May I have a word with the NHL schedule making team? This past week there was only one game on both Monday and Friday, and just two games on Wednesday. Meanwhile sandwiched in the middle were 13- and 14- game slates on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. I am sure there is a method to this madness but from a daily fantasy perspective it sure would be nice if they were to spread the love a bit more. The upcoming schedule is more of the same so it's something us fantasy players will have to get used to. However, unlike last week where Saturday got the short end of the stick with only four games, this week there is a healthy 12 games on the schedule, 11 of which fall on the main slate.

The beauty of such a large set of games is that ownership doesn't quite matter as much, at least in my eyes. With so many teams and players in the player pool, ownership is usually spread out across a multitude of options. Often you can even wind up rostering some top lines for under three or four percent ownership. This is a stark contrast to last Saturday, where some players were touching 40%. The downside of having so many choices is it can be quite overwhelming with 88 different lines and 66 defenseman pairs to sift through. With so much to look at, let's get right in to some suggestions on how to handle this slate.

All players and prices are from DraftKings Main Slate (7 pm EST)

Top Options – High Owned

As mentioned in the opening, I don't think focusing on ownership is too important on this slate, nonetheless I do think certain spots will carry more than others. They include:

TOR/EDM – Connor McDavid ($8,400), Auston Matthews ($8,200), Leon Draisaitl ($7,500), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($7,300), Mitchell Marner ($7,200)

Outside of the third periods, where ten of the 14 goals in the previous three meetings between these teams occurred, the games have been a bit underwhelming. However, with the star power on display in this one, a blowup is certainly within the realm of possibilities and these players will naturally find their way into several lineups. Their price tags don't make things easy though as an EDM1 PP stack of McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, and Tyson Barrie ($4,200) uses up 55% of your salary cap space with five roster spots including a goalie still left to fill.

Keep reading for some options if you want to go this route, but the better strategy might be plugging in the cheaper linemates with these studs to get a more balanced lineup. Swapping out Nugent-Hopkins for Jesse Puljujarvi ($4,300), Kailer Yamamoto ($4,900), or James Neal ($2,800) opens up an additional $2,400-$4,500 in salary while still providing access to McDavid and Draisaitl. On the Toronto side, taking a flyer on Zach Hyman ($4,300) over Marner, who's been skating on the top line with Matthews, provides similar salary relief. You can even combine these stacks within the same lineup to create a game stack in case it does turn into a shootout.

COL – Nathan MacKinnon ($8,500), Nazem Kadri ($4,700), Andre Burakovsky ($4,000), Brandon Saad ($2,600)

Some of these names might not be who you'd expect when thinking of Colorado but the Avalanche second line has been on a tear. In the two-game series against the Sharks the trio of Kadri, Saad, and Burakovsky combined for five goals, six assists, and 114 DraftKings points. Despite the outburst, their salaries remain fairly cheap in part because the pricing came out before the most recent Sharks game, failing to factor in the three goals and three assists from these players on Thursday. These great values are surely to find their way into several lineups on Saturday as a complementary stack to some of the higher priced lines, and I'd recommend working them in to some of yours.

As for the top line, MacKinnon always carries some ownership as one of the top point and shot producers in the league, but I think both of his linemates of Mikko Rantanen ($7,600) and Gabriel Landeskog ($7,000) will go overlooked on this big slate and make for great stacking options with MacKinnon, and a nice pivot from what I expect to be a higher-owned second line.

Top Options – Low Owned

NYR1/2 – Mika Zibanejad ($6,800), Artemi Panarin ($6,500), Pavel Buchnevich ($5,500), Chris Kreider ($4,400)

The Penguins can't stop anything right now, they've allowed 30 goals in their eight games this season which is more than both Detroit and Chicago in the same amount of games. The Rangers are struggling themselves having won just two of their seven games to start the season, but there is too much talent on this offense to continue at their current middling pace and I like the idea of riding them until that outburst occurs.

Zibanejad in particular has just two points on the year and will go way overlooked with the other options at center on the slate, but he has shown last year his upside is just as high. I like the thought of pairing him with at least one of his line mates of Buchnevich or Kreider and working in Panarin as well if possible. On defense, Tony DeAngelo makes for a cheap pairing at $3,100 and joins Zibanejad on the power play.

WPG – Mark Scheifele ($7,300), Kyle Connor ($7,100), Blake Wheeler ($6,900), Nikolaj Ehlers ($5,900), Andrew Copp ($4,300), Adam Lowry ($3,700)

We picked on Vancouver last Saturday and it worked out well, so I am going back to the well here. Now they have seemingly got back on track this week, but those three games were against Ottawa so take it with a grain of salt. The Winnipeg top line is a strong play and deserves consideration. Like many others, they too will likely go overlooked on this slate. But I'm really interested in the secondary pieces who have been on an absolute heater.

Ehlers has scored in five straight games while Copp and Lowry have combined for four goals each in the same span. All three have at least one game of 30 or more DraftKings points during the stretch and have cracked double digit points in 13 of the 15 chances. That level of production likely can't be sustained by that group but that doesn't mean Saturday has to be the end of it. Picking off one or two of these pieces as a way to get some salary relief is a great way to go. You can even add Paul Stastny ($4,400) to the mix for the full WPG2 stack.

DET – Dylan Larkin ($6,100), Tyler Bertuzzi ($4,400), Anthony Mantha ($4,000), Bobby Ryan ($3,900), Vladislav Namestnikov ($2,700)

I know what you're thinking, Detroit, really? Hear me out. Sometimes the pricing on the fantasy sites suck you into something you otherwise wouldn't have thought about it, and tonight is one of those nights. Larkin is a bit pricey, and rightfully so as the most productive of the bunch, but the rest of these options for Detroit are dirt cheap.

I'm particularly interested in the second line of Namestnikov, Mantha, and Ryan as it's not often you can roster a full top two line, with multiple first power player exposures, for just $10,600 total. Both of Detroit's wins this year have come at Little Caesars Arena, and that's where they find themselves tonight. Their opponent, the Florida Panthers, allowed 3.25 goals per game on the road last season which was the third worst mark in the league. So far this year they've continued that trend with three goals allowed in each road appearance. Albeit a very small sample, those two games were against Columbus who isn't exactly known for their high-flying offense.

All told, this is as good of a spot as it gets for Detroit. You can use the affordability of that second line to pair all three, or two of the three, with any other higher-priced stack on the slate and it won't take but a goal or two to make it worth it.  

Quick Hitters

FLA1 – On the flip side, it is still Detroit, and Florida could have success themselves. The first line of Aleksander Barkov ($6,900), Carter Verhaeghe ($3,800), and Anthony Duclair ($3,800) is very affordable.

TOR2 – I already touched on the Maple Leafs matchup earlier, but the second line always goes overlooked and John Tavares ($6,400) and William Nylander ($5,300) scored 60% of their goals last season on the road.

PIT2 – Despite liking the Rangers side of this game there's no denying their early season struggles. The Penguins second line of Evgeni Malkin ($5,700), Kasperi Kapanen ($3,500), and Jason Zucker ($3,500) offers another reasonably priced full line stack to pair with other top options.

Top Value Options for Filling Out Lineups

C – Kadri ($4,700), Lowry ($3,700), Jean-Gabriel Pageau ($3,300), Namestnikov ($2,700)

W – Mike Hoffman ($4,200), James van Riemsdyk ($3,800), Blake Coleman ($3,500), James Neal ($2,800), Saad ($2,600)

D – Charlie McAvoy ($4,900), Justin Faulk ($4,000), DeAngelo ($3,100), Erik Gustafsson ($2,600), Slater Koekkoek ($2,500)

Goalie Picks

Connor Hellebuyck ($8,000)

Igor Shesterkin ($7,600)

Carey Price ($8,100)

Thomas Greiss ($7,700)

Tristan Jarry ($7,300)

Be sure to double check your lineups before lock for any last-minute scratches or goalie changes, especially this year with the Covid protocols. If you follow me on Twitter @SteveDotzel you can subscribe to my "DFS-NHL" list which is comprised of several team beat writers tweeting the most recent news in real-time. You can also reach out to me on Twitter and I'll do my best to answer any questions I can. Hope to see you on top of the leaderboards!