Below I’ve got a discussion of the best matchups and potential stacks of the day followed by player rankings for Saturday’s 11-game evening slate of NHL contests around the industry. At the bottom of the post I’ve embedded my research chart for the day. Here is just a snippet of an old chart that I’ll use to explain what you’re looking at.

First the colors. They’re on a graded scale from green (good) to red (bad) with yellow as the midpoint.

The first column that isn’t self-explanatory is the sixth one, the one that is titled ‘z’ to the right of salary. That is how far above or below average the player’s salary is compared to all other players in action today. ‘Proj.’ is a projection from my own Marcel-like projections. The ‘z’ next to the projection is how far above or below average the projection is compared to all other players in action today. And then ‘Value’ is the projection z-score minus the player’s salary z-score.

All shot attempt numbers discussed are at even strength, score-adjusted and weighted for recent performance unless otherwise noted.

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

Teams to Target

San Jose home to Arizona – Picking on Arizona depth lines has been the play all year against the Yotes, though without Martin Hanzal, Arizona’s top six is a bit thinner than normal. That said, the value for the Sharks today is on their second line, and that line has seen opposing third lines in recent home games. The line is Logan Couture, Joonas Donskoi and Joel Ward. Couture plays on the top power play unit while Donskoi and Ward play on the second. Brent Burns plays with Couture on the top power play unit, and he’s always an option. But the line also skates with Paul Martin at even strength, and Martin is on the second unit with Donskoi/Ward.

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Los Angeles home to Winnipeg – Winnipeg’s top line has to be avoided, and Jeff Carter’s line has drawn opposing top lines in recent home games. That leaves Anze Kopitar’s line with the better matchups, but Kopitar and Milan Lucic are not priced all that well. Tanner Pearson has been with them lately, and he provides a bit of value to offset the price of his line mates if you want to do an LA mini-stack. The problem with Pearson is that he won’t see much power play time. Vincent Lecavalier centers the third line and sees power play work, and he should also avoid Winnipeg’s top line. He’s even a bit better value than Pearson. As far as defensemen, Drew Doughty skates with Kopitar’s line and on the top power play unit, so he’s an option today, though he’s also over-priced.

Chicago on the road in Columbus – How about one more time for Panarin and Kane tonight? They’ve been the most productive line in hockey this season, though they’ll be without Artem Anisimov at center tonight. They’ll take on the Blue Jackets tonight, who are a good matchup on a team level and a team that doesn’t present specific matchups to target or avoid. The pair is a bit underpriced on FD just like they have most of the season, so they have to be considered there.

Minnesota home to Calgary – It’s best to pick on Calgary depth lines, but just avoiding the top line and Mark Giordano is the main idea. Minnesota’s top line should have that matchup, so look to Minny’s second and third lines. The second line is Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula and Jason Pominville who are all good values on DK. Nino is the only one of the three who is a good value on FD. Nino and Pom will work on the second power play unit. Centering the third line is Mikael Granlund who will work on the top power play unit. Granlund’s line mates are a no go, but he could be mini-stacked with Ryan Suter who joins him on the top power play unit.

Player Rankings

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DraftKings

Centers

1. Logan Couture – $6,100
2. Jack Eichel – $6,100
3. Frans Nielsen – $5,400
4. Tyler Johnson – $5,400
5. Anze Kopitar – $6,700
6. Erik Haula – $4,200
7. Vincent Lecavalier – $3,200

Wingers

1. Kyle Palmieiri – $5,400
2. Ondrej Palat – $5,200
3. Artemi Panarin – $6,400
4. Mikael Granlund – $4,200
5. Jason Pominville – $4,600
6. Reilly Smith – $4,700
7. Sam Reinhart – $4,500
8. Jonathan Marchessault – $3,400
9. Tanner Pearson – $3,600

Defensemen

1. Kris Russell – $4,600
2. Ryan Suter – $6,000
3. Andrei Markov – $4,800
4. Jared Spurgeon – $4,800
5. Ryan Ellis – $4,300
6. Aaron Ekblad – $4,900

Goalies

1. Jonathan Quick – $8,000 (cash only)
2. Corey Schneider – $7,400
3. Jakob Markstrom – $7,000
4. Martin Jones – $7,300 (cash only)
5. Antti Niemi – $7,300
6. Sergei Bobrovsky – $7,000 (GPP only)

FanDuel

Centers

1. Logan Couture – $6,700
2. Connor McDavid – $7,500
3. Tyler Johnson – $5,800
4. Anze Kopitar – $7,400
5. Adam Henrique – $4,000
6. Frans Nielsen – $5,300
7. Vincent Lecavalier – $3,800

Left Wingers

1. Artemi Panarin – $7,000
2. Daniel Sedin – $5,800
3. Nino Neiderreiter – $4,900
4. Joonas Donskoi – $4,700
5. Jamie Benn – $7,900
6. Ondrej Palat – $6,200

Right Wingers

1. Kyle Palmieri – $5,400
2. Patrick Kane – $8,400
3. Jonathan Marchessault – $3,400
4. Joel Ward – $3,300
5. Mikael Granlund – $4,800
6. Reilly Smith – $5,400

Defensemen

1. Ryan Suter – $4,700
2. Aaron Ekblad – $4,700
3. Andrei Markov – $3,500
4. Jared Spurgeon – $3,700
5. Ryan Ellis – $4,400
6. Drew Doughty – $6,100

Goalies

1. Corey Schneider – $7,400
2. Jonathan Quick – $8,500 (cash only)
3. Jacob Markstrom – $6,900
4. Antti Niemi – $6,800
5. Michael Hutchinson – $6,700 (GPP only)

Goalies with an asterisk next to their name are not expected to start tonight but haven’t been ruled out, so don’t count on them playing. Any players in bold have been confirmed as the starter for the day. And players with a line through their name will not be starting tonight. Make sure you always check LeftWingLock for starting goalie updates in case I am unable to update the list throughout the day.

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