Good morning, to all the DFS warriors out there! There are a couple nice games to target tonight, with some injury news sprinkled in. One of those slates where we'll all have to be checking lineups closer to lineup lock, all while being conscious of salary if we need to swap players in and out.

Slate Preview

Washington Capitals

I've been waiting to stack against the San Jose Sharks for a little while now and tonight might be the perfect chance to do so. Both Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic have been bottom-10 in the league in goals saved above average in the past month. Had there been better contests on Sunday, I think I would have been all-in on Vegas for this reason, so tonight might be a Capitals night. Better yet, the Caps are tops in the league in high danger shots right in front of the net which is a spot that I want to attack with the Sharks. Tom Wilson's status is up in the air as it's been since the end of last week, so the unknown with his status leaves me to make this some sort of Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome two-man stack. If you want to add in another forward on this Capitals top power play group, I'm fine with that. If this is a spot that you want to create a two-forward one defenseman build you can, but again we run into the dreaded 'DTD' with Jakob Chychrun. Don't get me wrong, John Carlson is a fine pivot, but I'd prefer Chychrun if he's available tonight. In my single-entry, the Caps are one club I'm considering adding and in multiple entries they have to be in your mix.

Columbus Blue Jackets

I think we might just be at the point where we have to look to stack against the Vancouver Canucks, and if that's the case, this will now be the third big slate in a row where Columbus is looking like a decent play. I can't say there's a particular line that I have interest in full stacking because of power-play correlation but there's an argument in rostering Cole Sillinger on the top line if you're going in that direction because if that line has a decent night at even strength, he'd likely be the beneficiary of that group's production. For me, this would be a spot where I might two-man Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko or drop to the second line for what has been a productive Boone Jenner and Sean Monahan duo. I do wish that there was a little bit more power-play correlation on these lines, but this is a good enough home matchup to where they're on my list of potential plays tonight.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild are one of the best teams at home this season, and even going back, they've traditionally been one of the better clubs on home ice in St. Paul. They'll be going up against the Winnipeg Jets who, by points percentage, are the worst club on the road. I know, I'm surprised too. Anyone remember eight months ago when this club won a President's Trophy? Regardless, I'm very much in on the Wild tonight and just as a rule of thumb, I don't typically like to stack the Wild without Kirill Kaprizov. I did break this rule on Monday, but that lineup would have fallen flat anyways…thanks Carolina top line! Either way, for me and the Wild it's going to be some sort of mixed stack, whether that's Matt Boldy – Kirill Kaprizov – Mats Zuccarello, or this is a situation where we'll need to see if Joel Eriksson Ek is healthy enough to go for the Wild. Even if he's not and you want to add in a center to your Minnesota stack, Ryan Hartman is fine, and Danila Yurov has played well for this club up on the top line. I'd say this is a situation where you can have a Kaprizov one-off if you have a middle-priced line to go along with him.

Defense

If you have the money to play Zach Werenski, then play Zach Werenski. If you have the cash to spend up to Quinn Hughes, then play Quinn Hughes. Either of these top defensemen are in excellent spots tonight and I could see myself trying to spend up to play one or the other tonight. I don't mind Josh Morrissey if you're fading Minnesota in net; he'll make some sense then and should see plenty of time on ice if Neal Pionk can't go. I still prefer Noah Hanifin over Shea Theodore, and that's even considering that Vegas looks to be going with a five-man power play unit. For a cheaper defenseman I like Sean Durzi for the Mammoth, who's been playing well in the month of January.

Goalies

Filip Gustavsson would be where I'd want to spend up on this slate, but we do have other goaltenders that may be in matchups that could potentially see more volume. Joey Daccord is in a good spot in that regard, as Boston is quietly one of the clubs that has shot the puck more in their recent stretch of games. Either New York Islanders goaltender going against the Edmonton Oilers is in a good matchup from a volume standpoint as well. I'm not sure if I'd roster either in single entry, they would definitely be in play in multiple entries. I also like Sam Montembeault if he is in net for the Habs, as he has played better in the month of January and that may be going a bit overlooked. There is a chance that his play earlier in the season has swayed some folks away from rostering him so he could be a solid start in your lineup for lower roster numbers.

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

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