Top Budget Plays

Centers

Tyler Johnson $3300 – The center is a punt play at the least. However, playing against the New York Islanders may set up very good as the center will draw depth Islanders match-ups which are below Corsi relative. He is going to get decent opportunities. Johnson is still playing around 15 minutes a night. More importantly, New York is allowing some goals: 3.4 goals per game on the road.  

Wingers

Charles Hudon $3500 – Keep in mind that Hudon is taking full advantage of his increased role (thanks to some flu outbreak). He had an assist in his last game and will draw decent depth match-ups against Toronto. Do not expect much power play time but his speed will cause much frustration. Sven Andrighetto is a viable option for only a hundred dollars more. There are several value options for this eight-game main slate.

Defensemen

Matt Dumba $3500 – Washington has been giving up a lot of scoring chances and shots lately. They also are having issues with special teams and five-on-five alike. Colorado had 12 points from their top line alone against the Capitals. Dumba had two points against Nashville in their big third period comeback. The Capitals’ depth or lack thereof can make for some intriguing value plays. Dumba is just too low on DraftKings to pass up. There are at least a half-dozen players in the $3400-$3600 range to consider if there is a little more room in your budget.

Goalie

Scott Darling $7200 – This is a dangerous GPP play but Buffalo is not the rested team and Carolina is. Their expected goals for is modest but again Carolina could give up over 30 shots. The other construct is this. Darling is altering good and bad starts over his last five outings. He could be in for a good start since the effort against the Islanders was not so good. His save percentage is league-average but has been better over the last seven or eight starts. The Sabres can be inconsistent in shot output but the chance of a win may be better than expected.                        

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

Brayden Schenn $6300 – People will run to this as it will be a semi chalky play that still has to be used in quite a few lineups. The center has a prime match-up against a Vancouver team that does not excel at special teams. Schenn carries some risk as Vancouver has an ability to slow things down. It is not that super ideal match-up. On the other hand, ownership should be a little bit lower. Consider that Tampa Bay will be extra chalky and Schenn has 25 points in 20 games including points in six straight contests.

Wingers

Nikita Kucherov $8100 – Stamkos has been on fire with 33 points in the first 19 games. Tampa Bay and the Islanders could play a rather entertaining style of game. Moderately high event outcome is possible. Tampa Bay will be a rested team as well. The top scoring line for the Lightning has been almost match-up proof over the last six weeks aside. All they did was account for half the goals in the 6-1 win. Lesson learned for the masses as they say. Projected ownership could be 20%+ easily.                    

Defenseman

Shea Weber $6000 – Again this could be moderately owned, but Weber has moderate to high point potential on Saturday. Toronto has won five of their first nine games on the road. They only allow three goals a game away from home. Every metric indicates that the defenseman should not have a good night (including a flu outbreak). However, Toronto is allowing over 30 shots a night. Montreal is up against it after losing to Arizona. Expect more offense.

Goalie

Andrei Vasilevskiy $8100 – There may be better choices, but this has potential to work well. He just keeps on winning. Vasilevskiy is 14-1-1 in 16 decisions with an incredible .932 save percentage. This has a little risk, but Tampa Bay has a good chance to win as the rested team. It could be more of a cash play as no one knows how the Islanders will come out pace wise. Projections suggest somewhere in the range of 26-30 shots (Tampa has allowed 30.4 shots per start in the last five). That means the Tampa goalie would need a quality start to hit value. Anything better exceeds that. Other choices include Braden Holtby and even Frederik Andersen if one is wanting to go for shot potential.

Chris Wassel has been playing DFS for the past couple years and has played Fantasy Hockey for three decades. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. We are targeting the eight-game main slate to give readers more of a range on what to go on. Finally, please note that Saturday’s slate has several options. Thanks for reading and enjoy the slate daily fantasy hockey fans!