Below I’ve got a discussion of the best matchups and potential stacks of the day followed by player rankings for Tuesday’s eight-game 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 I’ll use to explain what you’re looking at.

First the colors. Purple/blue is amazeballs, green is great, yellow is good, orange is bad, red is awful and deep red is no effing way.

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

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Washington on the road in Columbus

It’s no secret that Columbus is a great matchup for skaters. The only real question with Caps is whether you like the first or second line more. Normally we’d turn to individual line matchups to see which line is the better play, but there’s no clear Columbus line to target. Instead, we’re going to have to go off value, and Alexander Ovechkin is worth paying for in this matchup, so the top line it is.

Ovi’s center Nicklas Backstrom is roughly the same price as second line center Evgeny Kuznetsov on both sites, but Backstrom gets to skate with Ovi at even strength and on the power play while Kuz doesn’t. Both Backstrom and T.J. Oshie are options for a mini-stack with Ovechkin on FD, and positional needs should probably dictate who you pair with Ovi. Matt Niskanen is a better value on DK than Backstrom or Oshie, so he may be the mini-stack candidate with Ovi there. All four guys make for a tournament stack option, but they’ll probably be fairly highly owned.

Tampa Bay home to Edmonton

Edmonton is playing for the second night in a row on the road, and they’re a long way from home down in Florida. The Oil also lost Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to injury last night, so they’re likely to pair their best possession players, Leon Draisaitl, Taylor Hall and Teddy Purcell, on their top line tonight. That line should be avoided, but Tampa will throw their second or third line out against Edmonton’s top line tonight. It will probably be the third line, but what is important is that it won’t be their top line.

Tampa frequently gets Steven Stamkos and his line mates plenty of ice against depth lines in home games, and Edmonton has some of the worst depth lines in the league. Stamkos along with Vladislav Namestikov and Ondrej Palat make up Tampa’s top line. Namestnikov joins Stamkos on the power play, so that’s the best option for a mini-stack. The whole line is an option in tournaments. They’re all better values on DK, where you should be more inclined to roster Bolts today. Anton Stralman joins them on the power play, but he’s not a great value, so he’s more of a tournament play than cash.

Los Angeles home to Dallas

As LA’s lines are currently constructed, their top line is the only one with multiple reliable offensive options on it. So Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli and Milan Lucic are the Kings to consider today. The Kings have been getting them ice time against depth lines in home games, so they should get away from Benn/Seguin some and see some ice against Dallas’ exploitable depth lines. The whole line stays together on the power play where they’re joined by both Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin on the blue line, but it’s Muzzin that is the better value.

Be aware that Toffoli continues to be a great value on FD, but Kopitar is not a good value there. A Toffoli/Muzzin mini-stack probably makes the most sense on FD, while all Kings mentioned are more in play on DK, though Toffoli is not as good of a value there.

New York home to Vancouver

Avoiding the Sedins was always the idea when facing the Canucks, but with Henrik Sedin out with an injury, it’s almost impossible to decide how to pick on Vancouver. They have no scary possession lines and no scary defensemen. Normally the Rangers would have three usable lines to pick from, but with Derick Brassard out with an illness, Kevin Hayes will move up and center Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash, and that’s the line to go with. Hayes likely won’t join his wingers on the power play, but he’s cheap enough for it not to matter. Zucc is the better value on FD and makes sense as a mini-stack partner there with Hayes, while Nash makes more sense for a mini on DK. Dan Boyle should play with Zucc and Nash on the top power play unit, while Ryan McDonagh is the preferable D-man on the second unit with Hayes.

New Jersey home to Calgary

The Devils are not a popular DFS option among readers, and understandably so given their lack of offense. But if Mike Cammalleri returns to the lineup tonight, he makes New Jersey a viable option in a good matchup. He could be reunited with Adam Henrique and Lee Stempniak on the top line, which would be a usable trio.

