DFS Lines To Target: 10/30/19
We’ve got a relatively busy Wednesday night with six games on the slate. I’ve highlighted my top high-priced, mid-range, and value stacks below. Good luck!
High-Priced
Vancouver 2 – @J.T. Miller ($6,900), @Elias Pettersson ($6,800), @Brock Boeser ($6,600)
Fresh off combining for six points in Monday’s 7-2 rout of the Panthers, Vancouver 2 looks to be in another great spot on Wednesday. Vancouver’s so-called second line has been outstanding at 5v5 early in the season, with a 64.37 CF% and a 59.26 SCF% to show for it. They draw an excellent road matchup tonight in Los Angeles, where the majority of their minutes should come against the @Anze Kopitar line. Kopitar has been productive offensively so far this season with 11 points in 12 contests, but it’s come at the expense of his defensive play. Once revered for his two-way capabilities, the Kings are now surrendering over 30 scoring chances per 60 with Kopitar on the ice. Vancouver 2’s strong possession play should afford them plenty of scoring chances in this matchup.
Adding to their upside tonight is the power-play correlation. All three of Miller, Pettersson, and Boeser are heavily featured on the team’s top power-play unit. The Kings currently own the sixth-worst PK% in the NHL at 73.8%, setting the stage for another big night for the Pettersson line.
Mid-Range
New Jersey 1 – @Taylor Hall ($6,500), @Jack Hughes ($4,700), @Kyle Palmieri ($5,100)
Hughes finally broke through with a three-point performance in the Devils’ last outing, and he looks poised to keep it going tonight. While facing the Lightning is never fun, New Jersey gets the benefit of facing them on the tail-end of a back-to-back. Toss in a little fatigue and @Curtis McElhinney in goal, and suddenly the Lightning aren’t so intimidating. New Jersey’s top line should see a mix of Tampa’s top-six tonight, with the @Travis Zajac line assuming more minutes against the @Brayden Point line. That leaves New Jersey 1 to face off with Tampa Bay’s second line of @Steven Stamkos, @Tyler Johnson, and @Alex Killorn for most of the night.
While Stamkos and Johnson create offense at an impressive clip, they tend to struggle in their own end. The two of them surrendered over 37 scoring and 14 high-danger chances per 60 at 5v5 last season. New Jersey 1’s 5v5 production tonight should be enough for them to return value, so any power-play production they get will be a bonus, and there’s certainly potential there, too. All three members of New Jersey 1 skate on the top power-play unit, and the penalty-kill has been the Achilles heel of the Lightning so far this season. Tampa ranks third-last in the NHL with a 70.0 PK%. The price is right for New Jersey 1 tonight.
Value
St. Louis 1 – @Jaden Schwartz ($4,300), @Brayden Schenn ($6,300), @Sammy Blais ($3,700)
While the @Vladimir Tarasenko injury is a huge blow to the defending cup champs, it does add a lot of short-term value to the St. Louis 1 stack. Schenn and Schwartz have proven to be reliable, productive players with or without Tarasenko. They can hold their own at 5v5 with the best of them and are worth targeting in cushier matchups, which is what they’ll see tonight. @Ryan O’Reilly, one of the best two-way players in the game, continues to take on the opponent’s top line on home ice. That usually leaves the Schenn line to take on the opposing second line, which would set them up for a clash with the @Joel Eriksson Ek line tonight.
Eriksson Ek tends to get exposed against steeper competition, evident by the 31 scoring chances per 60 he and line-mate @Luke Kunin are surrendering at 5v5. Add in the fact that Minnesota played last night in Dallas, and it’s hard to imagine St. Louis 1 not returning value tonight. Blais brings some additional value to the full stack, but feel free to omit him in favour of a Schenn-Schwartz mini-stack if you can afford to.