Key Skaters

C Dylan Larkin (DET)

Larkin ranks in the top 11 in expected goals per 60 and high-danger scoring chances per 60 and now gets a matchup with the Canadiens who have struggled to defend the center position to this point. The speedy center has been aggressive of late firing six and seven shots on goal in his last two games respectively. Larkin is a game-changing talent with immense upside here based alone on his ability to skate with the puck. Also, no one will roster him due in part to his $7,000 price tag.

W Mitch Marner (TOR)

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the NHL to this point is how poor the Vegas Golden Knights defense has been. They’ve allowed the most high-danger scoring chances per 60, most scoring chances per 60, and have the highest expected goals-against average per 60 at 5v5. Marner comes in dramatically discounted compared to teammates Auston Matthews ($8,800), William Nylander ($7,200), and to a lesser degree John Tavares ($6,700) – all of which are great plays. However, getting Marner in at $6,500, the focal scoring option on the second line and a key asset on the top power-play unit is quite a gift. The winger has points in back-to-back games averaging about 20 minutes of ice time.

C Sean Couturier (PHI)

The Arizona Coyotes have the worst penalty kill in the NHL (58.6 percent kill rate) and average the third-most penalty minutes (13.6) per game. In the case of the Flyers, they have the 12th-best power-play (23.3 percent success rate) while averaging 3.57 goals per game overall (7th). What does all of this support? Well, it’s not a shock when looking at these numbers that the Coyotes are 0-8-1 on the season while the Flyers are 4-2-1 having scored five or more goals on three occasions. Couturier comes in with three goals, four assists, and 18 shots in the seven games. Couturier has also seen two or more minutes of power-play time on five occasions while eclipsing the three-minute threshold three times. $6,500 is a nice price to get Couts at as he’s been priced as high as $7,200 this season.

Favorite Line Stacks

*(V) = Value Stack

Philadelphia Flyers

Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Claude Giroux, Keith Yandle

As I spoke about above the Coyotes have been a disaster in the special team’s department and this Flyers stack included four skaters from the top power-play unit. Couturier, Konecny, and Giroux are all featured on the top even-strength line as well giving us full correlation here. Yandle is a nice value on the back end at $3,700 and he runs one of the points on the power-play

Calgary Flames

Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Rasmus Andersson

The Flames have been red-hot (no pun intended) with a 6-1-1 record. More importantly, Calgary is fourth in scoring chances per 60, fourth in shots per 60, and has the eighth-most goals for per 60 at 5v5. The top line of Lindholm, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk average the seventh-most shot attempts per 60 minutes and all correlate on the top power-play unit, a unit with a 29.3 percent success rate, the third-highest in the league. Rasmus Andersson ($4,300) is also on that power-play unit on the back end and has four points with the man-advantage this season.

Also consider:

New York Rangers: Mika Zibanajad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox

Minnesota Wild: Joel Eriksson Ek, Kevin Fiala, Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon

Montreal Canadiens (V): Nick Suzuki, Tyler Toffoli, Mike Hoffman

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

Auston Matthews (TOR)
Logan Couture (SJ)
Nick Suzuki (MTL)
Chandler Stephenson (VGK)
Sean Monahan (CGY)

Wing

Kyle Connor (WPG)
William Nylander (TOR)
Cam Atkinson (PHI)
Brady Tkachuk (OTT)
Jonathan Marchessault (VGK)
Lucas Raymond (DET)
Josh Anderson (MTL)

Defense

Dougie Hamilton (NJ)
Brent Burns (SJ)
Morgan Rielly (TOR)
Matt Dumba (MIN)
Alec Martinez (VGK)
Keith Yandle (PHI)

Goalies

Connor Hellebuyck (WPG)
Igor Shersterkin (NYR)
Jacob Markstrom (CGY)
John Gibson (ANA)

NOTE: All pricing references pertain to DraftKings

GOOD LUCK!!

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