Match-Up Spotlight:

With the ten-game slate, there are several games to look at. The Tampa Bay Lightning face the Boston Bruins in what is expected to be one of the highest-event games of the night. These are two teams that can shoot the puck a lot. New Jersey and Pittsburgh is another game where scoring should be elevated. Do not sleep on the Florida and Ottawa contest.

Winnipeg may appear to be chalky on the surface. Washington has the stronger top-ten power play. Los Angeles and Columbus could also experience some moderate to high ownership as (besides Tampa Bay and Florida), they should be significant favorites. Watch out for teams on the back end of a back to back. Risk may be worth the reward but could dud. All prices are from DraftKings.

Top Budget Plays

Centers

Pavel Zacha $3400 – The center is a decent play at the least. However, playing against Pittsburgh and some bad road numbers might boost his ownership a fraction. It is tough to roster a player who struggles at times. However, this has value as Zacha gets just enough ice time to justify such a play. Pittsburgh does allow 3.36 goals a game on the road. Zacha has much to play for. A couple points in his last two games offers some hope. Look to some depth like Jean-Gabriel Pageau and maybe even Adrian Kempe.   

Wingers

Melker Karlsson $3200 – This is one of the riskiest tournament plays of the night. No one is saying this will work perfectly but Karlsson is in San Jose’s top six currently. Too many games where he is just does not get quality shots on net. When one sees a lot of 0’s, 1’s, and 2’s, that is ominous. However, he did have a point and created several scoring chances in his last game. Hopefully, the speed he has shown in flashes lately is seen again. Keep an eye on Sam Gagner as he has seen a bit of a resurgence again in Vancouver.  

Defensemen

Joe Hicketts $2900 –There may be better plays like Will Butcher even, but Hicketts could be a nice punt play for a low price. His floor is kind of low (shots and blocked shots combined). Risk always exists with value plays, but Hicketts had a couple points and may merit a little more ice time with Detroit playing out the string. Buffalo has been far from stingy at home. They even have been allowing more shots at home per 60 over the previous month. This may be a chance to sneak a value play in. With the ten-game slate, there is a little more value.

Goalie

Chicago goaltending $6800 – This is a cheap GPP/cash play, but this is a Chicago team that could get cratered easily against Winnipeg. However, both teams can be quite the adventure at times. Watch closer to lock for other possible choices. Again, any goalie below $7000 carries an extreme amount of risk. If there is any inkling of taking risk, look to Calgary and maybe even Dallas. However, the risks are pretty much the same.                   

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.

Enter the DRAFTKINGS $30,000 Two Man Advantage …just $8 to enter or FREE if you deposit today! $5,000 goes to first place in this tournament!

Centers

Connor McDavid $8100 – People know this is a chalky play that still has to be used in quite a few lineups. The center has a solid matchup against an Vancouver. This is a Canucks team which yields 3.41 goals a contest at home. McDavid has a high shot output floor. He will draw good match-ups and a shaky penalty kill of late. Edmonton and Vancouver could be high scoring. Edmonton and even Vancouver will have a number of plays. This might be one of the weirder late hammers all season. Points per dollar is projected to be around $1200. That may be low.

Wingers

Taylor Hall $7500 – Pittsburgh can be a tough matchup, but Hall has had few problems against them this year. He had a goal and two assists in their last meeting (including the game winner). This could be a high event and high scoring game, honestly. There are several plays from both sides of the equation including Phil Kessel and Kyle Palmieri. The expectation is that this will have a playoff feel, but of the 80’s and early 90’s type of playoff game.              

Defenseman

Brent Burns $7000 – Again this will be high risk in cash or even GPP’s but Burns is going up against a Nashville team that San Jose wants revenge on. Burns has had some awful luck this year (11 goals on 310 shots). His booming shot has not found the back of the net much since the middle of February. Burns has had 20 shots in his last four games which just seems to indicate a correction is coming. He is a bit due there. Roman Josi and Aaron Ekblad are other good plays along with Dustin Byfuglien if one is not comfortable with Burns. Plenty of defensive options exist for pretty good prices among the first and second tiers of defense.

Goalie

Jonathan Quick $8400 – There may be better choices, but this has potential to work well. The Los Angeles Kings do have some trouble with Arizona. Quick is a rhythm goalie who thrives on seeing a large volume of shots and chances. There are goalies like Pekka Rinne and Sergei Bobrovsky on the slate. Also, Keith Kinkaid and Matt Murray may face a ton of shots in Newark. Quick likely has the greatest chance of winning which makes him the cash play, especially on the late slate.

Saturday Outlook

The Saturday slate features ten games on what will be the main slate. It will also feature a hot match-up between the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. This will feature an expected goals of over six. A main slate will include an intriguing match-up between Winnipeg and Toronto. Boston and Florida will be a bit tough to fade, but it is possible.

Pittsburgh and Montreal has probably one of the best top six match-ups so they may go crazy. It is something to look at, however. Nashville will be a very attractive play and Arizona could be enticing in late slates and as a turbo hammer. Clayton Keller is on a ten-game point streak by the way. Watch out for line shifts and some injuries. If one plays the early slate, risk could be high but fun with Columbus and Carolina leading the way. The Battle Of Alberta could be volatile but watch out for the status of some Calgary players like Johnny Gaudreau, just in case.

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. Finally, please note that Thursday’s slate has several options. Thanks for reading and enjoy the slate daily fantasy hockey fans!