This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
The first Saturday NHL slate of the season is a busy one, with 13 games on the docket after 7:00 PM Eastern time. Below, you'll find an overview of the matchups and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
While there's plenty of selection here, certain matchups stand out from the bunch. The Senators lived up to their billing as a porous defensive team in their first game against Toronto, allowing five goals on 42 shots. Expect to see plenty of Rangers featured against Ottawa on the heels of New York's 6-4 win over the Jets. The Lightning will be looking to double down on a season-opening win over Florida, while the Predators and Avalanche both have excellent opportunities to improve to 2-0 at home against the Red Wings and Wild, respectively.
GOALIES
Pekka Rinne ($8,400) of the Predators will be heavily favored to pick up the win against Detroit and is priced below or identically to seven other goalies in this slate. Backup Juuse Saros ($7,600) would be a strong play as well if he gets the nod.
Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,300) has perhaps the highest ceiling among the options in net, as Florida possesses enough offense to put plenty of pucks on net but Tampa Bay is still heavily favored. Expect a similar game script to the 35-save effort Vasilevskiy posted in a 5-2 win when these teams met Thursday. He could live up to the billing as the most expensive option in this slate.
Whomever the Oilers choose between Mike Smith ($7,600) and Mikko Koskinen ($7,500) should be a popular affordable choice in net against a Kings team that averaged 2.43 goals per game last season — second-fewest in the league.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Evgeni Malkin ($8,300) was the best Penguin on the ice in Thursday's loss to Buffalo and scored the team's only goal. The talented center is primed for another strong performance against a Blue Jackets team that downgraded from arguably the league's best starting goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky to what's expected to be one of the worst in Joonas Korpisalo.
Mikko Rantanen's ($8,000) coming off a two-goal performance against Calgary, and the star Avalanche winger should stay hot against a Wild team that was soundly outplayed by Nashville in a 5-2 loss Thursday.
The Rangers-Senators game figures to be high scoring, and fantasy owners can get in on both sides of the action by supplementing some Blueshirts with Ottawa winger Brady Tkachuk ($6,000). Coming off a 22-goal rookie season, the 20-year-old winger is primed for an even better year after lighting the lamp on Opening Night.
Warren Foegele ($3,200) of the Hurricanes was a thorn in Washington's side during Carolina's seven-game series win last postseason, contributing four goals and two assists. You could do a lot worse if you're searching for a cheap lineup filler.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Rangers at Senators
Mika Zibanejad (C - $7,000), Artemi Panarin (W - $7,900), Pavel Buchnevich (W - $5,000)
Zibanejad and Panarin combined for six points in the season-opening win over Winnipeg, while Buchnevich was set up for multiple grade-A opportunities by his talented linemates. There's a major dropoff from this line to the rest of the Rangers' roster, so pay up for these guys against an Ottawa team that's likely to lead the league in goals allowed for a second straight season.
Predators vs. Red Wings
Matt Duchene (C - $6,800), Filip Forsberg (W - $7,600), Mikael Granlund (W - $5,200)
Duchene starred with three assists in his Predators debut, including helpers on a goal apiece from Forsberg and Granlund. All three members of this line have eclipsed 60 points multiple times in their careers, and they'll have a favorable matchup against a rebuilding Red Wings team that had the fourth-fewest points in the league last season (76).
Ducks vs. Sharks
Ryan Getzlaf (C - $5,900), Ondrej Kase (W - $4,100), Nick Ritchie (W - $3,700)
Anaheim's not known for its offense, but there should be some quality scoring opportunities available against a Sharks team that's playing the second leg of a back-to-back and has struggled in the defensive zone early on after allowing 3.15 goals per game last season. Getzlaf is the team's biggest offensive weapon and averages .94 points per game for his career. The 23-year-old Kase had a promising season cut short by a shoulder injury after posting 20 points in 30 games in 2018-19, and Ritchie averaged over half a point per game with 31 in 60 contests. There's some affordable against-the-grain potential here.
DEFENSEMEN
Jacob Trouba ($5,800) immediately established himself as the alpha dog on the Rangers' blue line with three points in his debut on Broadway, and his ceiling rivals that of any defenseman in this slate given the matchup.
Ryan Ellis ($4,900) is another defender who can be added onto one of the forward lines above. He did a little bit of everything in Nashville's win over the Wild on Thursday, chipping in a goal, an assist, three shots and four blocks.
Rasmus Dahlin ($5,100) is expected to be a generational talent on the blue line, and the first overall selection from the 2018 draft is on track so far. The 19-year-old recorded 44 points as a rookie, then got his sophomore season started on the right foot with a goal against Pittsburgh. Dahlin has a nice opportunity to get right back on the scoresheet against a Devils team that's playing its second game in as many nights and still has plenty of question marks despite a splashy offseason.
Mikhail Sergachev ($4,500) posted a three-assist effort in the season opener against this same Florida team, and the 21-year-old blueliner may not stay this affordable much longer if he keeps producing. Always known for his offensive aptitude, Sergachev could be at the beginning of a breakout campaign.
