Look for Jonathan Drouin and Aleksander Barkov to lead your daily fantasy hockey lineups Saturday …

Top Budget Plays

Centers

Jonathan Drouin $3,100 – The center is truly a wild card on Saturday night. While Tampa may not have anything to play for, Drouin certainly does – his future. No one knows where he will end up next year but a good showing in this audition of sorts will serve him well. If he can just play hard enough on defense, the offense will come. Montreal has been awful in 2016 and speedy forwards like Drouin could cause a match-up nightmare.

Wingers

Patrik Elias $3,200 – There are so many options out there and watch to see if Elias plays. The probability is that he finds a way. The career long Devil has had an injury ravaged season but in what could be his swan song, New Jersey plays Toronto. Elias has tormented the Maple Leafs through the years and is potentially worth a look on Saturday. Oliver Bjorkstrand will be one as well if you are looking for stability. He is playing on the second line in Columbus basically.

Defensemen

Kevin Klein $4,100 – There is the time to go high risk on Klein. He is still reasonably priced and the Rangers defense has jumped more into the play of late, especially on the power play. It is not a surprise that the power play has looked better during this span too. At this juncture, this is all about trying to find players that will play in what can be described as elevated roles. This defenseman fits that description.

Goalie

Nicklas Backstrom $6,500 – Backstrom is a very cheap commodity playing against his former team. He was torched a couple weeks ago in this circumstance but Minnesota has now clinched a playoff spot. They are locked into their seed which means they may not really play guys their normal minutes or at all. Calgary has played better on the road in the last month and might want to give the old goalie one last shot at a W.

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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.

Centers

Aleksander Barkov $6,900 – If Barkov had not missed time with injury, he probably has a 70+ point season. The center has 57 points in 64 games this year. Ottawa gives up over three goals a game and their defense has just been so porous over the second half. Florida does have things sewn up but they will want to get Barkov in a good amount of work because of the upcoming rest till later next week. The center may even find success on the power play against an Ottawa team that is among the three worst teams on the penalty kill, even at home.  

Wingers

Alex Ovechkin $8,500 – Ovechkin will be going for 50 goals Saturday. He is the only player who is even remotely close. Expect him to shoot early and often in what will be an entertaining clash against Vladimir Tarasenko and the St. Louis Blues. Both Russians could be cash game plays but the Capitals left winger may pile up 6-10+ shots on goal in this tilt. That floor along with the likelihood of points is simply too good to pass up. Spending up has risks but hey, records and milestones will be chased.  

Defenseman

Mark Giordano $7,400 – Giordano has just been ridiculous of late and has been 100% in what has been a monstrous last 5-6 weeks of the year. It is kind of a shame that Calgary did not get this kind of production earlier in the campaign but what can one do. He has five points in the last five games and faces a Minnesota team just trying to avoid injury. Calgary wants to close things out well and whether at home or on the road, he has played like he did last season once again.   

Goalie

Corey Crawford $8,100 – The goalie looks like he is on the right track in returning from a concussion. If all goes well, he should start on Saturday against Columbus. The Blackhawks match up very well against Columbus and have blown them out once already this year. It will be a game to get the goalie some work and his home record has been exemplary. Worse comes to worse, Cory Schneider might be a play or even Braden Holtby.

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. Please note that this is a mega Saturday slate. We are targeting all fifteen games to give readers more of a range on what to go on. Some teams are going to have little to play for so keep that in mind. Finally, please note that Saturday is very much a split slate with several options. Thanks for reading.