DFS Saturday: Stacking Panthers, Red Wings and Saros on a Super Saturday Slate

Stephen Dotzel

2023-01-14

If you're a fan of big slates, have we got the one for you today! A whopping 28 teams are in action on this Saturday, 26 of which fall on the main slate. While we are no stranger to large slates, this is one of the biggest we'll see all season. Admittedly, I find these slates more difficult simply because there are just so many options to choose from. With 18 skaters on the ice per team, that's 416 players in our pool tonight that we have to narrow down to nine. If you haven't already, this could be the perfect time to give our tools at DFS Central a look to help you really hone in on a few certain players. As far as my picks, here are some spots to target. The player prices are from DraftKings, but the information and concepts can be applied to any site.

Top Tier Stack to Pay Up For

The Vancouver Canucks come into tonight's contest having lost six of their last seven games including the last three on their current road trip. In those three losses the team has allowed five, five, and seven goals. We'll hope this trend continues in Florida tonight and look to take advantage by stacking up the Panthers. While I typically prefer to stack players on the same even strength line, I'll make an exception for this one as it appears Matthew Tkachuk ($7,800) and Aleksander Barkov ($6,500) will not start together. Tkachuk has been one of the most consistent fantasy producers all season, averaging just shy of 16 DraftKings points per game. Barkov has been relatively quiet of late since his hat trick on December 29th but has still managed an average of 10 DraftKings points over his last five games despite only scoring one goal. I like adding Sam Reinhart ($4,800) and Brandon Montour ($6,200) to the stack to give us more pieces of the power play which is where Tkachuk and Barkov will certainly be on the ice together.

Mid-Tier Stack to Target

Speaking of December 29th, that happens to be the last time the Coyotes won a hockey game. Since then, Arizona has gone on to lose seven straight, and in six of those games they've allowed at least four goals. That's good news for their opponent tonight the Minnesota Wild. The Wild's top line has been playing well of late with a combined 16 points over the last six games. Leading the way to nobody's surprise is Kirill Kaprizov ($7,700) and his five goals during that span. Perhaps what is surprising is the run Sam Steel ($3,500) is on with two goals and four assists of his own in those six games. At just $3,500, double digit fantasy points is a good score and that's something Steel has done three times in the last five games. Rounding out the stack is Mats Zuccarello ($6,600) who has posted 15 DraftKings points or more in three of the last four and now gets this juicy matchup with the Coyotes. Calen Addison ($3,000) is worth as a cheap add on at defense as he joins Kaprizov and Zuccarello on the power play.  

Cheap Stack to Build Around

The price tag on Dylan Larkin ($6,000) here is a bit over what I typically consider "cheap" however given the cost of the wingers around him plus the plethora of value on such a large slate, I think we can make it work. Tyler Bertuzzi ($3,700) is back and while he hasn't shown up on the scoresheet yet, it should only be a matter of time given his current role on the top line and power play. Rounding out that line is Lucas Raymond ($3,700) who has been on the scoresheet with exactly one goal and two assists in each of the past two games. The cumulative price tag of $13,400 for these three skaters combined is why I feel they're still worthy to be included in this section of the article. The matchup here for the Red Wings against a Blue Jackets team who's allowed six goals in back-to-back games is a good one.

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Goalies

I typically like to correlate my goalie in my lineups with one of my stacks, but if you're looking for a standalone option, I'd consider Juuse Saros ($7,800). Saros has arguably been the hottest goalie in the league over the last month posting a league best .943 save percentage since December 12th and he's averaged 21.9 DraftKings points per start since then, which is also the best mark in the league. The matchup with the Sabres isn't one to fear right now as they've only mustered five goals over their last three games combined.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @SteveDotzel so you can follow my "DFS-NHL" list which is comprised of dozens of team accounts and beat writers providing important updates throughout the day. Best of luck with your lineups!

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UPCOMING GAMES

Dec 22 - 12:12 NYR vs CAR
Dec 22 - 17:12 T.B vs FLA
Dec 22 - 17:12 UTA vs ANA
Dec 22 - 17:12 WSH vs L.A
Dec 22 - 20:12 EDM vs OTT
Dec 22 - 20:12 COL vs SEA

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
PATRIK LAINE MTL
LANE HUTSON MTL
JACKSON LACOMBE ANA
DYLAN GUENTHER UTA
ALEX TURCOTTE L.A

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
JESPER WALLSTEDT MIN
MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD COL
KAREL VEJMELKA UTA
LEEVI MERILAINEN OTT
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN BUF

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency BUF Players
20.3 JJ PETERKA PEYTON KREBS DYLAN COZENS
20.2 SAM LAFFERTY JIRI KULICH ZACH BENSON
19.1 JASON ZUCKER ALEX TUCH TAGE THOMPSON

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