Good morning, everyone! How'd everyone's night go? I played three lineups, which is something I don't usually do, and I guess you can say I struck out (swinging, of course). I went in on Florida's top line, which was a good choice, and paired them with full Colorado one which…not so good of a choice. Those were two of my lineups, the other was a full top line stack of Nashville and Dallas. Both of those clubs ended up winning,but my lineup came up a tad short. Good news today is a new day!

Today's slate is a difficult one to predict out with so many clubs on back-to-backs and I can see the 'big dogs'being where I'm drawntonight. There are nights to where I find a second or third line that may be overlooked, and some that I know we'll be higher rostered. Tonight, may just be the latter.

Slate Preview

Tampa Bay Lightning

Okay, so as a Chicago Blackhawksfan I can say that I'm burnt out on outdoor games, with the 'Hawks having now played in what feels like 20 of them. That said, the outdoor game held in Tampa was a blast, and it started for me with the club walking in rocking the Buccaneers creamsicle orange jerseys with helmets. There so many odd manrushes in that contest, and a comeback, that you couldn't help being drawn into the game. I did considerfading the Bolts going up against the Buffalo Sabres on this slate but therearea couple things that are drawing me back. For starters, it's going to be Colton Ellis in net, who has been alright in his limited time, but any backup against Tampa is automatically something that I have interest in. The next is something that I found to be true last week when the Sabres went up against theLos AngelesKings and yesterday versus theFloridaPanthers. When I researched those past slates, I noticed that the offensive zone time for Buffalo was on the low side compared to Los Angeles, the same as going up against Florida. For that reason, this could be a spot where Tampa Bay may see increased time in Buffalo's end which I don't mind trying to take advantage of.  For me, this could be a place where I start my build with Brandon Hagel ($7,600), Nikita Kucherov ($9,600), Darren Raddysh ($6,400), and go from there. This could also be a spot where I get my fillers of  Oliver Bjorkstrand ($3,200) and Nick Paul ($2,600) if I need the saving from an expensive line or stack elsewhere on this slate. 

Edmonton Oilers

While I don't mind some sort of Toronto build on the opposing side of this matchup, it's Edmonton that has my interest. They're going up against a Toronto team that's gone 3-6-1 in their last 10games, and they will be coming off a back-to-back with Anthony Stolarz in net. For Edmonton, I get a fully correlated top-line, and I can even find some cheap wingers elsewhere on this club if I want to create a 4-3-1 build. Kasperi Kapanen has been good enough lately that someone added him in my ESPN fantasy league…which is probably crazy but oh well. A cheaper Jack Roslovic is fine, and for a blueliner, Evan Bouchard has the most shots on goal in the last 10games than any other Edmonton skater. If you're 20-maxplayer, then Edmonton is likely going to sneak into a good amount of your builds, and in lower entries, rostering this club tonight may be a great option. There are a few good spend up spots on the board tonight, but if this ends up being a night to where the McDavid line rocks the slate then I want to be a part of it. It's a tossup between Edmonton and Tampa Bay for me in single-entry and may just come down to whichstack I can pair better with a decent filler line.

Seattle Kraken

Seattle has been good lately, and they have a fully correlated top line going up against the Anaheim Ducks. Granted, Lukas Dostal has been good in net recently, but I have interest in Seattle coming into this matchup winners of four in a row. The last club to hand them a loss was these very same Ducks, but in that game, it wasn't like the Kraken got straight up outplayed and kept it close even with a penalty shot opportunity for Anaheim. I typically stay away from Seattle, but trends are your friends, and if a club that has scored five goals in a game twice in the past week is coming in with a top line that I can get at all strengths then you have my interest. It's probably all or nothing for me in this situation as far as stacking the top line is concerned as I'm more inclined to play the Kraken for this matchup at even strength, than on the power play or rostering one-offs.

Defense

For the d-men up there in price, I'd lean Evan Bouchard at $7,800 or Rasmus Dahlin at $6,700, shooting 12.5% in the last month. Jacob Trouba has been a good play for a couple weeks now, he’s shooting the puck often to go along with his usually higher average in blocked shots, at $5,400. For defensemen tonight, I think a great route to go is one pricey and one cheap and if you did something like that, then thereareplenty of lower cost defensemen that make for great options. Tony DeAngelo is priced down at $3,900 and he'sbeen…I'll say "dynamic" for how the Isles use him. Damon Severson and his teammate Denton Mateychuck are great options sitting in the mid-$3Ks, and for me, a nice punt option could be Ryker Evans for Seattle. Last week he posted back‑to‑back double‑digit DK performances, and he's still priced at the same $2,500 tonight.

Goalies

If you have the cash to spend on up to Andrei Vasilevskiy $8,300, go for it. He's been great lately and in a good matchup against the Sabres. Ilya Sorokin is where I would likely land if I'm spending up slightly in net at $7,800 but there's good options right below him in price if you need to save salary. If Jet Greaves gets the nod for the Jackets, then I'm interested in starting him at $7,400 and I never thought I would say this, but I would rather play Philipp Grubauer over Joey Daccord. Granted, either is a good option at $7,300, but Grubauer over the past few weeks just has the better stats. I don't think I'd be dipping down much lower than $7,300 tonight, so this could be a slate to where you may need to prepare for spending in the mid-$7K range in net.

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

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