Below we’ve got a discussion of the best matchups and potential stacks of the day followed by player rankings for Thursday’s 10-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

Vancouver Canucks @ Detroit Red Wings

The Vancouver Canucks are coming off a 5-3 victory against the New York Rangers, but don’t get confused, they still aren’t a good team. Detroit isn’t exactly a dominant hockey team, and Vegas has the goal total for this game set a 5.0, but there is still some value to exploit in this matchup.

Both Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Tatar are criminally underpriced on both sites. The duo play together on the second line and on the top power play unit. At their current price tags, it won’t take much for either play to exceed their value.

Joining Zetterberg and Tatar on the top power play unit is defenceman Mike Green. His price tag is a bit more favourable on FanDuel, but he’s still a good value on DraftKings. The trio are worth a look in GPPs and cash games.

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

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In goal, Petr Mrazek is the cash game goalie to play. He’s $8000 on FanDuel–which is an absolute joke–and $7900 on DraftKings. On DK, there are other goaltending options you could consider, but no team has a higher chance of winning tonight than Detroit.

Note: Jimmy Howard is confirmed to get the start for Detroit. Howard becomes the top goalie on this slate.

Winnipeg Jets @ Arizona Coyotes

Both Mark Scheifele and Patrick Laine destroyed the DFS world on Tuesday night, combining to score a whopping 97.2 points on FanDuel. That recent success will drive their ownership up, but it’s still smart to get some exposure to them in cash games. Nikolaj Ehlers joins the duo on the top line and on the top power play unit, so if a Jets stack is where you want to focus your attention, it’s worth a shot in GPPs.

Defenceman Dustin Byfuglien joins the top line on the top power play unit and has a pretty respectable price tag over on FanDuel. The same can’t be said for his price on DraftKings, but if you decide to go with one stud defenceman and one punt option, Byfuglien is the top defenceman to roll with.

Note: Nicolas Petan and Blake Wheeler make for a great mini-stack in cash games if you want to move off the top line.

Dallas Stars @ Calgary Flames

Everyone in the DFS community is going to be all over this game, and for good reason. Both teams have terrible goaltending, but both teams can also score goals. Dallas has been decimated by injuries, but Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin  remain to studs worth owning on this slate, while Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau is playing at home.

If you had to pick just one duo to roster, Gaudreau and Sean Monahan would be the way to go. Assuming trash can Kari Lehtonen gets the start, the Flames could easily score four-plus goals in this contest. If you have some extra salary to burn, Benn & Seguin are two expensive options to consider. Their high salaries will most certainly  mean lower ownership in cash games.

Regardless of which mini stack you go with, John Klingberg should be in your lineup. As long as FanDuel’s soft pricing continues, Klingberg will remain around the 5K mark, which isn’t fair, especially considering tonight’s matchup. He’s a lock in any lineup you build.

New York Islanders @ Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning have an above-average matchup against the New York Islanders, but don’t get carried away trying to fit some of their studs into your lineup. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are playing together on the top line, but for some reason, head coach John Cooper has decided to play them on separate power play units.

For that reason, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat is the mini-stack to consider in cash games. Both players are affordable on either site, and both plays should get a favourable matchup, specifically not having to play against John Tavares.

In goal, Ben Bishop is likely to get the start, so he becomes the second best goaltending option on this slate (behind Mrazek). He’s not cheap to roster, but he’s in an elite matchup against a team that has one dangerous scorer. Again, it’s all about picking a goalie that has the best chance of picking up a win, and Tampa Bay is the second largest favourite on this slate.

Note: Ben Bishop is not expected to start. Andrei Vasilevskiy is a solid replacement and much cheaper on FanDuel.

Player Rankings

Centers

1. Henrik Zetterberg–Detroit Red Wings–DK:$5200,FD:$5100
2. Tyler Johnson–Tampa Bay Lightning–DK:$5000,FD:$5500
3. Sean Monahan–Calgary Flames–DK:$5400,FD:$5900
4. Alex Galchenyuk–Montreal Canadiens–DK:$6600,FD:$6200
5. Tyler Seguin–Dallas Stars–DK:$7600,FD:$8000
6. Mark Scheifele–Winnipeg Jets–DK:$7200,FD:$7500
7. Steven Stamkos–Tampa Bay Lightning–DK:$8000,FD:$8100
8. Ryan Getzlaf–Anaheim Ducks–DK:$6800,FD:$7300
9. Frans Nielsen–Detroit Red Wings–DK:$5000,FD:$4900
10. Patrice Bergeron–Boston Bruins–DK:$6700,FD:$6300

Wingers

1. Tomas Tatar–Detroit Red Wings–DK:$5100,FD:$4900
2. Nikolaj Ehlers–Winnipeg Jets–DK:$4700,FD:$5400
3. Max Domi–Arizona Coyotes–DK:$4500,FD:$5400
4. Ondrej Palat–Tampa Bay Lightning–DK:$4600,FD:$5100
5. Johnny Gaudreau–Calgary Flames–DK:$6200,FD:$6300
6. Patrick Laine–Winnipeg Jets–DK:$6800,FD:$5700
7. Jamie Benn–Dallas Stars–DK:$6700,FD:$7000
8. Nikita Kucherov–Tampa Bay Lightning–DK:$7000,FD:$7100
9. Corey Perry–Anaheim Ducks–DK:$7300,FD:$6900
10. Jeff Skinner–Carolina Hurricanes–DK:$6400,FD:$6600

Defenceman

1. John Klingberg–Dallas Stars–DK:$5000,FD:$5100
2. Mike Green–Detroit Red Wings–DK:$5300,FD:$4900
3. Oliver Ekman-Larsson–Arizona Coyotes–DK:$5800,FD:$6200
4. Dustin Byfuglien–Winnipeg Jets–DK:$6200,FD:$6200
5. Alex Pietrangelo–St. Louis Blues–DK:$5200,FD:$5400
6. Sami Vatanen–Anaheim Ducks–DK:$4900,FD:$5000
7. Hampus Lindholm–Anaheim Ducks–DK:$4200,FD:$4500
8. Anton Stralman–Tampa Bay Lightning–DK:$4100,FD:$3800
9. Mark Giordano–Calgary Flames–DK:$5900,FD:$6200
10. Brent Burns–San Jose Sharks–DK:$8000,FD:$8200

Goalies

1. Petr Mrazek–Detroit Red Wings–DK:$7900,FD:$8000 (Howard–DK:$7900, FD:$8400
2. Ben Bishop–Tampa Bay Lightning–DK:$8200,FD:$9000(Vasilevskiy (DK:$8000, FD:$8100
3. Marc-Andre Fleury–Pittsburgh Penguins–DK:$8000,FD:$8700
4. Jake Allen–St. Louis Blues–DK:$7600,FD:$8500
5. Jonathan Bernier–Anaheim Ducks–DK:$7600,FD:$7900
6. Carey Price–Montreal Canadiens–DK:$8400,FD:$10,200

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