Stamkos is one of many great options for daily fantasy hockey this Saturday.

Top Budget Plays

Centers

Paul Byron $2,700 – The center is currently playing top six minutes for Montreal in what has become a lost year. Playing with Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty has to rub off somewhere. Florida has a tendency to give up some goals with Roberto Luongo in net and Luongo will start on Saturday. This will be a gamble but hey value is value on Saturday night. Even an assist or goal guarantees Byron will hit value.

Wingers

Sonny Milano $2,500 – There are more and more risky plays to be taken and few are more so than Milano. He just debuted on Thursday night and though he got off to a slow start, the winger did pick it up later in the second and third periods. The forward is likely to be listed on all sites by Saturday night and Carolina is a team that can reasonably give up two or three goals with ease. Milano’s speed translates to the NHL level and his hands are not too bad either.

Defensemen

Jordan Oesterle $3,400 – There is the time to embrace the young players and that is now. Oesterle has not been earth shattering like a Shayne Gostisbehere but he has been effective. Five assists in 14 games is not much to write about but again when low price plays get squeezed down, the contrarian attempts begin to rise in abundance. Expect the Oilers defenseman to block some shots and get a few opportunities too.

Goalie

Joni Ortio $7,000 – It should come as no surprise but when pickings get so slim, Ortio suddenly becomes somewhat of a play. Why? This is “Tank Wars” and literally Edmonton still has a good shot at finishing 30^th in the league. That means Ortio may have a better chance of winning. Calgary has had a better showing in March on the road at least and maybe Ortio can beat their Albertan rivals. The Flames should allow a good number of high quality chances and even shots.

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

Steven Stamkos $7,600 – This is more based on a rage factor stemming from the shutout of Tampa Bay by Montreal on Thursday. Tampa had their chances and so did Stamkos but simply nothing happened. With every point counting and Florida picking up a crucial two points on Thursday, Tampa realizes this is a must win and so does “Captain Stamkos”. Stamkos will be one of the highest projected centers on Saturday night and carries a high but not outrageously high price tag.

Wingers

Alex Ovechkin $8,500 – Ovechkin has an outside shot at 50 goals and one better believe he is going to try everything in creation to get there. That means there will be lots of shots and scoring chances for the forward. Yes, he is the highest priced forward out there but in cash lineups, his safe floor means one can go big and very big! Ovechkin once upon a time in Arizona scored from his seat, literally. The expectations will be high on him and the Coyotes are starting to show signs of reverting back to their three goals a game allowed selves.  

Defenseman

Brent Burns $8,600 – Since few can trust Pekka Rinne, why not play Burns once again on Saturday, his floor is just too darn high to pass up. Let’s be honest. The defenseman will come near 30 goals and a good bit over 40 assists. Now 70 point blueliners are quite rare in this league. Nashville can play a high risk and high reward kind of game. San Jose can do it too so do expect a good bit of fireworks.

Goalie

Ben Bishop $8,300 – New Jersey is bad on the road, especially in the last six weeks or so. Bishop had a rough night on Thursday facing only 23 shots and allowing two goals. While that is still respectable, if a team does not score then your goalie will not get the points needed. The Devils risk is simple. Can they get close to 25 shots on net? If they do, then Bishop will be worth the play on Saturday night. There is a pretty good chance that he gives up zero or one goal. This is riskier than people would expect.

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 eight 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.