Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), from Russia, pauses on the ice in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Welcome back hockey fans. Tuesday brings us a large 10-game slate with four of those games opening with a 6.5 Vegas total. Let's get ready for another projected high-scoring night by going over some core plays at each position.
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Opponent - CAR
Proj Pts FD - 24.53 DK - 18.77
Tonight I lead off with Tuukka Rask who is trending towards his second career Vezina Trophy with how he has been playing early in the season. Not only has he been great all season, he has been even better lately winning six straight while posting an elite .943 save % on an average of 32.3 shots per game. The matchup may not look amazing against the Hurricanes but they are scoring almost a full goal less per game on the road and have scored three or fewer in four straight and five of their last six games. The Bruins open as -150 home favorites and Rask is my top goalie in all formats.
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 17.49 DK - 12.68
Driedger has pretty much been a career minor-leaguer since being drafted 76th overall back in 2012 making just three career NHL starts for the Senators. He is still only 25-years-old and now with the Panthers getting an opportunity with Sergei Bobrovsky struggling(.884 save %) early in the season. Driedger made his season debut on Saturday and was tremendous shutting out the Predators. I am not fully ready to trust him in cash games yet but the upside is most definitely there for GPP in a matchup against the Wild and their 23rd ranked road offense. If you are considering in cash games, his best value comes on FanDuel in the low $7K range and allows us to absolutely load up elsewhere.
Also Consider: Thatcher Demko(VAN) as a -185 home favorite facing a Sens team that ranks 28th in road offense
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 15.46 DK - 12.49
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 16.36 DK - 13.23
The Canucks are in a great spot at home against the Senators who have lost four straight while scoring just four goals and rank 28th in road defense on the season. This brings me to the Canucks Top 2 centers who present a ton of PTS/$ value tonight in the mid-tier of pricing. Let's start with Pettersson who has improved on his Calder Trophy-winning season a year ago and already has 31 points in 28 games. He isn't an elite shot volume player(2.5 per game) but has room to grow with an above-average 15.4 iCorsi/60. He is also a much better play on DraftKings tonight in the low $6K range.
Horvat is an even better PTS/$ play under $6K on both sites. He leads all Canucks forwards with just over 20.5 minutes of ice-time per game and averages 2.8 shots and .9 blocks per game giving him a nice floor for cash games. Both he and Pettersson are averaging over four minutes per game on the top powerplay unit and are both elite plays in all formats.
PP Stack with: Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 18.26 DK - 14.81
The center position is all about value tonight and Couture is another one who stands out. He comes into tonight on an absolute tear with 14 points and 31 shots over his last 10 games for an average of 15.8 DK/19.9 FD points per game. He centers the top line and a powerplay unit that should get a ton of work against a Capitals team that has taken the second-most minor penalties in the league. Couture is one of my favorite centers on this slate and in play in all formats.
Stack with: Evander Kane, Barclay Goodrow
Also Consider: Morgan Frost(PHI) on FanDuel where the price is still down as he is centering the top line and has 3+ shots in all but one game or Tyler Seguin(DAL) as a top pay up who has 10 points & 43 shots in his last 10 games
Opponent - NJ
Proj Pts FD - 17.05 DK - 13.33
Opponent - NJ
Proj Pts FD - 12.5 DK - 9.74
Speaking of teams in a great spot, the Vegas Golden Knights on the back of their three-game winning streak head into New Jersey to take on their 30th ranked defense. From a cash game perspective, the Vegas wingers are where I will be spending my salary with their combination of a high floor and high upside. Let's start with Pacioretty who has been on a tear lately with 10 points and 37 over his last 10 games for an average of 14.4 DK/16.3 FD points per game. On FanDuel, he is my top choice between the two. On DraftKings, it is a bit closer from a PTS/$ perspective as Marchessault comes at a $1,000 discount. He has also been equally as consistent in terms of floor with 34 shots over his last 10 games and like Patches, he backs up the shot total with a iCorsi/60 rating over 20 on the season. You can pick and choose your favorite one or stack them together which is what I will be doing to get exposure both top lines and powerplay units in this smash spot.
Stack Pacioretty with: Mark Stone, Paul Stastny
Stack Marchessault with: Reilly Smith, William Karlsson
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 7.86 DK - 5.99
When looking for a value play to help save salary I am looking for a combination of opportunity, shot volume, and upside. Roslovic covers all the bases as he is getting Top 6 ice-time for the Jets skating on the second line alongside Wheeler and Ehlers while also getting run on the second powerplay unit. To cap it off, he has been consistent(for the price) as well with five points in his last 10 games with 3+ shots in two of his last three. The matchup against the Stars is not at the top of my list tonight so for cash games, I am looking at Roslovic as a one-off piece but do like a line stack in GPP at a projected low ownership as well.
Stack with: Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers
Also Consider: Alexander Ovechkin(WSH) as the top pay up on the slate or Brendan Gallagher(MON) in the mid-range with his elite shot volume
*If you have the salary and targeting a D-man in the $6K+ range I love Shea Weber, Roman Josi, and Victor Hedman who provide an elite combination of a high floor and ceiling making them great plays in all formats. Below I will talk about a few options who are a bit cheaper and better for a balanced build.*
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 14.01 DK - 11.06
I may be a bit of a homer here but that goal has to be considered one of the best of the year. End to end with some wicked moves including the between the legs and stick lift(all at once) before burying the puck for the game-winner. OK, I am done drooling and ready to talk DFS again. First of all, Provorov comes at a sub $6K price tag on both sites and gets all the opportunity in the world averaging over 24 minutes of ice-time(leads all Flyers by almost 3 min) and comes in with a combined 40 blocks/shots over his last 10 games. He has a high floor, tons of upside, and is in play in all formats in a home matchup vs. the Leafs.
Opponent - NYI
Proj Pts FD - 11.91 DK - 9.55
For value, I will be turning to Ben Chiarot of the Canadiens. He doesn't provide much, if any, upside with just 10 points on the season and while he doesn't get much run on the powerplay unit he plays a ton of minutes on the penalty kill which leads to his high floor in the blocked shot category. Coming into tonight, he has a combined five or more shots and blocks in four straight and five of his last six games(5.5 per game). That is more than enough for me to consider him a core play in cash games.
Also Consider: Matt Grzelcyk(BOS) or Roman Polak(DAL) as other high floor plays for cash games
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Update didn’t go through up top. Halak is starting for the Bruins and is a core play tonight.