Monahan and Gaudreau make great plays for daily fantasy hockey this weekend.

Top Budget Plays

Centers

Mark Letestu $3,000 – The center does have six points in his last ten games. At this point, values are values and searching for them requires deeper research than at any juncture of the season. It’s a big Saturday (second biggest of the year) so prices may be stretched more than usual. Letestu occasionally sees a spot of power play and even top six time. He has points in three of his last four games as well. That type of risk can be enough of a dangled carrot to go for.

Wingers

Frank Vatrano $3,500 – There is a reason “Frank The Tank” is a good idea here. At some point, Claude Julien has to bite the bullet and keep the young player in the top six because he simply scores goals. Yes, his defense can be lacking and that has been evident. However, the player scored 28 goals in 31 games in the minors and had a penchant even in his first call up to hit the back of the twine. Hey, why not keep playing while the price is low, right? Right!

Defensemen

Andrew MacDonald $3,400 – There is the fundamental theory that safe in value punts is not death. That much is true when one considers that MacDonald averages about a shot a game and three plus blocks a game. That is a floor which can easily equal his price and he does have four assists in his last nine games so if he picks up the stray assist, it becomes a bonus to the owner who doesn’t have to spend a ton.

Goalie

Mike Smith $7,000 – It should come as no surprise but when a goalie stops 104 of his last 107 shots, he is going to get a considerable amount of notice. Yet, his price is still reasonable on DraftKings considering the goalie price averages. He really has not had a clunker start since his return from core surgery several months ago. Maybe that was all he really needed. Sure, there is always risk when it comes to the goalie but Philadelphia on the road may actually be a halfway decent match-up here.

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

Sean Monahan $6,000 – This is crazy enough that it may just work but Monahan has been lights out over the past ten games with 11 points and six goals. Shots are going in from all angles and it does not seem to matter much whether it is at home or on the road. Whatever it is, Monahan clearly has gotten his second wind and a vulnerable Chicago team may be the recipe for even more points on a Saturday night where goals may come in bunches.

Wingers

Johnny Gaudreau $7,000 – Chicago gives up nearly three goals on the road and is clearly banged up. Whether or not Corey Crawford returns is really moot as Calgary is just one of those teams the past couple seasons that gets hot in March. Gaudreau still is over a point at home and with his sidekick heating up, that only results in even more chances for the left wing. The power play may even strike for Calgary on this night and their speed more than anything will drive the Blackhawks batty.

Defenseman

Justin Faulk $5,900 – It is time to go high risk here as Faulk just returned on Thursday night after an injury that has felt like it was months old. However, his presence on Carolina’s blueline was greatly missed. This was even more dire for DFS owners who lamented for his power play points. Now that he is back and has a game under his belt, it is time to unleash the man advantage beast and see what he has got for Saturday night.

Goalie

Jonathan Quick $8,200 – Edmonton is bad and has less and less games to play. Quick has been solid of late and is coming home. Yes, there is all that theory of first game back after a long road trip but there is a lot of evidence to overlook it anyway. Quick has played well even in losses of late and that has not always been the case this season. The Oilers have just enough firepower to keep shots up and that would be enough to justify a start in cash leagues at the very minimum.

Chris Wassel has been playing DFS for the couple years 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 ten 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 with several options. Thanks for reading.