Good day DFS crew! This is a decent slate that we have coming up today, there are a couple smash spots on the board and some matchups that might be closer than they appear when you lift the hood up. Let's dive in and try and get into the green!

Slate Preview

Tampa Bay Lightning

Alright, so let's talk Tampa Bay to start. If I'm going to Tampa Bay tonight, it's really a power play stack or nothing on my end, as this is a Blackhawks club that leads the NHL in penalties taken. Yes, their penalty kill has been fine, but Sunday night alone they took five penalties with two of them being trips. I was in attendance and these were some of the easiest tripping calls that line judge has ever made in his career. Now, if Nikita Kucherov is out tonight then my interest on Tampa Bay goes way down, but assuming that he's in, I don't mind going full power play one and if you want to leave Oliver Bjorkstrand out and add in Brandon Hagel, I think that should be fine. Keep in mind too, this is also the Blackhawks on the road who at points last season lost five road games in a row four times last season. I get it, different coach and different season, but that's encouraging a stat enough along with how many penalties they've taken to have me consider Tampa Bay tonight.

New York Rangers

We're going to be targeting the Sharks all season long, aren't we? I got second in a tournament the other night but playing the Islanders top six plus Ilya Sorokin. I'm kidding, everyone on the top six hop on into a build and let's ride! Flat out, I may do the same thing tonight for the Rangers. It's going to feel weird clicking in Conor Sheary into the mix, but I really do think that we're going to look back on this season come the spring and wonder why we didn't attack this Sharks club more. If you're going single-entry this is a tougher build because if this game ends 2-1 Rangers than you may be cooked, so I would only go multiple entry with this strategy. Then again…this is the Sharks, take that information as you will.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers have a top line that is fully correlated, going up against Linus Ullmark on the Senators side who has been absolutely brutal to start the season. Normally this line is priced at around $18K but you can get Owen Tippet and Travis Konecny at $5,200 and Sean Couturier at $5,300. That's priced at a point to where I can add another decent stack with them and feel good about my build. Any line that's fully correlated on any slate I consider even if the price is exorbitant, so to be able to possibly roster a lower dollar value line in a good matchup has me interested. I'd say if Tampa Bay is without Kucherov, and the Rangers onslaught isn't your style, then Philly makes some sense tonight in a great spot.

Defensemen

My ceiling tonight is Evan Bouchard priced at $6,900 because the Oilers are in a decent spot against a Habs club that has had issues in net with Sam Montembeault…Sam, for my salary league could ya go out there and pitch a shutout? Thanks, bud. Matthew Schaefer for the Islanders at $5,500 is playable and maybe not going to be under that $6k range for much longer? Scrolling down, I don't mind Brent Burns at all at $4k as he is averaging 2.7 shots on goal per game, at that price I'll take that all day. For some cheaper options I think Owen Zellweger and Mike Reilly both at $3,600 are good options.

Goalies

I don't love spending up for goaltending, but this is one of those slates where you may need to open the wallet and to get up to one of these goaltenders at the top of the board. If you have the available salary to get up to Igor Shesterkin he has shutout possibility against the Sharks, and that's if your playing New York or not, he's a great option for tonight. Scott Wedgewood might be in a tough matchup against the Canes, but he's been excellent to start the season, in single-entry it might be a risky move, but if you're playing multiple lineups then I don't mind him at $7,900. At that same price, Thatcher Demko has also been good to start the season, and is in a better matchup against the Predators, but he just may see lower shot volume and in DFS, volume is king. If I'm playing someone cheap then I'm going all the way down for Spencer Knight at $6,900. This would obviously be for those not playing the Bolts tonight.

Good luck tonight everybody!  

For continued fantasy news and notes, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz.