Montreal Canadiens Vs. Chicago Blackhawks
This matchup on paper is all Montreal, but Vegas only has the Canadiens as a -116 favourite. The Blackhawks can’t score goals, they certainly can’t keep the puck out of their net, the power play is below average and lets not even talk about the penalty kill. The Habs aren’t a better team on the road, but they should be able to score a couple of goals in this game.
Let’s start with the only Montreal line worth looking at: Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher. This line has come back down to earth over the last couple of weeks, but their possession numbers are still very good. Since Drouin, Domi and Shaw have started to play better, there’s a good chance that Chicago matches Toews’ line against them, give that second line a ton of ice to work with. If you want to just mini-stack Tatar and Gallagher in cash games, that’s fine.
As a nice single bullet option, rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi is only $3700 on FanDuel and he’s seeing time on the top power play unit. He’s mostly a salary saving option since Montreal’s power play is #NotGood, but he doesn’t have to do much to hit value.
On the back end, Shea Weber is back playing hockey and he’s doing Shea Weber things. His price point is a bit too high for my liking, especially on DraftKings, but his floor in cash games is high, so if you can fit him into your lineup, go for it.
On the Chicago side, Toews is only $5200 on DraftKings, which is quite low considering his matchup isn’t terrible. Pair him with Brandon Saad and you have a mini-stack below 10K that could do some damage. If you want to ride the contrarian train, that would be the mini-stack to go with.
New Jersey Devils Vs. Anaheim Ducks
Here’s a battle of two teams who have been very inconsistent since the beginning of the season. The Devils started the season on fire, but they’ve really dropped off over the last few weeks, while the Ducks couldn’t get anything going at the start the year, but have slowly found their groove over the last month. This matchup comes down to one factor-- goaltending. The Ducks have elite goaltending, while the Devils do not. Neither team is projected to score many goals in this game, but there is still some value available.
Let’s start with the Ducks and their top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Pontus Aberg and Daniel Sprong. That has to be the worst top line ever in hockey, but they won’t cost you very much to roster. With Anaheim playing at home, the goal here is to keep the Getzlaf line away from New Jersey’s top line, which should happen. Ryan Kesler and Adam Henrique are more than capable of shutting down opposing lines and the Devils’ depth lines are just horrible and are even worse on the road. Aberg and Getzlaf play together on the top power play unit, so they would be the best mini-stack to go with.
There’s a good chance that John Gibson gets the start for Anaheim, which would make him the top goalie play on this slate. He’s been the best player for his team on many nights and his matchup on paper is elite. The Devils don’t have much firepower outside of their top line, so if Anaheim can contain that line, Gibson should be able to handle the rest.
Dallas Stars Vs. Vegas Golden Knights
There is a lot to love on both sides here, but the value the Vegas Golden Knights offer is just too hard to pass up on. Most people will flock to Dallas’ top line, but that’s the wrong place to look.
Even if Vegas is playing back-to-back games, Dallas isn’t a great team. They have a bunch of holes in their lineup and their goaltending this season hasn’t been great. The line everyone should be targeting is Las Vegas’ second line of Max Pacioretty, Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch. With the expecting of Eakin, Pacioretty and Tuch have a very favourable matchup and have power play correlation. They will for sure avoid Dallas’ top line and on price fairly reasonably on FanDuel. What isn’t there to love?
You can complete the power play three-man stack with Colin Miller, who is basically free on FanDuel. The trio will cost you under 15K.
On the Dallas side, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alex Radulov should see high ownership because of the favourable matchup, but they don’t offer enough value to warrant a top stack consideration. Will they rack up points? Probably, but it’s unlikely that they hit value. If you want to throw them into a GPP, that’s fine.
Calgary Flames Vs. Edmonton Oilers
If you had the Calgary Flames as the top team in the Western Conference at any point this season, you can collect your winnings. After beating the Nashville Predators last night, the Flames are now the top team in the west. Despite that, they aren’t the team we should be targeting tonight.
As we all know, Connor McDavid is matchup proof, and tonight seems like a great night to pay up for the best player on the planet. Mark Giordano will be out of the lineup due to suspension, so that leaves pretty much no one to try and contain McDavid and company. If you want to use Edmonton’s top line in cash game, you can, but you can also go with a mini-stack of McDavid and Alex Chiasson, who has somehow found himself playing in the top six and on the top power play unit. The good news is Chiasson is pretty cheap on FanDuel, so that helps.
In goal, Mikko Koskinen is confirmed to get the start for Edmonton. He’s not a contrarian play, but rather, he’s my second favourtie goalie option on this slate. He’s much better than Cam Talbot and he’s been nothing but solid for the past month. At $7600 on DraftKings, that’s a real bargain. Yes the Flames are a good offensive team, but Koskinen should see a ton of rubber in this game and he’s more than capable of keeping the puck out of his net. He’s a great option in cash games and GPPs.
On the flip side, let’s not pretend like the Oilers are an amazing hockey team. Outside of their top line, they have zero depth. Calgary’s top line should matchup against Edmonton’s top line, so the best line to target would be Calgary’s second line, specifically Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett. The two don’t have power play correlation, but they have a positive matchup and they won’t cost you an arm and a leg to roster. If you want to go with Tkachuk as a single bullet option, that wouldn’t be crazy.
If you’re looking for a cheap defenceman to roster, Noah Hanifin is only $4000 on FanDuel and he’s taking Giordano’s spot on the top power play unit.