Below is a breakdown for Wednesday’s NHL DFS main slatefollowed by example lineups. 

There are five games being played tonight, but the Blues-Ducks game is the rescheduled game from February when there was the Jay Bouwmeester health scare. The game will start 1-1, as it was when it was postponed, but the teams will play a full 60-minute game along with any OT or shootout as necessary. DraftKings has cautiously (and probably wisely) decided not to include the game on its slate, but the game will be on the FanDuel slate. Per my contact with FD support, no fantasy points accrued in the February game will count Wednesday night.

Teams to Target

Vegas did not have a line on the Blues-Ducks game as of this writing, which makes sense given the circumstances. However, the Blues lead the Western Conference while the Ducks are third worst, so you can assume the Blues will be a sizable favorite. UPDATE: St. Louis is -200. On top of that, Anaheim had to play yesterday. If you’re playing the FD slate, some exposure to Blues in cash games makes sense. The Blues have two pairs of forwards that play on a top six line and on the top PP unit, and the pair of Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron is priced a bit better on FD. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo plays withthe O’Reilly line plenty at even and on the power play, so he is also an option.

The highest over/under of the slate is in the New York-Colorado game with the Avs opening as a -160-home favorite. They have the added benefit of the Rangers having played last night in Dallas. It’s unclear if Nathan MacKinnon will be able to go tonight after leaving Colorado’s most recent game in the second period with a lower-body injury. If he’s in the lineup, we’ll assume he’s good to go given that you would expect the Avs to be careful with their star. But if he’s out, you can lean toward Gabriel Landeskog (on DK, he’s overpriced on FD) or Joonas Donskoi (a great value on FD). Assuming they stay together, the second line pair of Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher is also an option as both play on the top PP unit. UPDATE: MacKinnon is out 1-2 weeks. It looks like Jost and Compher will remain on a line together, so they're a stack option. As stated previously, Landeskog and Donskoi are also in play. Cale Makar will also return from injury tonight, so he's another option.

The best matchup of the slate per my matchup stat is LA hosting an Ottawa team that played last night. The Sens have no individual matchups to be concerned about, so LA’s top line is in play. Center Anze Kopitar is too expensive on FD but is priced reasonably on DK where winger Dustin Brown is a nice value. Brown is priced reasonably enough on FD as is fellow winger Alex Iafallo. All three forwards play on the top PP unit along with D-man Drew Doughty who also plays a ton with the line at even strength. One note on Kopitar's price on FD, you can often end up with extra cash on shorter slates, so don't avoid him at all costs on FD, just don't force him into lineups there.

The three teams above have the three highest implied goal totals of the slate and are followed by the other two favorites, Chicago and Edmonton. My matchup stat has those teams with middling matchups, but there is value on both sites with Chicago’s Jonathan Toews line. Toews himself is a bit overpriced on FD but is priced nicely on DK. His wingers, Alex Debrincat and Brandon Saad, are both priced well on each site. Debrincat is priced better of the two, and he is the winger that joins Toews on the top PP unit. Debrincat has been playing on the third linebut practiced with Toews yesterday so he’s getting a nice bump in value.

UPDATE: Connor McDavid will play tonight, so Edmonton becomes a bit more appealing. Consider McDavid on DK and Leon Draisaitl on FD. Draisaitl could be stacked with Kailer Yamamoto who is cheap on FD, and McDavid could be stacked with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as they also play together on the top PP unit.

Value Plays

The entirety of Winnipeg’s top six is priced somewhere between reasonable and well on DK, and their matchup with Edmonton is average to above average per my matchup stat despite the Jets being a road dog. The top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler stays together on the top PP unitand has stack appeal on DK. Second liner Patrik Laine joins them on the top PP unit and is arguably priced better than anyone on the team on that site. UPDATE: Laine was not at morning skate this morning. No word yet on whether he’ll be out tonight, but he now becomes quite risky at the least.

For salary relief at the center position, look to Laine’s center, Cody Eakin. Eakin doesn’t see power play work, but he should be more than only $100 over the minimum on DK with Laine on his wing. UPDATE: With Laine iffy, Eakin is a dicier option. Alex Chiasson is $200 over the minimum on DK and sees work on the top PP unit, so he is an alternative salary relief option. Over on FD, Dylan Strome is a value option at C. He works on the second PP unit, and, like Eakin, he has a dangerous guy on his wing in Patrick Kane.

There are couple of high floor defenseman in the 4K range on FD in Jacob Trouba ($4,000) and Ryan Graves ($3,800). Trouba might be preferable since he sees some work on the power play, but Graves leads all D-men on the slate in shots on goal plus blocks per minute played. Shots and blocks aren’t sexy, but they are fantasy scoring stats. Over on DK it’s another Jet that’s at a discount with Neal Pionk being entirely reasonably priced at $4,500 as the D-man on the top PP unit for Winnipeg.

Goalies

Since the calendar turned to 2020, Corey Crawford ranks fifth in Goals Saved Above Average (per Natural Stat Trick) among 65 goalies that have played at least 300 minutes. Aside from his level of play, he’s also getting the opportunity to rack up fantasy points as the Hawks have allowed the sixth most shots on goal per game in that same timeframe. Throw in the Hawks being a -150-home favorite against a Logan Couture-less San Jose team and Crawford is my top projected goalie of the slate. He is priced well on both sites.

If Calvin Petersen starts for the Kings tonight, he’s in a good spot against an Ottawa team that averages the seventh fewest goals per game since January 1. He’s projected to see a below average shots faced total, which is more important on DK than FD where Petersen is priced well. UPDATE: Petersen is expected to start. On DK, lean more toward cheaper goalies in GPPs that are projected to see a high shot total. Per my projections, Alexandar Georgiev fits that bill. He should get the nod with Igor Shesterkin starting last night, and he should see plenty of rubber as NYR goalies so often do with the Rangers allowing the second most shots on goal per game this season. He has plenty of value potential as the cheapest projected goalie of the slate on DK. If Georgiev isn't the guy, Igor Shesterkin and Henrik Lundqvist are the same price on DK or cheaper, so just confirm which NYR goalie is starting before lock.