Lineups were posted around 3:30 PM ET. They are GPP lineups because of the short slate. Yes, it's possible that they can succeed in cash games too, but there's going to be more risk than usual. 

UPDATE #1: DraftKings GPP (7:50 PM ET)

OUT: Justin Williams

IN: Marcus Johansson 

Williams is out of the lineup due to a late scratch. Other changes will be made momentarily.

UPDATE #2: DraftKings GPP (7:57 PM ET)

ALTERNATE PIVOT:

OUT: Alec Martinez, Nathan MacKinnon

IN: Dimitry Orlov, Jeff Carter

Extremely late pivot due to the news, but this is something I am going to try. If you can get it in, then get it in, otherwise, the original is fine.


Hope everyone had a great All-Star Break. I want to take the time to thank the guys at DraftKings who treated me to a wonderful time throughout NHL All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. I was even able to attend the NHL 100 ceremony where I got to share the same room with the greatest players in NHL history, and was in the background as Host Jon Hamm made some bad jokes.

Nevertheless, although we only have a three game slate tonight, I will help you guys put together some lineups by breaking down the games.

It goes both ways with these short slates. They can be a lot easier for you to put together lineups because there are far less players in the player pool, which makes it far less likely for you to overthink things or have agonizing decisions (e.g. Pacioretty vs. Seguin last night *woof*). On the other hand, with less players in the player pool, it makes it much more likely that you’ll be sharing the same players as your opponents in your cash game/tournament. It’s not uncommon to see five or six+ players with over 40 percent ownership in cash games with these short slates.

Boston Bruins at Washington Capitals (Vegas line has not been released)

Starting Goalies: Tuukka Rask (Confirmed) vs. Braden Holtby (Confirmed)

Top Plays: Torey Krug, Alexander Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Justin Williams,

Top Values: David Krejci, Frank Vatrano, Zdeno Chara (DK Only), Colin Miller, Andre Burakovsky, Marcus Johansson, and Dimitry Orlov

GPP Only: Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson

The Bruins are a brutal 1-5-2 this season when playing without rest. They are an even worse play if Tuukka Rask doesn’t start (which, I think is likely considering he played in the All-Star Game on Sunday as well as Tuesday). Otherwise, we can just look at the Bruins offensive attack, where I will remind you that they have been primarily a one line team for a few weeks now. Even though the Bergeron line has been performing well, it’s going to be tough matching up against a very stingy Capitals top line of Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie. On top of that, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marchand got a call from the league office after yet another slew foot last night on Anton Stralman of the Lightning. 

So yeah, I’d highly recommend staying away from the Bruins tonight. On the other hand, I think the Capitals should be a strong play regardless if Rask is in net or not. They entered the All-Star Break playing some outstanding hockey, and have gone 19-5-1 at home this season. Reuniting Ovechkin with both Backstrom and Oshie has been a good move for the team, not only because of the production this top line has been putting up, but it has been able to get the other three lines going at both ends of the ice.

You could argue that Evgeny Kuznetsov has been the best player in hockey over the last couple weeks. He started the season off slowly, even though he was placed on a line with Ovechkin for much of the beginning of the season. He now LEADS the Washington 2nd line where he has taken things into his own hands, putting together a team leading 20 points over 15 games in the month of January. I like him even more because his 2nd line is going to avoid playing Bergeron’s line for the majority of the game. Otherwise, I’m okay with the Washington top line mainly because of the goalie situation, and especially so if Marchand is out. 

Minnesota Wild at Calgary Flames (MIN -120 favorites; 5 O/U o140)

Starting Goalies: Devan Dubnyk (Confirmed) vs. Brian Elliott (Confirmed)

Top Plays: Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Dougie Hamilton, and Mark Giordano

Top Values: Jason Pominville, Troy Brouwer, Michael Frolik, Matthew Tkachuk, and T.J. Brodie

GPP Only: Mikko Koivu, Mikkel Granlund, Jason Zucker, Jared Spurgeon, and Mikael Backlund

I kind of think this game is a bit of a wild card (no pun intended). Minnesota is currently a very small favorite even though they are going to be playing without rest, and on the road. There’s a few reasons why I find it tougher to play some of the Minnesota guys tonight, but it’s primarily because of their price tag. Mikael Granlund has been a player I have been targeting on and off throughout the last couple months, but DK has actually bumped him up to the point where he’s over $6k, and the same price as Johnny Hockey. Believe it or not, I actually prefer the Minnesota 3rd line the best, which features Zach Parise, Erik Haula, and Jason Pominville. These guys are likely to matchup against Calgary’s 3rd line, which features Sam Bennett, who has been a defensive liability throughout the season. They were outstanding last night against the Oilers, and I think they can do damage tonight against a Flames team that was definitely struggling leading up to the All-Star Break. 

