Below I’ve got a discussion of the best matchups and potential stacks of the day followed by cash game rankings. At the bottom of the post I’ve embedded my research chart for the day. Here is just a snippet of the chart I’ll use to explain what you’re looking at.

First the colors. 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 fifth 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 at his position in action today. Then we have ‘OPPz’ which is how far above or below average the player’s matchup is. Quality of matchup is determined with a mix of Corsi against and save percentage of the team the player will be facing. ‘Pts/Gm’ is a projection derived from numberfire.com’s rest-of-season projections. The ‘z’ next to the projection is how far above or below average the projection is compared to all other players at the position in action today. ‘zDIFF’ is the difference between the projection z-score and the salary z-score. ‘zTOTAL’ is the player’s projection z-score combined with his matchup z-score. And the ‘zDIFF’ is zTOTAL minus the player’s salary z-score. zDIFF is the main thing we’re looking at.

Make sure to check Twitter for any injury news, and check Daily Faceoff for starting goalies.

Stack Options

The best matchup of the day belongs to the Kings against Calgary. I always prefer to have a center in a stack, and L.A.’s two best center-eligible players on DraftKings happen to play on the first line and top power play unit together. That would be Jeff Carter ($6,800, C) and Anze Kopitar ($7,300, C). Of the two, Carter grades out as a great value while Kopitar is just above average. I’m fine with using them as a mini-stack, but just using Carter as a cash game play may be the way I go.

The stack I really prefer with L.A. is their second line that also serves as the trio of forwards on their second power play unit. Wingers Justin Williams ($4,400, W) and Dustin Brown ($3,700, W) grade out as the second and fourth best values on the wing today. Of course third line wingers Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli are the first and third best values, but they don’t get power play time. Plus, second line-center Jarret Stoll ($3,000, C) grades out as the fourth best center value of the day and better than the L.A. third line center. So Williams/Stoll/Brown is my L.A. stack of the day.

The next best matchup belongs to Vancouver against Arizona. I’m always drawn to the Sedin twins, but second line center Nick Bonino ($4,500, C) has the tenth best projected total of the day at his position prior to adjusting for a good opponent, and he grades out as the second best center value of the day after adjusting for the opponent. It’s rare to see someone with a well above average projection be one of the elite values of the day. That’s why I’m more inclined to go with a mini-stack of Bonino and his left winger, Chris Higgins ($3,700, C), to have exposure to Vancouver.

When I stacked Bonino and Higgins on Saturday I threw Yannick Weber ($2,800, D) in with them because he joins them on the second power play unit. Weber happened to find the back of the net that night, but that was only his second goal of the year after scoring six last season. If you’re looking for a cheap defenseman in that lineup, you might as well go with Weber. But Weber doesn’t have to be in a Bonino/Higgins stack.

And if you’re making enough lineups, I have no issue also getting some exposure to Vancouver’s top line and top power play unit. That’s center Henrik Sedin ($3,600, C) and wingers Daniel Sedin ($5,000) and Radim Vrbata ($6,200, W). Again, if you’re just making one or two lineups, go with Bonino/Higgins. But if you’re making 4-5+, throw the Sedins in one of them.

There are five centers today who have an above average pre-schedule adjusted projection and a well above average value grade after adjusting for opponent. AKA there are five centers today who have exactly what we’re looking for. Three of them have already been discussed (Carter, Bonino, Sedin). The two we haven’t yet discussed happen to play on the same team and, even better, the same line. Martin Hanzal ($4,200, C) centers Arizona’s second line, and Sam Gagner ($3,300, C) plays on the right wing. They also play together on the second power play unit. If you’d like to add a defenseman to that stack (which I’m planning on doing), go with David Schlemko ($2,700, D).

If you find yourself with money to burn on a stack, the Sharks are how you do it. Patrick Marleau ($5,200, W) has the fifth best pre-schedule adjusted projection among wingers and grades out as a great value despite having a good but not great matchup. He plays on the second line and top power play unit with Logan Couture ($8,200, C) who is an above average value despite his high price tag. Brent Burns ($7,000, D) always grades out as a good value in my system because numberfire loves him. But he plays on that top power play unit and makes sense to stack with Marleau/Couture.

Price-Adjusted Cash Game Rankings

Center

Winger

Defense

Goalie

Goalies with an asterisk next to their name are second on their team’s depth chart, 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 Daily Faceoff for starting goalie updates in case I am unable to update the list throughout the day.