Good day, everyone! We have a pretty interesting slate on our hands tonight where for the first time in a long time there are not too many goaltenders on this slate that I would be looking to target against. Don't get me wrong, there are still some stellar matchups, but going off the past month alone, we have to really dive deep into some stats to find something worth staking against. My DFS senses are tingling, we could be in for a wild one tonight where the night ends and Calgary's power play goes nuclear while the Avalanche top line and Tampa Bay top line go quiet. 

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Tampa Bay

So, we're all in agreement here that this is the best spot on the board, right? Tampa is two things tonight, expensive and odds are, popular, but I'm ready to throw all that aside and go for it with this club. I've seen this movie now 100 times: it's the Blackhawks on the road. The last road win for this club was that weird 2-1 win at MSG in early December when the Rangers were really struggling and prior to that we have to go all the way back to a game on November 9^th against the Ducks to find a win on the road. I'll be all over Tampa tonight but might try and get a little creative in doing so depending on how much of them I get to in my lineup. Tonight, Tampa may go with Anthony Cirelli ($5,800) on the top line with Jake Guentzel ($7,800) and Nikita Kucherov ($9K), to where that may be a popular play as I could see people going to Cirelli to save salary over Brayden Point on the second line at $8,300. For me, I'm going to stack a combination of Anthony Cirelli ($5,800), Jake Guentzel ($7,800), Nikita Kucherov ($9,000), and Brayden Point ($8,300). If I end up with Kucherov, Point, and add in Brandon Hagel ($7,400, sick trade Hawks) I don't mind the look of that lineup and even adding in maybe Nick Paul at $4,200 or Michael Eyssimont down at $2,500 I think that's fine too. This is a Tampa club that has mixed up their power play units for about the past week but as someone who painfully watches Chicago, the one bright spot they have is the penalty kill. Years from now historians will study that and wonder how it was possible. If this game ends and it's 2-1 Tampa Bay, then oh well I played the best hand I saw on the board and given this is a 'Hawks team that allowed two goals almost immediately at home versus the Wild with only one shot on goal in the first period, I'll take my chances here.

New York Rangers

Look, I get the excitement over Carolina's acquisitions, and this is a 'Canes team that over the past month at even strength has torched almost everyone they've played and may have just found the pieces to help get them over the hump come playoffs. So, are we playing them here tonight? This may be a little bit of a surprise, but I'm actually fading the 'Canes, and this is coming from someone who cashed twice last week playing broken Carolina stacks and here's why. I have no idea if any of these Carolina lines are going to remain how currently listed this morning or get broken up if Carolina gets down in this matchup early. My other thought is that as awesome as it is to now have Rantanen and Hall, I don't know what that does for this team defensively. I realize that it's the 'Canes and they'll probably figure that out on how to cover what each of those players may not be able to bring defensively, but I'm maybe looking to take advantage of some early lapses and could be willing to play the Rangers at home. If I get to them in single entry, obviously that means I'm fading Tampa Bay, but I would build around a 2F/1D three-man and then find a three-forward stack elsewhere. I can see clicking in Artemi Panarin ($7,600), Vincent Trocheck ($5,700) and Adam Fox at that same price, and going about my day. Even if you want to full stack this top line, I could be alright with that idea as well. While the top line isn't fully correlated on power play anymore, if this night ends up to where Artemi Panarin has a good performance, I will imagine that Alexis Lafreniere ($4,600), would in some way be a part of that success. For the depth on the Rangers, the second line wingers of Reilly Smith $3,300 and Will Cuylle ($3K) are catching my eye a bit to the point where if I'm building multiple lineups, this could be a cheap two-man pair to go with Tampa or Colorado on this slate. I'm trying to get to a pivot point with the Rangers and am close to doing just that as for all the struggles this club had in December and early January, they have scored at least four goals in their last four games.

