Holy games! You can't pack more hockey into a Saturday if you tried as there's a whopping 15 games on tap and every team is in action except the Winnipeg Jets. I'll pretend I didn't look ahead to the one, single game scheduled for Sunday and just try to enjoy Saturday first.

Of those 15 games, 13 fall on the main slate so if you like picking apart giant slates this one is definitely for you. If you don't, there are a few things you could do to try and make the slate more digestible. Probably the simplest option is to just play another slate. On DraftKings for example there are others available besides the main slate, such as a four game "Turbo" slate comprised of the four 8 pm EST games, or the "Late" slate comprised of the three 10 pm EST games. Playing these will limit the player pool to just those teams in action during that timeframe.

The contest variety on those alternate slates is typically not as robust as the main, so you may find yourself wanting to stick to the main slate to get in the GPP's you prefer to play, and therefore back to dealing with the 13 game schedule. Something you can do, that I do, is simply eliminate eight to twelve teams from your stacking consideration. This will narrow the teams in play for your lineups down from 26 to the 14-18 range, which gets you down to what would normally be a seven- to nine-game slate worth of players. Something like that is much more manageable and allows you to focus more heavily on the remaining teams in your pool.

Removing several teams from consideration is how I start my process on these large slates. For Saturday's games I can tell you I've already ruled out the Blue Jackets, Senators, Canucks, Blues, Wild, Stars, Predators, Sharks, Flames, Coyotes, and Ducks from stacking consideration. That doesn't mean I won't roster any players from these teams, but I likely won't go there for stacks. Sure, removing these teams may cause me to miss out on a big score, but that's a risk I'm willing to take by now being able to focus on the remaining 15 teams.

With the teams and player pool narrowed down, here's how I'm handling tonight's monster 13 game slate. All prices are from DraftKings but players and strategies can be applied to FanDuel as well. 

Top Options

COL – Nathan MacKinnon ($9,000), Gabriel Landeskog ($7,200), Mikko Rantanen ($7,700)

Coming off their first three game losing skid of the season earlier this week, the Avalanche saw the returns of several key players like Rantanen, Philipp Grubauer, and Joonas Donskoi on Friday. Rantanen in particular should give the Colorado offense a boost and pairing him and/or Landeskog with Nathan MacKinnon is my favorite stack of the night.

You'd be hard pressed to find a player as consistent as MacKinnon who had scored double-digit DraftKings points in 14 straight games entering Friday, which dates all the way back to March 29. Oh by the way, he has at least one point in every one of those games as well, so play MacKinnon in confidence in this one. You don't have to stack him as he can rack up the shots and create on his own but consider one of his linemates if salary allows. If you need a cheaper alternative, consider pairing him with Donskoi ($4,100), as Donskoi should see some power-play time with MacKinnon.

FLA – Sam Bennett ($5,500), Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,400), Aleksander Barkov ($8,300)

Since coming over from Calgary, Bennett has to be loving his new digs in Florida. In just eight games with his new team, Bennett has five goals and six assists and has racked up double digit DraftKings points seven times for a 16.7-point average. He has also seen over four minutes of power-play time per game since being moved to the top unit, a good sign he could be able to continue his recent production. DraftKings has continued to raise his price up from the depths it was previously but I'm still comfortable with it given his recent form. Stack Bennett with Huberdeau who he skates with at even strength and consider adding in Barkov and/or Keith Yandle ($4,100), who will join Bennett and Hubs on the man advantage.

TOR – Auston Matthews ($9,100), Mitch Marner ($8,300)

I'll keep it short but ever since those two surprise losses to the Canucks last week, the Leafs have rattled off four straight wins including one over Vancouver Thursday. Matthews scored a goal in three of those games and hit the five shot DraftKings bonus in all four, which gives him a nice 23-point average during the stretch. There's little reason to think he can't reach that mark again in this one, so while he'll be the highest-owned player on the slate most likely I'd still want some exposure. You can stack him with Marner and whoever else winds up on his wing which figures to be one of Nick Foligno ($4,100) or Joe Thornton ($2,600).

