Each day throughout the NHL season I am going to be recommending players to target in your DFS lineups with the focus on tournament lineups (with DraftKings prices). I will try to avoid posting the obvious plays on a given night — for example Tyler Seguin is an automatic play for me every day he plays.
The NHL schedule continues to be…well…weird. After just two games last night there are thirteen games tonight which is a huge slate for fantasy.
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W – Jason Zucker ($4,800) – MIN
The Wild are facing Ryan Miller and the Canucks tonight. In November, Miller has a 3.03 goals against average to go along with a .895 save percentage. I expect the Wild to be able to capitalize on Miller’s weak play as of late tonight and score a few goals. Zucker skates on the Wild’s second line alongside Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter. He is on the second powerplay unit so he will have opportunities on the man-advantage against Vancouver who rank 11th in the NHL in minor penalties taken.
C – Paul Stastny ($5,100) – STL
Stastny returned from injury last game but unfortunately was not in the DraftKings database. However, he is back for today’s slate. The Blues play the Penguins tonight. I really like Tarasenko but on this huge slate I am nervous to pay his price tag so I will take the cheaper option and roster his centerman in Stastny. Stastny has five points in six games this season.
C – Victor Rask ($4,300) – CAR
The sophomore forward is on the Canes top line again tonight as they face the lowly Oilers. This game features two of the worst teams in the NHL. I expect there to be goals on both sides but I will be focusing on rostering Carolina players. Rask will be playing on a line with Eric Staal and Elias Lindholm. Rask is also on the first power-play unit. However, the Canes have the worst power-play in the league scoring on just 13.6 percent of the time. If there was ever a time for the Canes to get out of the slump on the PP today would be the day. The Oilers still struggle defensively and I expect Carolina, specifically their top line, to be able to take advantage of that.
C – Nathan MacKinnon ($7,400) – COL
The Avs top line of Duchene-MacKinnon-Landeskog have been clicking as of late. MacKinnon has eleven points in his last ten games and is on a point-per-game pace this season. The Avs are playing the Senators who are coming off a 7-4 win againsnt the Dallas Stars last night. They Senators won but they were outshot 37-19. I expect the Senators to struggle defensively again tonight. MacKinnon should be able to take advantage of the Sens defence and get on the scoresheet. This game is one of the three games that are goal total is set at 5.5 on Pinnacle. I expect this game to be filled with goals and I won’t be able to pass up on rostering Mack.
W – Filip Forsberg ($5,500) – NSH
The Nashville Predators have been shut out……THREE GAMES IN A ROW. That has to end tonight right? The Preds are facing the Sabres tonight who will go with rookie goalie Linus Ullmark in net. Ullmark has performed well this season but he is no Henrik Lundqvist who the Predators ran into last game. Forsberg is reunited with Riberio and James Neal on the top line after the lines were shaken up last game. Forsberg has just two goals this season and none in his last ten games. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Preds bounce back huge tonight goal-wise and if they do I certainly expect Forsberg to be a part of that. With the Predators struggling offensively today may be the time to grab them with a low ownership percentage.
D – Justin Faulk ($5,900) & D – Brett Pesce ($2,800) – CAR
Just as I said about Victor Rask above, I like the matchup for the Canes tonight. Faulk has been exceptional this season offensively, as most of us expected. He has eight goals, seven of which have came on the man advantage. Faulk has a great opportunity tonight against the Oilers who struggle defensively. Fellow Canes defensemen Brett Pesce is one of my favourite cheap plays on the blueline tonight. The rookie has scored in back-to-back games and while I don’t expect him to make that three games in a row he is still certainly capable of getting on the scoresheet. Last game he played a career high as he topped 23 minutes of ice time. Pesce has averaged 1.28 blocks and 1.57 shots per game over his short fourteen game career. Rostering Pesce allows you to allocate more money to your forwards, which on a huge slate like tonight could be very helpful.
Featured Image Credit: By 5of7 [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
