Thanks to Andrew Santillo for covering my daily fantasy article this Saturday – this trade of days was for my writer/life balance. Haha.

And keeping with the new format…. DraftKings betting platform, two centers, three wings, two defensemen, one goalkeeper, and one utility skater. $50,000 in fantasy assets to spend on nine players. 

Goalies

Last Saturday, my recommendation was to choose a netminder who would simply win his game, but with the options available tonight, it's far more than that. In part, you want the best result for the lowest fantasy price. Winning is paramount but making many saves and giving up fewer goals – it all counts. 

So where do we start?

Obvious options of Igor Shesterkin ($8200) and Andrei Vasilevskiy ($8100), each at home and playing against Buffalo and Philadelphia (respectively) are sound choices. Consider Jake Oettinger ($8500) with his team back from a frustrating, zero-point trip to Finland and facing a Chicago Blackhawks squad that played Wednesday. An interesting choice could also be Pyotr Kochetkov ($8300), facing the Penguins. Pittsburgh trails only Edmonton in NHL shots on goal but are only 14th in goals scored.  They're also having trouble holding a lead – the Pens have led in 12 of their 14 games, despite a 5-7-2 record. 

Chicken, you say? I'm going to shy away from Connor Hellebuyck ($7900), facing the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon (too rich at $9900) had five assists Tuesday, and the line of Mack with Mikko Rantanen ($8900) and Artturi Lehkonen ($5000), along with Cale Makar ($8600) on the blue line is just intimidating.

For today, the cost options are so close that Sergei Bobrovsky ($7900), on the best team* and facing a second-half B2B Nashville squad that's scored two or fewer goals in four of their last five contests? Yeah.  (*My apologies to Winnipeg, but a Stanley Cup is a pretty solid argument.)

Offense

No, I won't play those Avs guys that are listed above, although the Jets offense is a place to start. The league's highest scoring team facing Alexander Georgiev ($7100) and his 0.822 save% and 4.62 GAA sounds like a feeding frenzy. In just the past two weeks, Kyle Connor ($8300) has run up 13 points and 25 shots, and more-affordable Gabriel Vilardi ($4600) has also been on fire posting five goals, three assists, and 20 SOG. Nino Niederreiter ($3990) matches those stats for the 14-day period, and Nikolaji Ehlers ($5700), six goals, three assists, 21 shots – all four are hot and playing with the confidence of winning.

Moving south of the border, and maybe not where you'd think. Tyler Toffoli ($5400) trails only David Pastrnak ($8600) in shots by forwards over the 14 days, and San Jose, 4-1-0 in their last five outings, has stopped being a pushover. Macklin Celebrini ($4900) being back on his line can only help. Mikael Granlund ($6400) leads the Sharks for the season with 14 points in the same number of games, and will play on Toffoli's opposite wing. I'm not saying this is a playoff-contending team, but maybe a date on the schedule that the Minnesota Wild overlooked.

In Dallas, a bounce-back effort could be led by their top 2024-25 scorer, Matt Duchene ($5700), on a six-game point streak including four points on the Finland trip. Second on the squad is rookie Logan Stankoven ($4700), 10 points – but just one goal for the young season. The Stars against Chicago's backup netminder, likely Arvid Soderblom, just seems like a good bet. See my personal picks below…

Defense

Josh Morrissey ($5800), if he fits under your salary structure, or Neal Pionk ($5000) if that difference matters – both are great options.  Surprise back-end leader for the Sharks? Jake Walman ($5600) has seven of his nine points in his last four games and is a consistent shot-blocker. Brandt Clarke ($5100) has eight points, 18 shots, and 12 blocks in the past two weeks for the Kings.

My lineup – yes, I'm going off the rail a bit:

Centers – Duchene and Wyatt Johnston ($5400)

Wings – Toffoli, Vilardi, Niederreiter

Defense – Clarke and Walman

Goal – Bobrovsky

Utility skater – Jason Robertson ($6200)

Last week

Two goals from Crosby, two goals from Larkin, one of each from Nyquist, and even a Colton Sissons score! Somehow, the only letdown was Alex Pietrangelo, and had I chosen Noah Hanifin instead I would've been into the big money! $16 returned on a $10 bet, so it seems I gave some good advice for the night.

Have a great night!