UPDATE: Join DraftKings $7,500 Sniper Contest (7PM Start)

On Saturday there are a plethora of games including three afternoon games. DraftKings offers contests for just about everything, so on Saturday they have a all day contests, contests for just the three early games and contests for the late games. In today’s article we will take a look at who the best plays are for the early and late leagues.

If you are new to DraftKings, they will give you a 100% bonus up to $600 on your first deposit.

The early contest has a $2 entry fee (free for first time users) with a $2,000 prize pool. The top 225 finishing positions are paid out with first place taking home $250. The first game gets underway at 1:00 PM ET, so be sure to set your lineups bright and early! Click HERE to Join.

The second contest consists of the eight games that start at 7 PM ET. It is also a $2 entry (free for first time users), with a $7,500 prize pool. The top 850 finishing positions will be paid out with first place winning $600. Click HERE to Join.

Both contests use the following rules:

DraftKings lineups are made up of eight skaters and one goalie. Each player is allotted a salary based off of performance and you have $50,000 to build the best team possible that consists of 2C, 3W, 2D, 1UTIL and 1G.

Players will accumulate points as follows:

• Goal = +3 pts
• Assist = +2 pts
• Shot on goal = +0.5 pts
• Blocked Shot = +0.5 pts
• Short Handed Point = +1 pts
• Shootout Goal = +0.2 pts
• Hat Trick Bonus = +1.5 pts

Goalies will accumulate points as follows:

• Win = +3 pts
• Save = +0.2 pts
• Goal Against = -1 pts
• Shutout Bonus = +2 pts

(Goalies WILL also receive skater points, if they score a goal or record an assist)

To help you build the ideal one-day lineup here are my top centres, wingers, defensemen, goalies and value picks for the January 31st games.

$2K Sniper (Early Only)

CENTRES

John Tavares ($9,200) – @ DET

With just three games to choose from, you are able to take on the big contracts and you basically have to take one of Tavares or Henrik Zetterberg in this matchup. Tavares is riding a four-game goal scoring streak and a five-game point streak, four goals and five assists (9 points) over that span. Also during that streak, he has 29 shots, which is nearly 2.5 fantasy points per game on shots alone.

Henrik Zetterberg ($8,400) – vs. NYI

As I mentioned, you need either Zetterberg and/or Tavares on Saturday afternoon. Zetty is equally as hot as J.T and comes $800 cheaper. He has five goals and four assists (9 points) in his last five games and takes on an Islanders two who have given up an average of 3.2 goals against in their last five.

Mika Zibanejad ($4,500) – vs. ARI

The Senators have the best matchup of any of the six teams playing tomorrow afternoon and Zibanejad has been the best Ottawa forward recently. He has three goals and one assist in his last five games and has a good chance of scoring his 13th of the season with the Coyotes and their 29th ranked team GAA.

WINGERS

Alex Ovechkin ($9,500) – @ MTL

Ovechkin is the most expensive skater available, but he is also the hottest skater in the NHL right now. He has 13 goals and four assists (17 points) in his last 14 games. Carey Price, who gets the start, has been very good as of late too, but Montreal is a team Ovi has had some success against in his career—he has 20 goals and 16 assists (36 points) in 34 games vs. the Habs.

Tomas Tatar ($5,300) – vs. NYI

Tatar has been held off of the scoresheet in his last three games, but January has been one of his best months and tomorrow’s game has the makings of a high-scoring affair. If that is the case, you better believe the guy who leads the Red Wings in goals with 21, will have a hand in it.

Josh Bailey ($4,400) – @ DET

After missing one game in early January, Bailey has returned to scored two goals and seven assists (9 points) in his last eight games. Playing with John Tavares will create a ton of opportunities for Bailey, who is extremely inexpensive despite his recent stretch of strong production.

DEFENSEMEN

Keith Yandle ($5,600) – @ OTT

Yandle is having one of the best years of his career, points wise, but he is struggling mightily in the plus/minus department. Thankfully that doesn’t matter on DraftKings, so Yandle makes a strong D option if you’re willing to spend high-end cash. Yandle has five assists in his last six games, three on the power-play.

