Happy DFS Wednesday to all my daily fantasy folks out there! I don't think the casuals are going to be boots on the ground tonight for these five gamers, but I like this slate and if we have more than three games going, then you know where to find me. This is a fun little slate we have too so let's see if we can't win some mid-week money.

Slate Preview

Toronto

As I write this, "Weston Road Flows" came up on my shuffle, is this a sign? Joking aside, Toronto has the best player on the slate in Auston Matthews and arguably the best line in the Leafs top three. Toronto is popular on most slates and tonight will be no different so throw away a Matthews – William Nylander two-man, we'll have to get creative here. I watched the Leafs last game out against Pittsburgh while playing Battlefield with my brother and it got to a point where every time I turned to my second screen, the Leafs were slowly clawing back from a 3-0 deficit. I even at one point texted my chat after the second period that I wasn't 100% if Anthony Stolarz starts the second, just looked that bad in my glancing over in-between Battlefield spawns. Whether or not the Penguins Leaf'd their way out of that game, there was something about the way John Tavares was talking to his wingers each draw, sometimes you have to watch the bench and body language out there to capture the pulse of what's going on below the score ticker. I like Toronto here tonight and while the Leafs ended last game with a top line of Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – William Nylander, if I'm building with them then I'm going to add in maybe Nicholas Robertson on the LW as he started there on the Matthews line and could see time there again tonight. This is also a group that's been running hot lately, with Knies accounting for eight points in five games, and Nylander up to 14 points in seven games. The Mammoth played last night as well, so you won't be seeing Karel Vejmelka in net, as goaltending duties will fall to Vitek Vanecek, and while he has been fine this season, Utah is the only club on this slate on a back-to-back. I like Toronto tonight, but if I play them the way I'll attack is have over exposure on wingers and likely need Stolarz in net because if Toronto wins, he'll be a beneficiary. That said, it's a smaller slate and if Toronto only puts up a goal on 30-something shots you'll be sunk with the majority of the field.

Washington  

Washington is in a good spot tonight, and in need of a bounce back game coming off four straight losses. A home game against St. Louis might just be what the doctor ordered, but I'm cautious here as the Blues have made changes to their blueline, have Robert Thomas back in the lineup, and have a good second line center with Pius Suter so far this season on both ends of the ice. Still, what's drawing me to going against the Blues is in net as Joel Hofer is second last in goals saved above expected at -8.19 and Jordan Binnington 5^th worst at -6.61. I'll go after a struggling goaltender any day of the week and for me and the Capitals I'm considering going top line as Anthony Beauvillier – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin, in almost 50 minutes playing together at even strength have an expected goal for per 60 of 5.28. While this line isn't fully correlated, we have two things working for us as well, first being that the Blues don't really take many penalties as they have taken the third fewest minor penalties per game so far this season. The second is that while Strome and Ovechkin skate together on the top power play unit, Beauvillier and Ovechkin will skate together on the second grouping as Ovechkin is deployed on both units. We'll get to defensemen in a bit, but if I'm playing Capitals then I'm adding Jakub Chychrun is shooting almost three shots per game, and while that's gone down slightly over the past week, I don't mind the offensive upside with a Capitals stack. In single entry, this line is in my consideration and if you get to them in multiple entry then that's a fine play against a Blues team that has struggled at times to keep pucks out of the net.

Vancouver

Last week, I told you all that the Blackhawks were very due to regress and that there's two constants in the life of a Hawks fan. Losing to Winnipeg, who they haven't beaten in regulation since 2023, and losing to Vancouver…who they haven't beat in regulation since 2021. The Hawks are near the top of the league in penalties taken, so if you want to full on power play stack the Vancouver top line, I think that's a decent strategy as with Quin Hughes back on the blue line. Hughes helps tremendously for play driving on the man advantage, and it showed last game as the Canucks scored two power play goals against Nashville on Monday. At even strength, both top two lines are in play for the Canucks. I don't have a lean either way on either of the two, as for me it's just what I can afford in my build depending on which way I decide to go. Last season, the game in Vancouver led to two ejections and seemingly 15 mentions that Connor Bedard is from there (he also got thrown out of that game) …again, this matchup just never seems to break Chicago's way. I may be sprinkling in Canucks into my single-entry tonight if build allows.

Defensemen

Typically, I don't usually spend up for defensemen and if I do, I usually go one expensive and one cheap. On small slates though, my thought has always been that it's better to spend up on the blue line and all the way at the top of the list for Zach Werenski at $8k is an excellent spend-up if you have the salary to do so. I like Chychrun as I mentioned earlier as a one-off or in any Capitals build, and the same goes for Mikhail Sergachev below him at $5,300. MacKenzie Weegar is at a great price below $5k, that's a steal in my book for a player that hasn't gotten less than three DK points since October 24^th. I love Colton Parayko at $4,300, that's a great price for him, and I also like the price of Ivan Provorov at $3,900.

Goalies

The top of the board is Joey Daccord, but I am going to be honest with you all that $8,400 is too rich for me on this slate. My #1 would be Logan Thompson at $8k in a very good matchup, as he also fits great with whatever I would do with the Caps. Stolarz at $7,800 would only be an option for me if I was playing the Leafs, and the bottom for me would be Jet Greaves at $7,500.

That's it for now, best of luck tonight everybody!  

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