When facing Calgary you want to avoid their top D pair of Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie. With this being a home game for the Devils, they have the opportunity to get their top line away from that pair. When Cammalleri was last healthy, the Devils did take the opportunity to get their top line away from the opposition’s top units. So if Cammelleri draws in tonight, consider Devils. Henrique and Stempniak provide salary relief on a day when it will be needed. And Cammallerri himself is a pretty nice value on DK, thought he’s too expensive on FD.

Player Rankings

DraftKings

Center

1. Steven Stamkos – $7,500 – Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Adam Henrique – $4,800 – New Jersey Devils
3. Nicklas Backstrom – $6,500 – Washington Capitals
4. Anze Kopitar – $6,000 – Los Angeles Kings
5. Vladislav Namestnikov – $3,500 – Tampa Bay Lightning

Winger

1. Alexander Ovechkin – $8,700 – Washington Capitals
2. Mike Cammalleri – $5,200 – New Jersey Devils
3. Rick Nash – $6,900 – New York Rangers
4. Lee Stempniak – $4,400 – New Jersey Devils
5. Ondrej Palat – $4,000 – Tampa Bay Lightning
6. Kevin Hayes – $3,500 – New York Rangers
7. Mats Zuccarello – $5,700 – New York Rangers
8. T.J. Oshie – $5,800 – Washington Capitals
9. Tyler Toffoli – $6,000 – Los Angeles Kings

Defensemen

1. Shayne Gostisbehere – $4,800 – Philadelphia Flyers
2. Jake Muzzin – $4,800 – Los Angeles Kings
3. Matt Niskanen – $4,700 – Washington Capitals
4. Dan Boyle – $4,000 – New York Rangers
5. Ryan McDonagh – $4,900 – New York Rangers
6. Anton Stralman – $5,000 – Tampa Bay Lightning

Fanduel

Center

1. Nicklas Backstrom – $6,600 – Washington Capitals
2. Adam Henrique – $4,000 – New Jersey Devils
3. Evgeny Kuznetsov – $6,700 – Washington Capitals
4. Kevin Hayes – $3,800 – New York Rangers
5. Vladislav Namestnikov – $4,900 – Tampa Bay Lightning

Left Wing

1. Alex Ovechkin – $9,200 – Washington Capitals
2. Artemi Panarin – $5,800 – Chicago Blackhawks
3. Mike Cammalleri – $7,700 – New Jersey Devils
4. Ondrej Palat – $5,500 – Tampa Bay Lightning
5. Alex Galchenyuk – $4,100 – Montreal Canadiens

Right Wing

1. Mats Zuccarello – $5,500 – New York Rangers
2. Tyler Toffoli – $6,000 – Los Angeles Kings
3. T.J. Oshie – $5,700 – Washington Capitals
4. Lee Stempniak – $4,000 – New Jersey Devils
5. Patrick Kane – $9,000 – Chicago Blackhawks
6. Justin Williams – $5,100 – Washington Capitals
7. Steven Stamkos – $8,900 – Tampa Bay Lightning

Defensemen

1. Shayne Gostisbehere – $4,000 – Philadelphia Flyers
2. Dan Boyle – $4,300 – New York Rangers
3. Matt Niskanen – $4,400 – Washington Capitals
4. Anton Stralman – $4,500 – Tampa Bay Lightning
5. Brent Seabrook – $5,200 – Chicago Blackhawks
6. Jake Muzzin – $4,900 – Los Angeles Kings
7. Keith Yandle – $5,200 – New York Rangers

Goalies

DraftKings

1. Steve Mason – $7,200 – Philadelphia Flyers
2. Henrik Lundqvist – $7,900 – New York Rangers
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy – $7,700 – Tampa Bay Lightning
4. James Reimer – $6,600 – Toronto Maple Leafs (GPP only)

Fanduel

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy – $7,400 – Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Steve Mason – $7,700 – Philadelphia Flyers
3. Henrik Lundqvist – $7,900 – New York Rangers
4. James Reimer – $7,300 – Toronto Maple Leafs (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.

Research Chart

You can download the research chart from this Google Sheet page here.

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