let’s not get too far ahead here.

Goalie

Martin Jones $7,600 – This is the safe play and San Jose has slowly inched their way back to a .500 mark at home after a start where they lost ten out of 14 there. Jones has a home/road split that is still not the best (.908 at home but .922 on the road) but slowly the numbers are turning upward. He has played well in his last three or four starts. The only mild concern would be a slight lack of shots allowed at times so the inevitably bad time for turnovers may occur too. Either way, Jones actually is a moderately high priced play but again a safe choice.

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 large Saturday slate. We are targeting only the seven game evening schedule and will have all the breakdowns of the day games as well on Twitter. Finally, please note that Saturday is a split slate. Thanks for reading.