Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs
We kickoff the NHL season with two games on the East Coast, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Montreal Canadiens. The story for this game is the debut of John Tavares, the massive offseason signing for the Maple Leafs. Last season, the Maple Leafs averaged over 3.0 goals per game and now adding Tavares, should make them a top target anytime they are on the slate. The question becomes, how much salary do you have available to roster the Toronto players? The first power-play unit of John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, and Morgan Reilly will be a target tonight and every night, but with only four games in play tonight, you might be a bit stretched for value. If you are rolling out one, or 100 lineups tonight, I would strongly recommend that you have some exposure to the Maple Leafs top power-play. Frederick Anderson comes in as the biggest home favorite at -235 tonight, so he should be the cash game lock, especially on FanDuel, where he seems a bit too cheap. Don’t get cute in cash games, just lock him in a move on. For the Canadiens, they are looking to be one of the worst teams in the league this season, especially since they traded their captain Max Pacioretty just a few weeks ago. They will also be without their top defender Shea Weber, who will be out until December according to reports. In all honesty, the only reason to play the Canadiens tonight is simply to go out of your way to be contrarian in tournaments.
Boston Bruins @ Washington Capitals
Tonight, we will see Stanley Cup Champions the Washington Capitals raise a banner to celebrate their fantastic season. The Capitals come in with an implied goal total set at 2.85 tonight and should be in consideration for cash games or GPPs. Alex Ovechkin is a hat-trick waiting to happen almost every night, but he will have a tougher matchup versus the Patrice Bergeron line of the Bruins. It’s only a four-game slate tonight, so have some exposure to Capitals. When it comes to goal tending in tonight’s game, I really see both Braden Holtby and Tuukka Rask as GPP options. The offensive options on each side are among the better in the league and no need to go out of your way for cash games. The top power-play for the Capitals is always in play, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson make a great stack, just a matter of finding the salary to get there. On the Bruins side of things, they will be without Torey Krug, which means Charlie McAvoy will be on the top defensive pairing and the top power-play unit. Braden Holtby allowed 2.8 goals per game last season and didn’t record a single shutout, so you should be fine stacking against him. The Bruins have an implied goal total set at 2.65, so we actually could be looking at a bit of a shootout tonight, so doing a game stack is very viable here. The Bruins top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak will be a target every night and tonight is no different.
Calgary Flames @ Vancouver Canucks
The Flames come in as -135 road favorites with an implied goal total set at 2.91, which is third highest on the slate. This makes them a very interesting stacking option tonight, since it can potentially get you away from the ownership which may be focused in on the Maple Leafs and the Sharks. The top forward line for the Flames is comprised of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm, who are also on the first power-play together. This is the ideal spot to target, since they have 100% shared ice time, meaning the potential for point upside here is massive. Really like them as a stacking option and you want shares of them in GPPs. Mark Giordano on the blue line for the Flames also makes a nice addition to that power-play stack and is also decent for cash games. Mike Smith in net for the Flames makes a nice GPP option tonight, as the Canucks come in with an implied goal total set at 2.59, which is third lowest on the slate. The Canucks certainly aren’t one of the better offensive teams, so they are purely a GPP option and if you go anywhere, stick to the young guns they have on their top line, Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, and Brendan Leipsic. Alexander Edler is the top defender for the Canucks and if he going to be out there for the power-play he should have a nice floor of points, especially with his ability to block shots.
Anaheim Ducks @ San Jose Sharks
The big news for this game is the addition of defender Erik Karlsson for the Sharks, making their tough defense even better. The Sharks are going to be similar to the Maple Leafs this season, if they are on the slate, they will be popular, but very expensive. As always, if you have the salary, you should want shares of them in any format. The first forward line for the Sharks is also on the top power-play unit, so another spot where we have players who have 100% shared ice time. Evander Kane, Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. Burns has been an elite DFS option for a few seasons now and is a sure-fire cash game option tonight. The second unit of Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier is a very interesting GPP stack, since they are the full second forward line and on the second power-play unit together, not to mention they are just a bit cheaper than the top line. Martin Jones is firmly in play for any format tonight but is expensive across the industry. For the Ducks, they will be without Corey Perry for a few weeks, which I know makes fellow FantasyAlarm NHL contributor, Brett Talley very happy, but that is a discussion for a different time. The Ducks have a few other injuries to deal with, but they have some fantastic options on defense, Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Montour, who make better GPP options compared to cash games tonight. The Ducks have an implied goal total set at 2.39, which is second lowest on the slate, so not going to too many offensive options if I don’t have to tonight.