Anaheim

If there's one cheap group out there tonight that I'm considering getting to, it's Anaheim. This is also the one spot to where goaltending really matters as going into a matchup with Seattle could mean going into a matchup with Philipp Grubauer…and sadly Jacob Daccord as of late. Taking away a home games against the Penguins, Daccord allowed four goals against the Sabres, three against the Capitals, and four against the Oilers. I can't say that this Ducks team is close to any of those clubs that I just rattled off, but this is also a Ducks team with 20 wins in regulation on January 28^th. For reference here, it took Anaheim until April 9^th last season to reach that number…safe to say this iteration of the Ducks has been vastly better than the team last season. The top line is fully correlated with Frank Vatrano ($5,800), Troy Terry ($5,500) and Ryan Strome ($3,800) and just looking up and down the slate, this line is only one of possibly four correlated top trios, and they are also the cheapest with the others being the Islanders, Montreal, and Winnipeg. The price range on the wings of this top line might be slightly higher than I'd want to stack but if they find their way onto the scoresheet then that little shaded in circle along the bar on DK might jump significantly for you. Is this a game that I am personally staying up for? I can answer this in one word: no. However, is it one that I'm interested in, absolutely as this might be my pivot. Even the depth is cheap enough to throw into a lineup with expensive players like Kucherov, Cole Caufield or Kyle Connor, the Ducks present a few different options here tonight.

Defensemen

Tippy-top tonight is not Zach Werenski so we can save around $7K in salary and go play Cale Makar. To be honest spending up a little bit for a defenseman on this slate is fine, but not sure I would go as high up as Makar. Victor Hedman at $6,600 seems cheap going up against the Hawks and might find his way into my lineup and just below him…well that's Noah Dobson. Stinks that he's hurt but encouraging that he did not have to undergo a procedure to heal up. Josh Morrissey at $6,300 is good with any Winnipeg power play stacks out there and like I mentioned earlier, Adam Fox is a good play on the board tonight. Scrolling down, I like Miro Heiskanen at $4,700 as he's really started to produce more offensively than he was earlier in the season. It's a weird ebb and flow, when Harley's offense starts to increase for that club, Hesikanen's drops and when Harley is a little cold, Heiskanen begins to produce. Anyone else notice that? It's a stat that you just know from following hockey, like when Dylan Cozens shoots a lot, he never produces but if he has five shots in eight games he somehow ends up with four goals and an assist. I like Alexander Romanov on most nights, but tonight I'm highlighting him going up against the Avs. Lane Hutson for the Canadiens for me is a solid play, I don't mind his price at $3,400 and just below him at $3,200 I like what I saw from Brayden McNabb up against Florida on Sunday night. If he can get to the net as easily as he did versus that Panthers team going up against Dallas tonight then he might be in for a decent night.

Goalies

Connor Hellebuyck is at home and expensive…you all know the drill here, if you have the salary then I don't mind spending up for him, but typically I'm someone who doesn't spend up for goaltenders. Take my advice, I'm the one who cheaps out for Joel Blomqvist to get outright shelled versus the Kraken. I like Jeremy Swayman going up against the Sabres at $7,900…random, but if we did a do-over on this season, how much better is Swayman? Sign earlier in the offseason next time around bud. Either goaltender in the Dallas/Vegas matchup is in play for me and happy that I don't have to end my night watching San Jose. I love Igor Shesterkin at $7,400, he’ll be popular because it's Igor, but maybe some people stay away going up against this Canes club. On the other side of New York city, Ilya Sorokin is good at $7,200, I know Marcus Hogberg is on IR but just want to say that we had a good run Marcus and got into some cash on a couple tournaments with you in net. I'll always cherish the time we spent together! Dustin Wolf gets a thumbs up for me at $7,100 against the Caps, Dan Vladar gets a thumbs down even if he was free tonight. Seriously, one start in the last five for double digit DK points with a negative result in there is a pass for me. This might be the first slate in a long time where I do genuinely like the options for goaltending. Keep it here for Thursday's DFS article as we weigh the options of Sam Ersson going up against the Islanders and their 14 shots on goal a night, or whoever is starting for the Senators!

Good luck tonight everybody!  

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