Welcome back to all my DFS buds out there. I played last night in a low dollar and picked New Jersey two as my main stack (good decision) and paired them with some Florida depth (not a good decision). That's DFS sometimes though.

Tonight is a funny eight-gamer but around eight games or so are the slates that I most like to play. We have one mega smash spot on the slate that of course I have interest in along with some spots that may go a tad overlooked.  

Slate Preview

Carolina

Sometimes on slates where I'm not sure which direction I want to head in, I either just take the best line on the night, regardless of price, or end up leaning towards the "worst" goaltender/team. Np surprise, that may be San Jose tonight. Carolina is going to be a chalk play, there's no way around that, but I'm still looking to move in that direction tonight and get over the field on this club. For me, I like the second line of Andrei Svechnikov ($5,800) – Logan Stankoven ($4,900) – Jackson Blake ($3,700). The price for this trio is excellent, along with how much offense they've generated even if some of those chances haven't ended in goals. For me, a three-man stack here means adding in a Carolina defenseman along with them or a skater from the top line. This could mean a 4-3-1 build with Carolina as the anchor, so in single entry if you're going to play them then that means having more exposure to be over the field, and in multiple entry tournaments they'll grade out fine so long as you add unique fillers to go with them. Ah yes, we wait for a Sharks late night game tonight…we're so back, everyone.

Edmonton

Edmonton is in a strange spot tonight, particularly the top line because let's be honest, if we're playing Edmonton then it might be top line or bust. New York's defense outside the top pair is brutal, so if Edmonton can even get a couple shifts out there against that group, then we're in great shape. The problem is, Igor Shesterkin is still waiting in the crease, and I typically don't want to go up against a goaltender as good as he is. My Oilers work around tonight is if I'm going in that direction then I'm full stacking the top line, and that means bringing Trent Frederic along with an expensive Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Secrets out, I like Carolina tonight, but I don't mind going with Edmonton in 3-max or above.

Anaheim

It may be that seven-goal game that has this clubs' offensive stats jumping off the page, but I don't mind the Ducks on this eight-gamer. This interest only goes up if Tristian Jarry is confirmed the starter for Pittsburgh because there's only so many goalies who I can almost set my watch on giving up three goals on twenty-four shots. If it's Anaheim tonight then I'll go to the line that's generated the most offense so far this season, and that's the second line of Cutter Gauthier ($5,400) – Mason McTavish ($5,600) and Beckett Sennecke ($2,900). They're not a line that's priced out as a true filler stack, but you can pair them with lines elsewhere on the slate or use them in a three forward stack to where the rest of your lineup is a correlated forward and defensemen, followed by a one-off d-man. This is a situation where I want to see who is in net before I make my decision, but I'm eyeing the Ducks.

Defensemen

Rarely do I like to go all the way to the top when it comes to defensemen, but Roman Josi is shooting the lights out of the puck, I just have to swallow going up to $6,800. Vince Dunn below him is a good play at $5,400 and Morgan Rielly surprisingly has shot the puck more per-game without being on much top power play at $5,100. Darnell Nurse is a good play if you're stacking the Oilers at $4,600 and just below him, I don't mind Alexander Nikishin sitting at $4,500. If I need a punt defenseman tonight, it's right back to Carolina with Mike Rielly sitting at $2,500 who has shot the puck the most for this Carolina blue line in the early goings of the season.

Goalies

While I'm trying to convince myself to pay all the way up on the blue line tonight, I don't think I'll be doing the same in net with Jake Oettinger's price against Minnesota at $8,400. Who to play in net tonight is a tough one and I keep coming back to two names…or I suppose three. I like Calvin Pickard a bunch tonight at $7,900 as the Rangers have the second most shots on goal per game so far this season, the only issue being if the Oilers go with Stuart Skinner than my interest is significantly less. For me, if I'm not playing an Edmonton goalie then I might look at Juuse Saros on the road against the Leafs at $7,400. He should see decent volume in that matchup and in his three starts so far, has only allowed more than one goal just once.

Good luck tonight everybody!  

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