Howdy all, and welcome back to DFS Tuesdays! We have a massive, massive slate tonight, going head-to-head with NBA Opening Night. Stay hot NHL. This is a funny slate though, not only because of the sheer number of teams in action, but some of these matchups are interesting. There are also going to be a lot of road favorites here tonight, which is always a little harder to gage, but there's a couple spots I think we can exploit here tonight in tournaments.

Slate Preview

Boston vs Nashville

Not where you thought I was going to start, was it? Nashville has yet to win a game this season and as much as I do think that trends are your friends, I sort of like this spot for them in this game. Shhh…we have to be quiet here when we talk about Boston…but they honestly haven't looked great to start the season and this is the team that has so far taken the most penalties in the NHL. Granted, Nashville's power play hasn't been stellar, and Boston's kill has been, but if I'm looking for a way to get points on the board on this slate, I don't mind taking pieces of this Nashville PP.  

One way to maybe build if you were looking to play the Preds tonight may be taking all four wingers on the top six for a 4-3-1 build for your lineup, and with the slate size being what it is, I think you can get away with that and find cheaper fillers. Jonathan Marchessault ($5,800), Steven Stamkos ($6,400), Filip Forsberg ($7,800), and Gustav Nyquist ($3,900), come out to a $23,900 total, but again there's ways to get different here tonight. If you want to leave off Nyquist and find a cheaper option, sure, but this might be a decent spot for this top six.

For Boston, it would just be a David Pastrnak ($9k) one off for me and that is a pricey one to try and fit into a lineup on any night. I'm not sure if the way that I'm building that I get to him, but I'll never say no to playing an elite winger if that's how you want to go about building your lineup tonight.  

Vancouver vs Chicago

Staking against Chicago, wow how original, right? The thing is, though, this is a Vancouver team that is never that high up in roster numbers and with Toronto, Colorado, and Edmonton all on the slate tonight I think that they may just go overlooked. Another fun little nugget here: The Vancouver Canucks have beaten the Hawks 9 out of their last 10 times out. Principal Rooney voice, "Nine times!".  

With this Canucks roster though I would really only want to target the JT Miller ($6,600) and Brock Boeser ($6,900) line. JT Miller is listed as DTD so if he does end up playing, then great, and maybe the DTD designation forces people to avoid him. We'll need to wait for news on that front, but that two-man would be what I would target here. As far as lower down the lines or on the blue line, I think there are enough cheaper options out there that I would rather go to.

For Chicago…I don't have much interest in the forwards here, and we'll get to defensemen and goaltenders a little bit later. Connor Bedard ($8,200), would be the obvious choice here, and that would really only be for a one-off in larger tournaments. In single entry or three-max, I don't think I get to Chicago.

Toronto vs Columbus

Yes, the Leafs played last night but right now the Matthews top line might be one of the most productive lines in the NHL. Maybe on tonight's slate we don't overthink it and just play the best lines? After all, shouldn't that be what we do anyways? This will get pricey fast, so if you want to just go with an Auston Matthews ($9,400) and Mitch Marner ($6,500), that's fine but I wouldn't play this in a way to where I would one-off Matthews. There are going to be so many people in tournaments tonight that will one off either him, Connor McDavid, or Nathan MacKinnon at center that I don't really think you'd be getting different here using Matthews as a one-off.

For Columbus they're probably going to be a stay away and for this reason: This is a club that has gotten popular to play over the last week. Don't get me wrong, it's well-founded, as the top line has been good to start the season, but I could see this group being a popular play welcoming Toronto in off a back-to-back.

Los Angeles vs Vegas

Want to stay up all night to see if you'll cash or not? If so, join me, my friends! I can see reasons to play either side, but I'm leaning the Los Angeles side in this one. The top line of Quinton Byfield ($4,200), Anze Kopitar ($7,100), and Adrian Kempe ($7,200) are a fine play tonight but I'm almost leaning to taking one-offs here on LA, even if it means losing power play correlation. The top Jack Eichel top line for Vegas has third highest xGoals against per 60 minutes and if it's Adin Hill in net, he has the second lowest GSAA in the league right now.

When we look at Vegas, there's nothing wrong with playing parts of this club, but I watched their last game vs Florida and they looked out of sorts on the power play. The only reason I'd consider them is if I'm in a larger tournament and playing multiple lineups, with Vegas at home being a completely different animal in a positive way compared to them on the road.   

Defensemen

Cale Makar ($8,800) is your leader tonight and if I'm playing him I have to have some sort of Colorado stack in MME's with a decent amount of filler stacks. Adam Fox ($6,600) catches my eye if you're playing the Rangers, but I've always felt on large slates you don't need to spend up like crazy for a defensemen. Brandt Clarke ($4,700), block god Mario Ferraro ($4,300), Neal Pionk ($4k), and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are all fine plays in the middle price range, and for cheap options Esa Lindell ($3,300) and Alex Vlasic ($3k) are good value at their prices.

Goalies

If I'm paying up tonight it would really only be for Jake Oettinger ($8,200), and I could be talked into Ilya Sorokin ($8,100) as well. Don't tempt me with a good time playing Islanders, and this is a club that has traded chances enough that Sorokin could see a good bit of volume tonight. I will always and forever circle Connor Hellebuyck and in all likelihood blindly put him into my lineup at $7,600 but wouldn't go too much further down the list today to find my starter.

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