Below we’ve got a discussion of the best matchups and potential stacks of the day followed by player rankings for Saturday’s 9-game evening slate of NHL contests on DraftKings and FanDuel.

As always, make sure to check Twitter for any injury news, and check LeftWingLock for starting goalies and line combos.

Game Breakdowns

Note: Only games starting at or after 7:00ET will be discussed

San Jose Sharks @ Arizona Coyotes

The San Jose Sharks have one of the best matchups of the night They are the definition of a love/hate relationship, but tonight, they are a team to love. There’s no reason for them not to go off tonight, especially against a lonely Arizona team that loves to give up goals.

As always, the Sharks top line of Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Joel Ward is where most DFS players will start building their lineups. They will be heavily owned, so maybe look elsewhere when it comes to building a GPP lineup, but in cash, you’ll want a piece of this line.

Behind the paywall you’ll find the rest of today’s NHL DFS game breakdowns and player rankings

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I’ve recently started recommending to readers to mini-stack a forward and a defenceman, and it’s been pretty successful. Tonight is another excellent opportunity to do that. A Pavelski/Brent Burns mini-stack is a pricey option, but you can’t go wrong with it. Plug both theses players in and build your lineup around them.

In goal, Martin Jones is expected to get the call for tonight’s game. He’s an excellent option in cash games and won’t break the bank (He’s more affordable on FanDuel).

Edmonton Oilers @ Dallas Stars

Remember when the Oilers and Connor McDavid were unstoppable? Well, things have changed. Edmonton has won two games in their last ten and McDavid hasn’t scored a goal in eight games. If the Oilers are going to turn things around, they are going to need not only their captain to start scoring goals again, but the entire team.

Well, good news: the Dallas Stars are set to host the Oilers, which is fantastic news from a fantasy perspective.

Dallas has the worst goaltending duo in the NHL, and it’s not even close. It doesn’t matter which goalie get the nod tonight, both are complete trash. Despite them being #NotGood, Dallas has the better offensive team, so this game could be a high scoring affair.

For Edmonton, McDavid and Jordan Eberle make for a real nice mini-stack, but it’s going to be a challenge to fit both those players in if you’re paying up for Burns & Pavelski. The better value in this game is Edmonton’s third line, specifically Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Milan Lucic. Not only will the duo have an easier matchup against a Dallas bottom six, but they also play on the top power play unit with McDavid and Eberle.

On the flip side, Dallas’ top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Patrick Sharp is the best full line stack of the night. All three players play together on the top power play as well, so if you don’t want to stack the entire line in cash games, any duo from that line will work.

Defenceman John Klingberg also joins the trio on the top unit, so an all out power play stack here is possible. Klingberg has a very reasonable price across most sites, so if you decide to use him in cash as well, go for it.

Colorado Avalanche @ Minnesota Wild

The Colorado Avalanche are in trouble tonight. If Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog can’t go, there’s no chance that they walk out of Minnesota with two points, not against Devan Dubnyk. The Wild netminder has been extremely solid this season, and that shouldn’t change tonight.

Up front, Zach Parise and Eric Staal are still not playing together, so that hurts their value a little. Of the two, Staal has the better linemates in Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle, so a mini-stack of Staal/Colye would work nicely. If you’re looking for the home run play, Parise and Staal play together on the top power play, so you could pair them together along with Coyle and call it a line stack, but honestly, there isn’t much value in doing that.

As mentioned earlier, Dubnyk is just on another level right now, a Carey Price level to be exact. The Wild goalie is going to cost you a pretty penny to roster, but even then, he’s still a few hundred dollars below what Price would cost you, and some people would argue that Dubnyk’s play over the last couple of games has been better than Price’s. There’s no reason to fade Dubnyk tonight in cash games.

Chicago Blackhawks @ Vancouver Canucks

Despite the Blackhawks playing in Calgary last night, there’s no reason to fade them  against Vancouver. The Canucks are a team that can’t score goals, and even at home, they pose little to no threat to opposing teams.

As always, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are two elite options. What’s even better about the two is that over the last couple of games, head coach Joel Quenneville has decided to let both superstars play together, and it hasn’t been a bad thing. Sadly, both players play on opposite power plays, so that does bring their value down just a bit, but not enough to fade them.

If the top line is too expensive for you, Artem Anisimov, Artemi Panarin and  Marian Hossa is another option to consider. Anisimov and Panarin play together on the top power play unit, so they become a nice mini-stack to use in cash games.

On defence, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith are two great options to consider. Of the two, Keith is the better fantasy option, but he is also the more expensive option.

Player Rankings

Centers

1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–Edmonton Oilers–DK:$4800,FD$5300
2. Joe Thornton–San Jose Sharks–DK:$5400,FD:$5200
3. Artem Anisimov–Chicago Blackhawks–DK:$6800,FD:$5600
4. Tyler Seguin–Dallas Stars–DK:$8000,FD:$8300
5. Connor McDavid–Edmonton Oilers–DK:$8100,FD:$7600
6. Jonathan Toews–Chicago Blackhawks–DK:$6400,FD:$6800
7. Eric Staal–Minnesota Wild–DK:$5900,FD:$5700
8. Logan Couture–San Jose Sharks–DK:$5800,FD:$6400
9. Alex Galchenyuk–Montreal Canadiens–DK:$7000,FD:$6600

Wingers

1. Joel Ward–San Jose Sharks–DK:$3800,FD:$3000
2. Charlie Coyle–Minnesota Wild–DK:$5200,FD:$4800
3. Scott Wilson–pittsburgh Penguins–DK:$3600,FD:$3300
4. Paul Byron–Montreal Canadiens–DK:$4300,FD:$4200
5. Milan Lucic–Edmonton Oilers–DK:$4800,FD:$5000
6. Joe Pavelski–San Jose Sharks–DK:$6800,FD:$7500
7. Jamie Benn–Dallas Stars–DK:$7000,FD:$8100
8. Patrick Kane–Chicago Blackhawks–DK:$8400,FD:$8400
9. Jordan Eberle–Edmonton Oilers–DK:$6600,FD:$6600
10. Zach Parise–Minnesota Wild–DK:$6300,FD:$6500

Defenceman

1. Brent Burns–San Jose Sharks–DK:$8300,FD:$8200
2. Shea Weber–Montreal Canadiens–DK:$6800,FD:$6600
3. Kris Letang–Pittsburgh Penguins–DK:$6900,FD:$7100
4. John Klingberg–Dallas Stars–DK:$4900,FD:$4800
5. Aaron Ekblad–Florida Panthers–DK:$4500,FD:$5500
6. Jared Spurgeon–Minnesota wild–DK:$4100,FD:$4400
7. Duncan Keith–Chicago Blackhawks–DK:$5500,FD:$6000
8. Andrei Markov–Montreal Canadiens–DK:$4300,FD:$4800

Goalies

1. Devan Dubnyk–Minnesota Wild–DK:$8200,FD:$9200
2. Carey Price–Montreal Canadiens–DK:$8600,FD:$10,200
3. Marc-Andre Fleury–Pittsburgh Penguins–DK:$8300,FD:$8700
4. Scott Darling–Chicago Blackhawks–DK:$8300,FD:$8200
5. Martin Jones–San Jose Sharks–DK:$8100,FD:$8300
6. Roberto Luongo–Florida Panthers–DK:$7400,FD:$8800

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