DFS Saturday: Lightning Will Strike

Stephen Dotzel

2023-03-18

As the NHL regular season starts to wind down, you may be looking for a void to fill if you've either missed the playoffs in your season long fantasy league or have been eliminated. We are winding down with DFS Saturdays as well but with the ability to play daily fantasy every day, there is still a month's worth of games to be played if you so desire. I recommend giving our tools at DFS Central a look to see who our formulas are liking which can help identify some players for your lineups. In addition, I'll touch on a few plays below that I think are in good spots on tonight's seven game slate that starts at 7 pm EST. All player prices are from DraftKings, but the information and concepts can be applied to any site.

Top-Tier Stack to Pay Up For

To say the Canadiens are struggling right now would be an understatement. After giving up eight goals on Monday to the Avalanche, Montreal allowed seven goals in the FIRST PERIOD to the Panthers on Thursday. Florida would ultimately wind up with nine in the game which was Montreal's eighth loss in the last nine games. Even in their one win during that stretch, they still allowed four goals. Given this run of poor results, any team facing the Canadiens is immediately on our radar. For tonight, that means Tampa Bay who welcomes Montreal to Amalie Arena. Look to stack the top line here of Nikita Kucherov ($7,500), Brayden Point ($7,200), and Brandon Hagel ($5,100) with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev ($5,600). Over the last six games Kucherov has four goals and five assists and Sergachev has nine points of his own. Hagel and Point aren't far behind with seven points apiece.

Mid-Tier Stack to Target

At this point during the season, motivation is something worth factoring into your lineups. The Islanders, for example, are currently holding the last wildcard spot in the East and are trying to hold off a Florida team that is nipping at their heels. A matchup tonight against a Sharks team who sits in last place in the West is certainly not a game New York can afford to lose. Given this combination of motivation and matchup, the Isles are a team I want some exposure to. The offensive output for the Islanders isn't as condensed as we typically want for our stacks, as scoring frequently comes from throughout the lineup. However, being forced to choose I'm looking at the potential line of Bo Horvat ($6,800), Anders Lee ($5,500), and Hudson Fasching ($3,000). This trio saw time together at the end of their most recent game and I'd expect them to start out tonight's game the same way. Fasching and Lee have combined for seven goals over the last six games and while Horvat has been eerily quiet with only one point during that stretch, we know he has the talent to go off for a big performance at any time. The stars are aligning that tonight could very well be that night.

Cheap Stack to Build Around

One of the surprise teams of late has been the Coyotes. They come into Saturday's slate having won five of their last six games and draw a home matchup with the lowly Blackhawks. Barrett Hayton ($4,400) and Brett Ritchie ($3,400) make for a very affordable top line, top power play mini stack. Hayton has 11 points over the last six games which includes a monster performance on Sunday where he scored 43.3 DraftKings points. Ritchie put up 28.6 DraftKings points in that game as well, showing how linemates can elevate each other when things go right. If you have the salary Clayton Keller ($6,900) could obviously be added to this but he is certainly not "cheap". I prefer sprinkling Hayton and Ritchie into my lineups as complimentary value options around some of the other plays above.

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Goalies

Between the pipes I'm typically looking to stack my goalie with one of my stacks from that lineup. However, if looking for a standalone option, I'd consider Thatcher Demko ($7,100). Demko is the 12th ranked goalie in terms of price out of the 14 on this slate so he's about as cheap as you can go at the position tonight. Vancouver has been playing better defense of late since making their coaching change and since returning on February 27, Demko has averaged 15.8 DraftKings per game. That's a total we'd be happy with for the price.  

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
FILIP GUSTAVSSON MIN

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency T.B Players
19.1 BRAYDEN POINT NIKITA KUCHEROV JAKE GUENTZEL
12.7 LUKE GLENDENING ZEMGUS GIRGENSONS MICHAEL EYSSIMONT
11.7 NICK PAUL MITCHELL CHAFFEE CAM ATKINSON

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