San Jose Sharks' Evander Kane (9) celebrates with fans after scoring a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, in San Jose, Calif.
Welcome back hockey fans. Thursday brings us a very exciting eight-game slate that includes three games with a high 6.5 total. Let's jump in and take a look at some core plays at each position.
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Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 19.66 DK - 15.84
Markstrom has gone winless in four straight(0-2-2) but no fault of his own as he has allowed more than two goals against just once and tallied a .924 save % in that time. I love the spot for Markstrom and the Canucks tonight as they are -145 home favorites going up against a Stars team that ranks 29th on offense to start the year scoring just 2.4 goals per game. He is second to Vasilevskiy in raw points in the system but from a PTS/$ perspective, he is the clear #1 option tonight and in play in all formats.
Also Consider: A struggling Andrei Vasilevskiy(TB) as a huge home favorite(-260) against the Rangers or Jonathan Quick(LA) as a GPP play at home against the Red Wings 27th ranked road offense
Opponent - WPG
Proj Pts FD - 16.8 DK - 12.1
There are two elite centers(MacKinnon, McDavid) at the top of the salary tonight but from a cash game perspective I will be going a more balanced approach and it starts with Aleksander Barkov. Like the Oilers/Avs game, this game has a high 6.5 total and the Panthers Top 5 offense is in a great spot at home against a Jets team that ranks 24th in defense on the road allowing 3.6 goals per game. Barkov comes into this game red-hot with multi-point efforts in five of his last six games and has a whopping 18 points in his last 10 games. I will have exposure in all formats but his best value comes on DraftKings where he costs just 13% of your salary cap.
Stack with: Jonathan Huberdeau, Evgenii Dadonov
Opponent - EDM
Proj Pts FD - 12.23 DK - 8.66
Kadri is a cheap way to get exposure to this projected high-scoring game and while the Avs are +110 road dogs, they have a Top 5 road offense going up against an Oilers team that has struggled defensively at home allowing over three goals per game. For Kadri, he has been a consistent PTS/$ producer lately with eight points and 25 shots over his last 10 games while centering the second line and top powerplay unit. At these prices, I will have exposure to Kadri in all formats.
PP Stack with: Nathan MacKinnon, Jonas Donksoi, Andre Burakovsky
Also Consider: Dylan Larkin(DET) or Anze Kopitar(LA) in a battle of bottom 3 defenses
Opponent - ANA
Proj Pts FD - 21.07 DK - 15.51
Kane checks all the boxes I am looking for when paying up for a player and it starts with his elite floor as he averages four shots per game and backs it up with a 19.8 iCorsi/60(shot attempts). He has also flashed upside on a struggling offense(20th overall) averaging a point per game with seven of his 11 goals coming on the powerplay. Overall, the matchup may not look great on paper as the Ducks rank 11th on defense but have been struggling lately losing four straight and five of their last seven while allowing 3.9 goals per game. Fire up Kane in all formats.
Stack with: Logan Couture, Kevin Labanc
Opponent - WPG
Proj Pts FD - 11.8 DK - 8.68
For value at the wing position, I am going back to the Panthers and Frank Vatrano in this plus matchup against the Jets struggling road defense. From a PTS/$ perspective, he has been terrific lately with seven points and 26 over his last 10 games for an average of 10.6 DK/13.1 FD points per game. He is down on the third line but gets time on the second powerplay unit and at these prices is in play in all formats.
Stack with: Vincent Trocheck, Denis Malgin
Also Consider: Tyler Toffoli(LA) for value or Anthony Mantha(DET) in the mid-tier with his elite shot volume(3.8 shots per game, 19.9 iCorsi/60)
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 11.75 DK - 11.75
Despite the rising price and lack of upside early in the season, Doughty still rates out well from a PTS/$ perspective and I tend to agree here. He is averaging 4.6 combined shots/blocks per game on the season and has been even better lately averaging 5.5 over his last six games. He averages just over 25 minutes of ice-time per game(9th overall) and with that opportunity and his shot volume I see the offensive production ticking up moving forward and it starts tonight in a plus matchup against the Red Wings 31st ranked defense. Doughty is in play in all formats.
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 9.86 DK - 7.81
The price remains down on Martinez after a slow start to the season as he has tallied just five points in 18 games but the good news is that he provides a ton of value in other areas. He has tallied a combined 19 shots/blocks over the last three games and is averaging 3.6 combined per game on the season. This gives him a high floor and he is a bit of a buy-low considering he is still skating around 22 min per game on the top pairing with Doughty and the second powerplay unit. Like Doughty, he is in play in all formats.
Opponent - EDM
Proj Pts FD - 12.16 DK - 9.37
If you want a non-Kings option tonight on defense consider Ryan Graves. He comes with little to no upside but has seen his ice-time tick up a bit lately and he provides a ton of value in the shot-blocking department as the primary D-man on the penalty kill. He has 26 blocks to go along with 13 shots over his last 10 games and surprisingly also has four points in that time. At these prices, he can be used as a punt in all formats but his beast value comes in cash games.
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