Saturday, February 17th
Seven game main slate tonight.
STACKS
Tampa Bay Lightning … Stamkos-Kucherov-Namestnikov
Expect this to be the chalk tonight. The Devils are starting Eddie Lack in goal on the road and Tampa is really hot right now. For high entry field tournaments I would pivot over to Point-Gourde-Johnson to get cheaper Tampa exposure with equal the upside.
Boston Bruins … Bergeron-Marchand-Pastrnak/Krug
The Bruins are back in action tonight and head out to Vancouver to face the Canucks who are doing a decent job actually of limiting opponents shot attempts but they’re facing a better team in the Bruins tonight who are coming in fresh and healthy with the top line fully in-tact. This is an expensive group but I fully expect them to produce tonight. Look to mix in Torey Krug instead of Pastrnak to change things up.
New Jersey Devils … Hischier-Hall-Palmieri
I broke down how the last time these guys met it was a 5-4 game on my podcast and I expect another high scoring affair this evening. Stamkos and Kucherov will draw tons of ownership on the Lightning side and rightfully so because Stammer has 17 goals and 29 points in 29 career games versus the Devils. But Taylor Hall is on fire with points in 9 straight games and with Hischier playing better of late these guys are a good contrarian pivot in this game.
Florida Panthers … Barkov-Dadanov-Bjugstad
Calgary Flames … Monahan-Gaudreau-Hamilton (I don’t mind the Calgary second line tonight either but this group should avoid Barkov).
Washington Capitals … Backstrom-Ovechkin-Carlson
TOP COMBO’S
Lots of good options out there tonight, this is honestly where I start my lineup build process by locking in the combo’s that I really like and then determining if I want to make it a 3 or 4 player stack based on salary and match-ups.
I have these guys ranked based upon their multi-goal upside.
- Steven Stamkos & Nikita Kucherov (Tampa)
- Sean Monahan & Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary)
- Sasha Barkov & Evgenii Dadanov (Florida)
- Willie Karlsson & Jonathan Marchessault (Vegas) … Vegas should dominate this game but I hate the 4PM local start in Vegas… Expecting a 3-1 type final.
- Auston Matthews & Willie Nylander (Toronto)
- Ryan Johansen & Viktor Arvidsson (Nashville)
- Nick Backstrom & Alex Ovechkin (Washington) … At some point the Blackhawks will start to play for pride. That some point isn’t for another week or two.
Cheaper / Value
- Nico Hischier & Taylor Hall (New Jersey)
- Mikael Backlund & Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary)
- Bo Horvat & Brock Boesser (Vancouver)
- Brayden Point & Yanni Gourde (Tampa)
- Dylan Larkin & Tomas Tatar (Detroit)
- Lars Eller & Andre Burakovsky (Washington)
ONE OFF VALUE WINGERS
- Connor Sheary & Zach Aston-Reese (PIT) … I am fading the Pens tonight but these guys are going to be a popular play today because they’re skating with Crosby
- Tomas Tatar (DET)
- Zach Hyman (TOR)
- Jake DeBrusk (BOS)
- Nick Bjugstad/Denis Malgin/Jamie McGinn (FLA)
- Michael Ferland/Michael Frolik (CGY)
DEFENSEMAN
- Dougie Hamilton (CGY)
- P.K. Subban (NSH)
- Aaron Ekblad (FLA)
- Torey Krug (BOS)
- John Carlson (WAS)
- Victor Hedman (TB)
VALUE / PUNT DEFENSEMAN
- Nate Schmidt (VGK – Monitor Shea Theodore status, Schmidt gets a boost with Shea out)
- Sami Vatanen (NJ)
- Dmitry Orlov (WAS)
GOALIES
Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas) … If he faces more than 25 shots then consider that a win. He should win this game easily, but the upside is limited. Monteral isnt scoring because they cannot control the puck and thus they cannot shoot. It’s kind of hard to score if you cant shoot and they’re doing neither on the road these days. Fleury is a pretty safe bet for the win tonight, but doesn’t possess a ton of upside unless he can get the shutout bonus which is never something to chase.
Juuse Saros (Nashville) … YES! It looks like Saros will draw the start over Rinne. So I don’t need to worry about a Rinne hedge stack lineup. I mentioned on my podcast how Detroit has done pretty well versus Nashville in recent matchups but on paper this looks like a total Predator domination tonight. Monitor his starting status — Nashville typically is known for not indicating their goalie until pre-game warm-ups.
Goalies to consider in stacks — These are guys I would pair with skaters only tonight to play strictly for the win and higher save volume
- Frederik Andersen (Toronto)
- Braden Holtby (Washington) — Too expensive on FD. DK only.
- Roberto Luongo (Florida) — I don’t like that he is making his first start back tonight but he’s cheap and makes a nice correlation play with the Florida stacks.
LINE LOCK OF THE NIGHT: Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak (Boston)
ONE OFF STUD WINGER: Taylor Hall (Devils)
ONE OFF VALUE WINGER: Tomas Tatar (Red Wings)
TOP DEFENSE-MAN: Dougie Hamilton (Calgary) & PK Subban (Nashville)
