As always, I want to remind you guys that with only three or four games going on, we will not put out the full DFS Playbook, but will do optimal lineups along with a breakdown of the slate.
With NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry going on, we have a tiny 3-game slate to work with. In general, I do feel that these smaller slates are much easier to put together GPP lineups given the narrowed list of options available. I’ll try to break down the best options and provide you with my best possible lineup for cash games later in the day.
Anaheim Ducks at Columbus Blue Jackets (CBJ -117 favorites) - 7:00 PM ET
Starting Goalies: John Gibson (Confirmed) vs. Sergei Bobrovsky (Likely)
Top Plays: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, Sami Vatanen, Cam Atkinson, and Zach Werenski
Top Values: Jakob Silfverberg, Cam Fowler, Scott Hartnell, Alexander Wennberg, and David Savard
The Ducks are as hot as they’ve been all season, and the big three of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Ryan Kesler are a major part of that. The Ducks were humiliated by CBJ a few weeks back when the Blue Jackets defeated the Ducks on zero rest. I expect some vengeance from the Quack Attack tonight in Columbus.
The Kesler line is usually a tough matchup for any team, and more often than not, Columbus will matchup their offensively gifted 2nd line with Brandon Saad, Alexander Wennberg, and Nick Foligno against their opposition’s 2nd line. Still, they get enough power-play time to remain viable on this short slate, but I just don’t like it as much as I normally do. Also, with Seth Jones out of the lineup, you’ll see Zach Werenski get paired with David Savard.
Update: Brandon Dubinsky will be out of the lineup. This ends up being a big boost for the Ducks.
Ottawa Senators at Buffalo Sabres (Vegas Line Not Released) - 7:30 PM ET
Starting Goalies: Mike Condon (Likely) vs. Robin Lehner (Likely)
Top Plays: Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson, Kyle Okposo, Evander Kane and Rasmus Ristolainen
Top Values: Derick Brassard, Bobby Ryan, Dion Phaneuf, Sam Reinhart, Matt Moulson, and Cody Franson
Robin Lehner gets another start against his former team, who he was outstanding against in 2015-16, going 2-0-1 with a 1.41 GAA and .953 SV%. Ottawa’s offense has been rather stagnant as of late, and amazingly, their defense has been the cause of any of their success this season. Still, you have the same names who are always in play for Ottawa, such as Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson, but I’d say my under-the-radar play is going to be Derick Brassard, who has been challenged by Head Coach Guy Boucher to shoot the puck more. Still, it’ll be difficult to figure out the best line to play from Ottawa because of their abundance of line juggling, which makes the previous lines that they used in their 3-1 loss to Nashville a bit of a question mark.
The Sabres are similar in the sense that their defense has stood out this season, while their offense has been bit of a disappointment. Luckily, if we’re talking about DFS, there’s only one line that you can legitimately play right now with any sense of confidence, and that’s the top line with Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, and Matt Moulson.
Update: Ryan O'Reilly is questionable tonight but Evander Kane is back in. Matt Moulson takes a big hit because it looks like Kane-O'Reilly-Okposo but he should be with them on the top PP unit.
Update #2: Ryan O'Reilly did not take warmups, so he will not be playing tonight. Take him out of your DK lineups ASAP if you used him.
Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues (STL -125 favorites) - 8:00 PM ET
Starting Goalies: Jake Allen (Confirmed) vs. Corey Crawford (Confirmed)
Top Plays: Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Duncan Keith
Top Values: Jori Lehtera and Nick Schmaltz
The biggest crapshoot of the night will be the Blues and Blackhawks. These two teams have a big rivalry with a lot of previous games with the same core group of players that we can absolutely analyze, but ultimately, the only thing that I can really say with confidence is that a) it’ll be a very evenly matched game and b) there’s a decent chance that it’ll be high scoring.
The winner of eight of the last 10 meetings have won by just one goal. On top of that, each of the last seven meetings between these two teams have led to at least five goals in regulation.
The Blues have done a bit of line juggling, and truly, the only line that has shown any type of consistency from a Corsi standpoint is the Vladimir Tarasenko line. In their last game against the Avs, they were the only line that were well above a 50% CF%, with the trio each getting a CF% of over 84%. It’ll be a tougher battle against the Hawks, but their chemistry should help them prevail at some point this evening.
As for the Hawks, it’s as clear as day in regards to who you want to target. It’s going to be ANYONE in the Hawks top two lines. Unfortunately, whether or not you want to pull the trigger on any of them is another story. Nevertheless, the Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane combo has finally figured out some chemistry, and have been able to produce with some consistency lately. I would prefer if they avoid the Tarasenko line, and that’s probably going to be the case with the game being played in St. Louis.
Nick Schmaltz takes the place of Richard Panik on the top line.
Stacks to consider (Ranked from most confident to least confident):
ANA1: Nick Ritchie-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry-Cam Fowler
BUF1: Evander Kane-Sam Reinhart-Kyle Okposo-Rasmus Ristolainen [Updated TWICE]
ANA2: Jakob Silfverberg-Ryan Kesler-Andrew Cogliano-Sami Vatanen
STL2: Jaden Schwartz-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko-Alex Pietrangelo
CHI1: Nick Schmaltz-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane-Duncan Keith [Updated]
CHI2: Artemi Panarin-Artem Anisimov-Marian Hossa-Brent Seabrook
OTT1: Bobby Ryan-Derick Brassard-Mark Stone-Erik Karlsson [Updated]
OTT2: Ryan Dzingel-Kyle Turris-Zack Smith-Dion Phaneuf [Updated]
Goalie Rankings:
- Robin Lehner (Confirmed)
- John Gibson (Confirmed)
- Jake Allen (Confirmed)
- Sergei Bobrovsky (Confirmed) [GPP recommended w/ANA fade]
- Mike Condon (Confirmed)
- Corey Crawford (Confirmed)