Good day to all! I played last night, because of course I did, and it is with the heaviest of hearts must admit to you all that I did not cash in my $1 single entry. In all seriousness, I enjoyed what I was able to watch from New Jersey versus Columbus (I did miss all fights though) and was able to catch some of the Anaheim versus St. Louis game and then the back end of Utah versus San Jose. I played a New Jersey top line and Utah second line group and while Utah didn't get me there, the Devils probably could have had goals not been taken back and Timo Meier hit one of the two open nets he had on the power play late in that game. Happens!

I like this slate tonight, I really do, but before we hop in, I just got to mention the Avalanche because they are again on this slate and in a pretty favorable matchup at home against the Canucks. While Vancouver also was in a difficult road matchup the other day against Los Angeles, that game only turned out to be 2-1 in favor of the Kings. Granted, on that same day the Avalanche went out and dropped seven goals on the Habs. Colorado is how they will be at points the next couple of weeks, if you want to full on power play stack and add in a cheap filler, go for it! I'm not going to be the one to stop you here but do keep in mind that Nathan MacKinnon has been battling some sort of illness and playing Colorado may be either all-in, fade, or find pieces from the depth.

Slate Preview

Tampa Bay Lightning

I like the Bolts for two reasons tonight, and maybe one reason why it's a no. I'll come right out on the "no" and it has nothing to do with DraftKings or the slate, but for some reason my work laptop for whatever reason today keeps correcting "Bolts" to "Bots". Why? Anyhoo, I do like Tampa and reason one would be the price, and the other is matchup related against the Isles. Starting with the price, yes Tampa's top line is pricey, but they have a perfect dance partner. I mentioned Colorado depth above, and stacking Tampa's top line still allows you to full stack the Avalanche second line with them. This also let's you add in Darren Raddysh on the blue-line for the Lightning and even with another punt d-man, you should have somewhere around $7,400-$7,600 in available salary for a goaltender. That's Jesper Wallstedt money right there! There's also another stack we'll get to a little later and no spoilers, but this team plays their home games in Nevada. That's all I'll say. The other reason I'm draw to Tampa, by simply watching this series over and over again throughout the past few seasons. While Ondrej Palat being offsides with no call is top of mind, I also recall this matchup favoring Tampa Bay and it's true, as in the last ten matchups between these two clubs, Tampa has the advantage with a 7-2-1 record. I don't even so much mind it here if you wanted to say a Brandon Hagel ($6,400) and Nikita Kucherov ($8,300) two-man stack tonight if that's what your build allows, but you can four-man stack Tampa Bay tonight with options out there on the table for a filler.

Toronto Maple Leafs

This is a hear me out spot! If you listen to any SportsNet hour-long show where it's 58 minutes on Toronto and two minutes on the rest of the league, it will make you believe that the final score of their most recent game out against Pittsburgh was flip-flopped. Look, I get it. Toronto has been at the bottom of the East and already has had "will-he or won't he”, injury designations the past couple of weeks. All that said, I like the Leafs here tonight and it’s maybe for a reason that not many are catching…or should I say "caught". Let me take you back to last spring…no, no, not the part where Florida beat Carolina, go back one more. Okay…stop! We find ourselves in round two, and I have a very important question – Did Toronto play Florida the toughest out of any of the matchups that we saw? I'm being dead serious here. Yes, they went seven games while none of the other matchups did, but Toronto also looked great in Games 1 and 2 and had Florida on the brink of falling down 3-0. I don't mean to bring up the past and certainly there were games in that series where Florida had the upper hand, but that series has stuck in my memory. And sure, while this Leafs team is far different from the one, we saw eight months ago, I can't help but feeling that this is a good matchup for Toronto. Better yet is the goaltending that they'll be going up against that has me raising an eyebrow. In the month of November, Sergei Bobrovsky had the second worst goals saved above average and goals saved above expected. Combine this with Florida currently sitting at the eighth in minor penalties taken and you got something. I do wish that this was a home game for Toronto but I'm here to potentially line up a Toronto power play stack, and if I'm going to do just that, then everyone on the top unit is coming along for the ride. Now, this would be top unit or bust for me as Toronto primarily uses one power play unit but I'm fine with rolling the dice here. This is also a power-play where I don't have to correlate a defenseman and can find a punt option elsewhere if I need to. I'm probably going up to three-max tonight because I do really like this slate and do think that Toronto may be in one of my lineups.

Vegas

I was between Washington and Vegas for the third spot but I'm leaning Vegas here. Not that the Caps aren't playable, they certainly are, but it's Vegas at home and the Hawks on the road. I was at Chicago's last game at home against Anaheim and outside of bringing the black sweaters back (had to get one, 90's kids stand up), the Ducks scored on the first two shots of the game, but Spencer Knight did look good following the start. I do think this was a game to where there were…we'll go "lighter", calls against Anaheim and losing their starter due to injury during the game didn't help, but maybe this was a break for a Hawks club that coming in had dropped six-games in a row. Now, on the road in Vegas is a spot to where the Hawks could be in some trouble, and while I love stacking the Knights at home, their pricing tonight offers me a very nice stack. You can take the Vegas second line tonight and two-man Mitch Marner ($5,900) and Mark Stone ($6K), and pair them with Tampa's top line. Now, the reason that you're able to do with is because Brett Howden is at $2,800, but if you pivot and go cheaper in net, you can still throw out a solid lineup with say Jeremy Swayman in net or Joseph Woll. Look, I am the biggest Vegas two-stacker you'll come across and that goes back to the days where William Karlsson stacked this line, so you don't have to tempt me with a good ole fashioned Vegas second line matchup. Who knows, this may be the direction I go and will have this game on while I play NHL 26. Cyber Monday deal on Xbox, my friends.

Defensemen

Top of the defensive board today is Cale Makar, but I don't think for me I'll have an extra $8,500 lying around to roster him. For me, the highest I would spend up would be for Jakub Chychrun at $6,600. Rasmus Andersson at $5,400 is a solid play with 10 points in the past month and he's usually live for a shot or block bonus as well. John Carlson is good with me at $5,300, the Caps have been incorporating their D, so if you can't spend up for Chychrun, then Carlson is a decent play. I like Mattias Ekholm at $3,900 and if you really need someone cheap, then I'd look at Niko Mikkola down at $2,500.

Goalies

I do like the Knights tonight, but I don't think I'll be spending up for them in net at all tonight. For me, my goaltending spend probably starts with Jesper Wallstedt at $7,400 as Minnesota goaltending has been on fire the past seven games. Joseph Woll is a solid play at $7,200, and can go with any Toronto stack you make, and I also like Jeremy Swayman right below him at $7,100. In Swayman's last four starts he's allowed two goals or fewer and is cheap enough to where you can stack a lot with him. I'm alright with Spencer Knight as my cheapest goaltender at $6,900 in any non-Vegas stack, but that would only be if the case is to save salary.  

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

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