Key Skaters

W Vladimir Tarasenko (STL)

The Blues offense has been explosive with at least three goals in every game and five or more scores on three occasions. A huge contributor to that success has been Tarasenko who has four goals and four assists on the season with four or more shots in five games. Furthermore, Tarasenko is fourth among skaters in scoring chances per 60 and third in shots on goal per 60 at 5v5. Against the weak Blackhawks defense Tarasenko could be considered underpriced at $6,100, the 16th-highest priced winger on the slate.

C Connor McDavid (EDM)

As usual, McDavid is on another level right now. This game against the Canucks could be the highest-scoring affair and should have the fastest pace on the slate leading to scoring chances both ways. In the first game of the season against Vancouver McDavid had two assists and skated a whopping 24 minutes. The best player in the league has recorded multiple points in every game (6) this season with seven goals, eight goals, with a ridiculous 30 shots on goal thus far. Lock him in.

C Auston Matthews (TOR)

Despite having just five shots in his last two games. Matthews has recorded a point in each contest (one goal, one assist) and finds himself in a friendly home matchup with the Red Wings. It’s been a quiet start for AM34 with just those two points on the season but the way he’s been skating suggests that the monster effort is coming here soon and I don’t want to miss it.

Favorite Line Stacks

*(V) = Value Stack

St. Louis Blues

Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, David Perron, James Neal

• While this group of Blues do not all correlate at even strength we’re getting exposure across three lines in a game that the Blues could find themselves pouring goals in. Schenn and Neal skate together on the first line, Perron is the top scoring option on the second line, while Tarasenko fits that category on the third line. Where these skaters do correlate in on the top power-play unit, a unit that is second-best as far as success rate goes to this point. The Blackhawks’ kill has been solid but they’re committing a ton of penalties. Something has to give here.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly

AM34 and Willie skating together on the same line has been a good mix since the two broke into the league. Both see time on the top power-play unit along with Marner and Rielly. The Red Wings average 12.9 penalty minutes per game (fourth-most in the league) and have one of the worst penalty kills in the league. These two factors should help the Leafs’ power-play which is off to a slow start.

Also consider:

Edmonton Oilers: Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Tyson Barrie

Florida Panthers (V): Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Anthony Duclair

Calgary Flames (V): Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Tyler Pitlick

Top Positional Skaters

*Not mentioned in “key skaters'” section. Last skater at each position is my favorite value

Center

• Nathan MacKinnon (COL)
• Elias Lindholm (CGY)
• Elias Pettersson (VAN)
• Kirby Dach (CHI)

Wing

• David Pastrnak (BOS)
• Mitch Marner (TOR)
• Alex Debrincat (CHI)
• Matthew Tkachuk (CGY)
• Lucas Raymond (DET)
• Jonathan Dahlen (SJ)

Defense

• Brent Burns (SJ)
• Darnell Nurse (EDM)
• Cale Makar (COL)
• Seth Jones (CHI)
• Torey Krug (STL)
• Michael Matheson (PIT)

Goalies

• Jacob Markstrom (CGY)
• Darcy Kuemper (COL)
• Petr Mrazek (TOR)
• Casey DeSmith (PIT)

NOTE: All pricing references pertain to DraftKings

GOOD LUCK!!