Top Budget Plays

Centers

Christian Dvorak $3300 – The center is a decent play at the least. However, playing against the Columbus Blue Jackets may set up very good as the center will draw depth Columbus match-ups which are below Corsi relative. He is going to get decent opportunities. Dvorak is playing more minutes and has picked it up again with hitting value in four of his last six starts. The key with Dvorak is that Arizona is rested and Columbus is not. Columbus will still be heavily favored, but Dvorak again makes a contrarian punt play. Most forget he is approaching 20 points and even has decent power play potential.

Wingers

Loui Eriksson $3300 – Keep in mind that Eriksson is taking full advantage of his increased role with the Sedin Twins. He had no points in his last game but with the Bo Horvat injury, Eriksson and company will have increased chances. The right winger had four shots on goal and three high danger chances against Philadelphia. Vancouver is better on the road and Calgary yields 3.5 goals a game at home! That is no misprint. If the DFS sites are going to keep low balling some prices, why not take advantage of it.

Defensemen

Mike Matheson $3100 –There may be better plays like David Savard even, but Matheson could be safe just for his shots and blocked shots potential. Florida playing Colorado could mean plenty of chances. Florida gives as good as it gets at home which usually means somewhere near 35+ shots on each side. The attempts are usually well over 60 so that means elevated block shot potential. It could dud but for this low of a price and increased pace, Matheson may be worth the risk.
 

Goalie

Keith Kinkaid $7400 – This is a dangerous GPP play but this is a New Jersey team that allows lots of shots on net (over 34 per 60 on the road). The Devils are a better team away from home in the early going. Yes, they are not a rested squad, but neither are the New York Rangers. Kinkaid will also want to redeem himself after allowing five goals against Arizona last Saturday. This is a huge tournament risk and game flow could be sloppy. See who starts for the Rangers first. James Reimer may be a viable play even. It is a tough night for value.                           

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

Tyler Seguin $7400 – People will run to this as it will be a chalky play that still has to be used in quite a few lineups. The center has a solid matchup against a tired Vegas team. Expected goals is over six in this one. Seguin has 13 shots on goal in the last two games and ten scoring chances. It may be just a matter of time and not much time at that before Seguin takes off. The center has multiple point potential and Vegas does play with a little more pace on the road. This lends itself to a better performance. Dallas did have that dud versus Nashville but this is not Nashville.

Wingers

Nikita Kucherov $7800 – While the winger has six points in his last five games, he just has seven shots in the previous four contests. This could be a wide-open game and another with an expected goals a good bit over six. Opportunities may come fast and furious and the second line of Tampa Bay could avoid the Mark Scheifele line. That is quite a good thing as Winnipeg’s depth is 29^th in high danger chances allowed per 60. The recipe is there. It is up to Kucherov.                      

Defenseman

John Klingberg $5500 – Again this could be heavily owned, but Klingberg has moderate to high point potential on Saturday. Vegas may be fatigued to say the least and who knows who will start in net for them. Vegas has a penalty kill that is struggling of late too (below 75% over the last dozen contests). Klingberg is not the highest of high price players on Saturday but maybe he should be.

Goalie

Jonathan Quick $8300 – There may be better choices, but this has potential to work well. Carolina is one of those teams that can generate lots of shots yet often does not score a ton. They did hop out to a 4-1 lead over San Jose and then the Hurricanes blew it. Allowing four goals unanswered was a nasty one to swallow. The strange thing is Los Angeles allowed 40 shots in their last game to Ottawa of all teams. Carolina may be able to put up 30+ shots (potential is moderately high). Quick could almost be a GPP play albeit a chalky one.

Chris Wassel has been playing DFS for the past several years and has played Fantasy Hockey for three decades. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. We are targeting the 10-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!