Tonight's matchups

What a wonderful collection of games to occur at 7 or 8 PM!  Dallas at Carolina, Boston at Vancouver, and Toronto at Colorado. It will be hard to choose one, and I suspect many of us will be flipping channels. Of these, my recommendation will be to pass on the Stars/Canes contest.  Dallas had only 15 shots on goal Thursday in Ottawa, and Jake Oettinger isn't likely to have consecutive bad starts – play for a 3-2 score, not really a daily fantasy gold mine. 

Hottest in the league

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Colorado Avalanche.  And no, the headline here isn't Bobby McMann ($3200), although it could be.  In the past two weeks, this undrafted 27-year-old rookie has seven goals and ten points in six games, and is playing alongside Leafs' captain John Tavares ($7600).  McMann is likely a flash in the pan, sure – he had two goals in his first 26 contests with the big club this season, but it's highly entertaining to watch his energy – and success.  Nooo, the leader of the pack for the month of February is this other guy, Auston Matthews ($10,000).  Twelve goals, six assists, averaging 4½ shots for the nine games, and suddenly on an 82-game pace for 76 goals.  DraftKings' odds that he'll score are such that your $10 bet will pay just a buck-fifty. Okay, I exaggerate. (Actually, just -115, it'd pay $8.60.) Consider also his linemate Matthew Knies ($3100). Morgan Rielly ($6200) is back, but I'd play Timothy Liljegren ($3900) at much lower cost to afford #34.

The late show

Anaheim Ducks @ Los Angeles Kings. In this cross-city rivalry, load up on L.A. Their 4-1 loss to Nashville on Thursday stung. The Kings outshot the Preds 28-19, ignoring the two empty-betters in the last three minutes. Adrian Kempe ($6500) had seven SOG with just an assist to show for it, and Brandt Clarke ($4200) came ALL the way down from his overtime score to defeat Boston to register a minus-3 without a shot. More consistent Drew Doughty ($5300) is the better wager. Add Kevin Fiala ($5500) to complete the stack. I would have chosen Cam Talbot ($8500) here, but his DFS price made me look twice. Do check Dobber's GoaliePost closer to game time if he's on your radar.

Quality goalkeeper – couldn't resist

How is Thatcher Demko ($7400) valued at $1100 less than Talbot? Yes, the Canucks are hosting Boston – but it's a revenge match after the B's prevailed 4-0 earlier this month. I'll take the Vezina leader here and the 'Nucks to even the season series. Demko has dropped his last three decisions, but was 13-2-0 for 2024 prior to that and still boasts an .917 SV% for the season. 

Youth movement?

I watched the Sabres play in Columbus Friday night.  Neither team is likely to hoist anything except golf clubs this spring, but the energy (and disjointed play?) led me to look up some stats for the youngest teams in the NHL. References are QuantHockey, MoneyPuck, and Yahoo. At average roster ages 26.1 and 26.2 years are Buffalo, Columbus, and Montreal.  Similarities and differences? I looked at total giveaways, only to find the league leaders are Nikita Kucherov and Filip Forsberg. Oops. Okay, so… defensive zone giveaways – yeah, Jakob Chychrun, Dylan DeMelo, and John Carlson are the top (?) three. The Habs did have some young players stand out, simply that Jonathan Kovacevic had just five takeaways with 34 giveaways, Justin Barron four takes and 28 turnovers, and Arber Xhekaj just one and 20. Only one other player (William Lagesson) league-wide had fewer than five takeaways and at least 20 giveaways. I'm not saying they're porous at D, but they have lots of room to improve the blue line.

So how do these teams' stars project for the next few years?  The Blue Jackets have yet to supplant Boone Jenner as top-line center, and their leading offensive weapon is Johnny Gaudreau (40 points). Both of these men are 30 years old. Elvis Merzlikins is 29. The youth movement – Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, David Jiricek – seems to be a couple of years off. A scary thought is that their "window" is next year (!) before the established guys start to decline. For Montreal, the defensive maturity will come, and the offensive talent already shines. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky could well be a top-ten first line next season, and Kirby Dach's return will surely benefit the middle six.  Jake Allen has one more year on his contract, though Sam Montembeault has been signed to an extension.

But it's in Buffalo where I foresee the greatest future success.  Eight of the top-nine forwards are under 28 years – heck, when Jack Quinn returns, five of them will be age 22 or younger. Is it Dylan Cozens or Tage Thompson who emerges as the superstar?  On defense, Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson are 23, and Owen Power 21.  In goal, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 24 and heir-apparent (maybe) Devon Levi is 22. These men may all hit their prime together, helping their long-suffering fans forget the years of futility. It could happen.

My lineup

Centers – Matthews and Josh Norris ($4400)

Wings – Kempe, Fiala, McMann

Defense – Liljegren, Doughty

Goal – Demko

Utility skater – Knies

Last week

Just like the goalie who can successfully put that last goal out of his mind, and move on…? Yeah, that.  

Have a great weekend!