On that note, let’s talk about the Flames a bit. They closed out the first half of the season losing four of their last five contests, but did end on a good note, with a nice OT win in Ottawa. Leading up to that game in Ottawa, they weren't exactly playing inspired hockey. Sean Monahan definitely provided the most consistent production for the Flames, and is an incredible value tonight on DK. FanDuel? Forget it. He's way too expensive at $7000. There is definitely some value available with the Flames, and a lot of that comes from the defensemen. Brodie is underpriced for being on the top power-play unit, but he won't have as much upside compared to Dougie Hamilton, who is a reasonable $5k on DK. Additionally, I wouldn't recommend touching the Backlund line, especially because they will likely get the tough assignment of containing the Koivu line at even strength. 

Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings (LA -260 favorites; 5 O/U o130)

Starting Goalies: Spencer Martin (Likely) vs. Peter Budaj (Likely)

Top Plays: Nathan MacKinnon, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson, Drew Doughty, and Alec Martinez

Top Values: Gabriel Landeskog, Mikhail Grigorenko, Mikko Rantanen, Francois Beauchemin, Nikita Zadorov, Nick Shore, Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, Jake Muzzin, and Kevin Gravel

GPP Only: Matt Duchene and Tyson Barrie

The Avalanche are just awful. Even though the majority of their team remained from a more competitive club that went 39-39-4 in 2015-16, it’s almost like all of their motivation is gone. When you watch them play, the only player that looks a cut above the rest is Nathan MacKinnon. 

Unfortunately, with teams like the Capitals, Sharks, Wild, and Blue Jackets who are consistently getting production from all four of their lines, it puts the Avs in a tough situation on a game-by-game basis. MacKinnon is actually a great price on DK, and someone I wouldn’t mind playing at that price. He shoots the puck a ton, and that will keep his floor much higher than the average player you can get around $5k-$6k. I would also be more keen about playing some of the value Avs like Landeskog, Grigorenko, Rantanen, or Zadorov if the Kings roll out Jeff Zatkoff in net, though, Vegas seems to think it’s not an issue.

As for the Kings, I was lucky enough to catch the Kings practice Monday afternoon after the DraftKings event at their training facility. The big news there was that Tyler Toffoli was at practice, and was a FULL participant during the drills. Of course, he ended up getting scratched last night against the Coyotes, but most of us watching the practice agreed that something was off about Toffoli. I am guessing that he’s going to remain out of the lineup, but if he does make his return tonight, I would recommend for you guys to stay away from him. 

Now, for the good news. The healthier Kings looked damn good, and at the top of the list would be Anze Kopitar, who significantly helped my lineups last night with a big three point night. Kopitar is 100% healthy, folks. Not only that, he finally has two formidable linemates in Marian Gaborik (who is definitely healthy), and Dustin Brown. The advanced statistics suggest that Kopitar is going to be perfectly fine the rest of the season, and that his dry spell on offense is more so bad luck than bad play. He’s extremely cheap on DK, and the one player I’d say is a MUST PLAY tonight. Since he’s more expensive on FD, I am definitely more willing to fade him there. Additionally, with the short slate and great matchup against the defense challenged Avs, virtually any King playing on the top two lines and on the power-play is going to be a reasonable play tonight.

Note: With Zatkoff staying on the ice for extra work at the morning skate, it seems likely that Budaj will get another start.

Suggested GPP Stacks:

LA1: Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown-Doughty

WSH2: Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams-Orlov

CGY1: Gaudreau-Monahan-Brouwer-Hamilton

LA2: Pearson-Carter-Clifford-Martinez

WSH1: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie-Carlson

MIN3: Parise-Haula-Pominville

COL1: Rantanen-Grigorenko-MacKinnon-Beauchemin

MIN1: Zucker-Koivu-Granlund-Suter

Note: Keep in mind that you can always just use two or three players out of the four listed in any particular stack.