Mike Green ($5,600) – @ MTL

Same price tag as Yandle, but equally as hot right now. Green has picked up one goal and five assists in his last five games and has tremendous success in his career vs. the Canadiens—in 24 games, Green has three goals and 16 assists.

Andrei Markov ($5,200) – vs. WSH

At 36-years-old, Markov is on-pace for his best year since 2008-09 and that can be attributed to his eight assists in his last seven games. Expect the veteran blue liner to keep it going and take advantage while his salary is still at a modest level.

GOALIES

Carey Price ($9,600) – vs. WSH

Price is the safest goalie start on Saturday afternoon because he enters play having won four in a row while allowing just five goals on 119 shots (.958 SV%.) Taking Price may force you to sacrifice on a big name upfront, but you’re taking a bigger risk with any other early day starter.

Robin Lehner ($7,000) – vs. ARI

Lehner hasn’t won since December 13th, so this is definitely a risky play. However, he is as cheap as you will find with just three games and the Senators give up the fifth most shots and are going against the Coyotes, who score the fifth fewest goals. That should lead to solid totals in the save department and hopefully a W at the end of the afternoon.

$7.5K Sniper (7 PM ET Start)

CENTRES

Steve Stamkos ($7,100) – vs. CBJ

Despite ranking fourth in the NHL in goals (27), Stamkos is only the fifth most expensive centre tonight. He has scored six goals with one assist in his last eight games and takes on a Blue Jackets team who is still without Sergei Bobrovsky.

Sean Monahan ($5,200) – vs. EDM

Monahan has collected four goals and two assists (6 points) in his last six games. Tonight he faces an Oilers team he has enjoyed success against in his young career—Monahan has three goals and three assists in seven career games vs. Edmonton.

Aleksander Barkov ($4,800) – @ NJD

Since returning to the lineup after a brief two game absence, Barkov has two goals and five assists (7 points) in six games. He will look to keep it going tonight in Jersey, where the Devils will go with Keith Kinkaid in goal in the second game of a back-to-back set.

WINGERS

Patrick Kane ($7,600) – @ SJ

Jamie Benn is on-fire, but Kane is also red-hot and comes $1,200 cheaper. Kane has 16 points (7G / 9A) in 13 games this month and has picked up five goals and three assist in his last three games. San Jose are just an average defensive team, so Kane should be able to extend his point streak to four-games.

Jakub Voracek ($6,200) – vs. TOR

Despite leading the league in points, Voracek comes with a relatively cheap price tag. He comes in riding a five-game point streak, with six assists over that stretch. Tonight he faces a Maple Leafs team who are in a full-blown tailspin. In addition, Voracek has been great at home, registering 10 goals and 19 assists (29 points) in 24 games.

Jonathan Huberdeau ($4,500) – @ NJD

Huberdeau has had enjoyed success since the calendar flipped to 2015. He has nine points (5G / 4A) in his last nine games and pairing him with Barkov against Kinkaid and the Devils will leave you with and average of $5,814 for your remaining seven players.

DEFENSEMEN

Michael Del Zotto ($4,800) – vs. TOR

Del Zotto’s price tag might be a little high for you, but he has really settled in recently. He has two goals and four assists in his last five games and is seeing consistent power-play usage on the Flyers second unit. Versus a struggling Maple Leafs team, he could find twine again tonight.

Aaron Ekblad ($4,700) – @ NJD

Ekblad is on a historical pace for an 18-year-old and the juicy matchup in New Jersey makes him a strong D option tonight. He was cold heading into the All Star break, but since returning he has one goal, two assists and seven shots on goal in two games.

Anton Stralman ($3,400) – vs. CBJ

Stralman doesn’t shoot a whole lot, but he is a consistent producer and sees a ton of PP time on the Lightning’s top-unit. He has a great matchup against a Blue Jackets team starting Curtis McElhiney and comes with at an extremely reasonable price.

Tobias Enstrom ($2,900) vs. DAL

Enstrom doesn’t even average a shot per game, and has no points in his last six games, but he will move onto the top-pair with Dustin Byfuglien so he makes for a decent cheap gamble in the hope that he will feed Big Buff.

GOALIES

MY LINEUP