With the first games of the season in the books, things continue Wednesday with four more games. The action starts with Toronto hosting Montreal, beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET, followed slowly by Boston in Washington at 7:30. There are also two 10 p.m. starts with Calgary in Edmonton and LA in Vegas.
SLATE PREVIEW
Edmonton (-230) is heavily favored to beat Calgary (+188) on FanDuel's moneyline tonight. Vegas (-196), Washington (-192) and Toronto (-170) are also billed as clear favorites against LA (+162), Boston (+158) and Montreal (+140), respectively.
GOALIES
Logan Thompson, WAS vs. BOS ($7,900): Thompson is developing an impressive resume with his 87-38-17 record, 2.62 GAA and .912 save percentage across 146 career regular-season games. The 2024-25 regular season was more of the same for him – he ended the campaign with a 31-6-6 record, 2.49 GAA and .910 save percentage in 43 appearances with Washington. Thompson will be looking to continue that success this year, and Boston is a decent adversary to start with after the Bruins floundered offensively last year, finishing in a tie for 27th in terms of goals per game at 2.71.
Anthony Stolarz, TOR vs. MON ($7,600): The Canadiens should do well offensively this year, but one goaltender they might have trouble with is Stolarz. He faced Montreal twice in 2024-25, stopping 41 of 42 shots, and has a 2.32 GAA and a .918 save percentage across six career outings against the Canadiens. Of course, Montreal is far from the only team that struggled against Stolarz last campaign. He finished the regular season with a 21-8-3 record, 2.14 GAA and .926 save percentage in 34 outings. He might have been in the Vezina Trophy conversation last year had he stayed healthy, and the 31-year-old should do well again in 2025-26.
VALUE PLAYS
Andrei Kuzmenko, LAK at VGL ($4,500): Kuzmenko has changed teams frequently over the past few years, but he seems to have found a home that works in Los Angeles. After being acquired by the Kings during the 2024-25 campaign, he had five goals and 17 points across 22 regular-season outings as well as three goals and six points in six playoff appearances. While Kuzmenko didn't feature on the scoresheet during Wednesday's 4-1 loss to Colorado, he's still well-positioned to expand upon the success he had last year with the Kings.
Matias Maccelli, TOR vs. MON ($4,100): The biggest change for Toronto going into this season is the absence of Mitch Marner, who left for Vegas in a sign-and-trade over the summer, but that loss is Maccelli's opportunity. The 24-year-old Maccelli is projected to open the campaign on the top line alongside Matthew Knies ($6,400) and Auston Matthews ($7,700). Maccelli had just eight goals and 18 points in 55 outings with Utah last season – hence his low cost – but he managed 57 points across 82 appearances with Arizona in 2023-24 and might enjoy a bounce-back campaign if he sees regular minutes with Matthews.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Oilers vs. Flames
Connor McDavid (C - $7,900), Leon Draisaitl (W - $8,000), Trent Frederic (W - $3,900)
It's certainly not a cheap line, but McDavid and Draisaitl are an amazing duo. Each of them has reached 100 points in four straight regular seasons, and Draisaitl also has scored at least 40 goals in every campaign over that span. This will also be Draisaitl's first game under his monster eight-year, $112 million contract, and McDavid's first tilt after inking his team-friendly two-year, $25 million extension, so this is a bit of a special night for both of them beyond it being the season opener.
Frederic had just 15 points, including eight goals, in 58 regular-season appearances between Boston and Edmonton last year, so you shouldn't expect too much from him, but he's cheap enough to warrant taking a chance on because of his elite linemates.
Golden Knights vs. Kings
Jack Eichel (C - $7,600), Mitch Marner (W - $7,300), Ivan Barbashev (W - $4,900)
This will be Marner's opportunity to make an impression on the Golden Knights after the aforementioned sign-and-trade. The 28-year-old is an elite playmaker who collected 27 goals and 102 points in 81 regular-season outings with Toronto last season. Marner should make Eichel better, which is especially impressive given how good Eichel already is. The 28-year-old center recorded 28 goals and 94 points across 77 regular-season appearances with Vegas in 2024-25.
Barbashev doesn't bring as much to the table offensively as his linemates, but he should hold his own. He recorded 23 goals and 51 points in 70 regular-season outings with the Golden Knights last year.
DEFENSEMEN
Evan Bouchard, EDM vs. CAL ($6,600): Bouchard has established himself as an elite offensive defenseman on a fantastic offensive team. He had 14 goals and 67 points, including 26 points with the man advantage, across 82 regular-season appearances last year. As impressive as those numbers are, it was still a step down from his 82-point showing in the 2023-24 regular season, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him climb back to the 80-point milestone this year. He's still just 25 years old, after all, and he has plenty of great options to feed the puck to.
Shea Theodore, VGK vs. LAK ($6,100): The only knock on Theodore is that he misses significant time due to injury, because he's extremely productive when healthy. Theodore has averaged 10 goals and 68 points per 82 games across the past three regular seasons, including his seven goals and 57 points in 67 regular-season outings in 2024-25. He might end up missing time due to injury again, but he's a great daily league pick when available.
Drew Doughty, LAK at VGK ($5,800): Doughty didn't make his 2024-25 season debut until Jan. 29 due to injury, but he was solid after returning, recording four goals and 17 points in 30 outings for the remainder of the regular season. Now that the 35-year-old is entering a campaign healthy, he has a shot of hitting the 50-point mark for the third time in four years.
