Top Budget Plays

Centers

Kevin Hayes $3400 – The center is a decent play at the least. However, playing against the Toronto team where Toronto depth match-ups which are below Corsi relative, he is going to get decent opportunities. New York will not be that heavily favored, but Hayes again makes a good punt play. Most forget he has been better of late while hitting or exceeding value in four of his last five outings. He has points in that time span as well.

Wingers

Tyler Ennis $3100 – Keep in mind that this hinges on Nino Niederreiter being out on Saturday. He was injured either blocking a shot or falling awkwardly on Friday night against Florida. Ennis was the forward moved up into the top-six in his place. He figures to be that guy on Saturday and would be a nice GPP punt play. There are several options including Anthony Duclair, Loui Eriksson, and Kevin Labanc. Labanc has found his way into good power play time and has been a spark to San Jose’s special teams.

Defensemen

Markus Nutivaara $3000 –There may be better plays like David Savard even, but Nutivaara could be a nice punt play for a very low price. His floor may be low (shots and blocked shots combined). Risk always exists with value plays, but Columbus has potential even on the man advantage despite their woeful early season performance (around 11% at home). It is a night where taking advantage of match-ups is vital. One of the Arizona defensemen could be a play because of low price or even New Jersey’s.

Goalie

Mike Condon $7100 – This is a dangerous GPP play but this is an Ottawa team that allows lots of shots on net (more than 34 per 60 overall). The Senators have been a sieve defensively and Condon has been subpar all year. Something has been off with both goalies. However, the price is low enough to try and risk this because of high save potential. The expectation is to again see a few more shots on goal from each side. There may be some sloppiness. It is risky but could be a decent value play on Saturday. Cam Talbot could be a nice, lower priced option on Saturday as well.                          

Since we saved some money on the budget plays let’s look at the few of the pricey options that are worth paying up for today.

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Centers

Connor McDavid $7600 – People will run to this as it will be a chalky play that still has to be used in quite a few lineups. The center has a solid matchup against a Montreal team that is not rested. McDavid has struggled a bit of late but he is still a point a game player or more. McDavid has a very high projection on Saturday – higher than Sidney Crosby even. The key with the Edmonton forward is simple. He has to get off to a quick start early. If the center does, it could be a big night.

Wingers

Taylor Hall $6900 – Chicago can be very stingy, but their expected goals allowed is in the bottom third of the league. If it was not for Corey Crawford, the numbers would be ugly. The first meeting in Chicago was a wild 7-5 affair. While most are not expecting that, there is the expectation of an entertaining, high event game. Hall has five plus shots on goal in four of his last six games. The Blackhawks may yield 30+ shots again in this one.                       

Defenseman

Erik Karlsson $6100 – Again this could be heavily owned, but Karlsson has moderate to high point potential on Saturday. Florida allows lots of chances (also 35+ shots per 60) and Karlsson is starting to score again. That sounds cliché but the defenseman has had opportunities at a high level. The shooting percentage is a good bit below career levels. No one likes to use PDO but admittedly Karlsson has been unlucky. Florida offers a good enough match-up to at least hit a good floor. After that, anything is a bonus.

Goalie

Sergei Bobrovsky $8300 – There may be better choices, but this has potential to work well. Phialdelphia is one of those teams that can generate lots of shots yet often does not score a ton. They are also on the back end of a back to back which should lead to a better chance of a win. Bobrovsky has had some rough outings of late including allowing seven goals to Boston and four to the New York Islanders. This may be a night for him to get back on track. Philadelphia may only produce 28-30 shots but that could be enough. One concern with Columbus is they have allowed 40+ shots in the last two contests. Bobrovsky has some value exceeding possibilities. Henrik Lundqvist is another high priced cash option along with Marc-Andre Fleury and Corey Crawford.

Chris Wassel has been playing DFS for the past several years and has played Fantasy Hockey for three decades. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. We are targeting the ten game main slate to give readers more of a range on what to go on. Finally, please note that Saturday’s slate has several options. Thanks for reading and enjoy the slate daily fantasy hockey fans!