Good day, all! I hope everyone fared well on Tuesday’s slate. I finished right around break-even, which I’ll gladly take on any NHL slate. We’ve got a fun 11-game slate tonight, so let’s dive in.

Slate Preview

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs welcome the Buffalo Sabres to Scotiabank Arena tonight, and while this rivalry has intensified over the last few seasons, I’m leaning toward the Toronto side for DFS purposes.

I watched some of Buffalo’s game against Montreal and came away seeing a team that allowed relatively easy zone entries while also struggling to generate offense from its top line at even strength. Add in the possibility that Rasmus Dahlin could miss another game and the inconsistency we’ve seen from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net, and I find myself interested in some Leafs skaters.

My favorite Toronto pairing tonight is Auston Matthews ($8,000) and William Nylander ($6,400). Both players have five goals and seven assists on the season, and both should have plenty of opportunities to exceed the shot bonus. While they won’t share much even-strength ice time, I prefer this mini-stack over a full line stack. In fact, this duo is currently the foundation of my single-entry build.

Florida Panthers

I hate pointing out obvious chalk spots, but we’ve reached the point where stacking against Vancouver has become one of the quickest ways to climb tournament leaderboards.

While the Tkachuk brothers have been excellent at even strength, Sam Reinhart has been outstanding on the power play. He leads the NHL in power-play shots and high-danger chances created on the man advantage. Tonight, he draws a matchup against a Canucks penalty kill operating at just 57%, while Vancouver is also allowing 32.4 shots per game.

For Florida, my preferred stack is Brady Tkachuk ($7,700), Matthew Tkachuk ($7,400), and Sam Reinhart ($6,700). I generally avoid obvious chalk, but if Kevin Lankinen gets the start for Vancouver, it’ll be difficult for me not to have exposure to the Panthers tonight.

Chicago Blackhawks

I have interest in Chicago’s top line of Roman Kantserov ($4,400), Connor Bedard ($7,300), and Patrick Kane ($5,300). This group should skate together in all situations, and while defensive concerns remain, it’s the offensive upside that has my attention.

If they draw the Mark Scheifele line, I’ll be perfectly happy. Similar to Chicago’s top unit, Scheifele’s line can create offense but has been vulnerable defensively, posting a 3.33 goals-against-per-60 rate across 81 minutes together. We’ve already seen a similar scenario pay off recently when Pittsburgh’s Tommy Novak line faced this Chicago unit with Bedard back in the lineup. That line posted a goals-against rate around 2.34 per 60 minutes. I also think this Blackhawks trio is beginning to develop chemistry, particularly with Kane and Kantserov on the wings, as we saw flashes of that on Chicago’s second goal, which came on the power play during Tuesday’s game.

I wouldn’t bet on the Blackhawks being the highest-scoring team on the slate, but the pricing is fair, and on a slate where Florida, Edmonton, and Tampa Bay project as popular options, Chicago makes for an intriguing tournament pivot or complementary secondary stack.

Defense

The only expensive defenseman I’m prioritizing tonight is Moritz Seider ($6,200). He always carries upside for both shot and block bonuses, and he gets a favorable matchup against a struggling Philadelphia team. If Rasmus Dahlin is confirmed closer to lock, he’ll also become very interesting. Late-breaking news often goes overlooked by the field, creating an opportunity to gain leverage in tournaments.

In the mid-range, Brandon Montour ($5,400) and Vince Dunn ($5,200) both stand out. They’ve played well to start the season and continue to see strong usage. Seth Jones ($4,500) also makes plenty of sense in a strong matchup and can be played either as a one-off or alongside a Panthers stack. I also like Dougie Hamilton ($4,400), who fired five shots on goal in his last outing.

For cheaper defensemen, I have two and they're both $3,300 in price. Nick Seeler, for the blocks, and Dylan Samberg if Winnipeg is without Josh Morrissey again tonight for the ice time. Both are solid plays if you need to save salary for forwards tonight.

Goalies

My favorite expensive goalie is Jesper Wallstedt ($8,200). He doesn’t have a shutout yet this season, but that feels inevitable given his talent level. He should also see a healthy amount of volume against St. Louis, which provides additional upside.

I also don’t mind Dylan Garand ($7,400) as a tournament option. He’s coming off back-to-back wins and should be largely ignored by the field. I like the matchup from a save-volume perspective against New Jersey, and while he wouldn’t be my first choice in single-entry contests, he’s an intriguing low-rostered option in MME formats.

For cash games and safer builds, Ilya Sorokin ($7,300) stands out. He was priced at $8,500 on Tuesday against Vancouver and now comes at a significant discount. He may end up fairly popular, but I’ll rarely pass on Sorokin when he’s priced below $7,500.

That's it for now — best of luck tonight!

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