CAR – Sebastian Aho ($7,100), Andrei Svechnikov ($6,100), Teuvo Teravainen ($4,600)

Two teams that are certainly going in opposite directions are Carolina and Columbus. While the Hurricanes leads the entire NHL in points, the Blue Jackets have sunk below even Detroit with losses in 16 of their last 19 games. Carolina got an added boost with the return of Teravainen this week, and he immediately paid dividends with a goal and assist on Thursday. His price tag is as low as you'll see for him which makes the full line stack with Aho and Svechnikov fairly affordable. The latter two have alternated 20+ DraftKing point performances over the last four games, so the potential is here if all three can connect together on a few goals.

Quick Hitters

EDM – With Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon on the slate, plus coming off a loss to this same Calgary team on Thursday, we may see Connor McDavid ($9,200) come in at lower ownership than you'd otherwise expect. Anytime you think McDavid could be low owned he's worth taking a shot on. I'd play him solo or stack him with Leon Draisaitl ($7,500), Tyson Barrie ($5,900), or Darnell Nurse ($6,600).

MTL – Stacking against Ottawa is always on the table so tonight is no different. Montreal isn't the easiest team to stack with the mixed power plays and scattered scoring, as only two players have scored more than twice in the team's last ten games. One of those players is Tyler Toffoli ($6,900) who would be my preferred Canadien target. Stack him with Nick Suzuki ($5,000) who just so happens to be the other player. If you need a salary saving stack consider Josh Anderson ($5,300), Jesperi Kotkaniemi ($3,200), and Phillip Danault ($3,800).

VGK – The Coyotes just got blasted by the Sharks for ten goals in two games and now will face a much better opponent in the Golden Knights who had won ten straight entering Friday. The Max Pacioretty ($8,500), Mark Stone ($7,300), Chandler Stephenson ($5,500) line has been on fire as is the preferred target. Consider Jonathan Marchessault ($6,300) (if he returns to the lineup on Saturday) and Alex Tuch ($5,100) as scoring threats who come in slightly cheaper.

PHI – I have reservations about rostering a team who's just been eliminated from playoff contention and has been as disappointing as this Flyers bunch, but nobody has allowed more goals over the last ten games than New Jersey. There's some light price tags in play here so I'll close my eyes and select a few Flyers in this one. Jakub Voracek ($5,300) Travis Konecny ($4,600), and James van Riemsdyk ($5,400) are who I'm looking at here. Voracek in particular has seven points in the past five games.

CHI – Florida figures to be one of the highest owned teams on the slate so if you want to get a little weird, Chicago should have virtually no ownership. Of course, you have the big guns of Patrick Kane ($7,600) and Alex DeBrincat ($7,100) if you want to pay up, but consider the second line as a super cheap stack that will allow you to roster any player your heart desires. Kirby Dach ($3,500), Vince Hinostoza ($3,000), and Brandon Hagel ($2,800) will cost you next to nothing and have combined for five goals and nine assists in just the last four games.

Top Value Options for Filling Out Lineups

C – Brock Nelson ($3,800), Christian Dvorak ($3,600), Ryan Johansen ($3,200), Quinton Byfield ($2,500)

W – Donskoi ($4,100), Anthony Beauvillier ($3,600), Kasperi Kapanen ($3,300), Jaden Schwartz ($3,200)

D – Mattias Ekholm ($4,000), Brett Pesce ($3,900), Ty Smith ($3,300), Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($3,200)

Goalie Picks

Alex Nedeljkovic ($8,500)

Cam Talbot ($8,000)

Mike Smith ($8,100)

Devan Dubnyk ($8,100)

Brian Elliott ($7,800)

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 personally and I'll do my best to answer any questions I can. Hope to see you on top of the leaderboards!