Love hockey? Saturday is the day for you with all 32 NHL teams in action and 28 included in the DFS slate. That means 14 games are on the docket, with the first ones at 7 p.m. EDT. With so many names to consider, I've provided some lineup recommendations to help you out.
GOALIES
Anthony Stolarz, TOR at DET ($7,600): Teams have either played one or two games, so prior seasons hold more weight. That being said - and I say this as a fan - the Wings looked pretty iffy in the opener. This from a club that didn't finish top-20 in either goals or shots during 2024-25. Stolarz is a classic really-good-when-healthy goalie with a .926 save percentage the last three years. So roster him while he's available.
Frederik Andersen, CAR vs. PHI ($7,500): We know Rod Brind'Amour's side will finish top-five in shots allowed and penalty-kill percentage. That's just the way it goes. Andersen has battled injury issues and more erratic than you want for a Cup contender, but usually isn't terribly busy and that keeps his GAA at a reasonable level. The Flyers have a chance to take a step forward, yet were 24th in goals and 26th in shots last year.
Karel Vejmelka, UTA at NAS ($7,000): The Predators should be better offensively than last season, which shouldn't be difficult as they were awful ending up 31st in goals. It could improve by double-digits in that ranking and still not crack the top-20. Vejmelka improved last year by posting a .904 save percentage and 2.58 GAA. At this salary, he's definitely worth taking a shot.
VALUE PLAYS
Matthew Knies, TOR at DET ($6,400): The excitement surrounding Knies proved reasonable last year as he tallied 29 goals. With Mitch Marner in Vegas, odds are he'll maintain a spot on the Leafs' lead power play. The Red Wings were comfortably worst at killing penalties last season. So even if they improve, they'll still probably be in the bottom-10.
Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN vs. CLM ($5,700): Injuries limited Eriksson Ek to 46 games, yet registered at least 60 points - including 20-plus PPPs - during the two previous campaigns. He kicked things off Thursday with a PPG. The Blue Jackets feel good about young goalie Jet Greaves, but Elvis Merzlikins is getting the start on Saturday. And he hasn't finished a season with a save percentage better than .900 since 2021-22.
Mason McTavish, ANA at SJS ($5,500): Like a poor man's Nick Suzuki, McTavish has gotten better season by season. Last year, he scored 22 goals on 180 shots while adding 30 assists. Yaroslav Askarov should be better, though the Sharks finished 32nd in GAA and 31st in shots against. As with the Red Wings' penalty kill, even notable improvement there for San Jose would still yield below-average results.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Rangers at Penguins
J.T. Miller (C - $6,300), Mika Zibanejad (W - $6,000), Will Cuylle (W - $5,000)
When it comes to the Pens, the conversations are largely handwringing about how bad they'll be with speculation as to where Sidney Crosby might be dealt and jokes about the NHL rigging the Draft Lottery so they can take Gavin McKenna. Pittsburgh was woeful on defense last year by finishing bottom-four in GAA and shots allowed. And yet, Tristan Jarry is back as the No. 1 netminder after a .903 save percentage the previous three seasons. I would have gone with the Rangers' second unit, but Vincent Trocheck is banged up.
Back full-time with the Rangers, Miller will be hoping to get back to his days of 30 goals and 60 assists after he "only" produced 70 points. He didn't do much against Pittsburgh during the opener, yet provided a goal and assist on Thursday. There are also concerns about Zibanejad after he fell to 62 points and a woeful minus-22. He's consistently topped 70 and has already tallied eight shots. Cuylle is stepping into the Chris Kreider role and notched 20 goals last season while already averaging almost three minutes more.
Hurricanes vs. Flyers
Logan Stankoven (C - $5,000), Andrei Svechnikov (W - $5,800), Jackson Blake (W - $4,100)
The Flyers have a new coach with a younger roster and more defensive questions. And the problems last year weren't necessarily on the back end as they only allowed 27.0 shots paired with a subpar 3.45 GAA. Samuel Ersson is back with a career .888 save percentage, so Carolina's second line will look to take advantage of the lack of improvement in net.
The hope is that Stankoven's first full campaign with the Hurricanes will lead to better results. He's still only 22 and accumulated nine points in 19 games after being dealt last season. Svechnikov put four shots on net on Thursday while logging 4:28 on the power play after 18 points during that situation last year and the Flyers below-average on the penalty kill. Blake managed 17 goals and 17 assists as a rookie and is up for a bigger role. He's also posted an assist alongside five shots.
DEFENSEMEN
Morgan Rielly, TOR at DET ($5,500): Rielly potted a goal on five shots with an assist during Wednesday's win to suggest a bounceback campaign. Even last year, he had 41 points - including 14 on the power play. And as previously noted, the Red Wings finished 2024-25 with the league's worst penalty kill.
Jared Spurgeon, MIN vs. CLM ($5,000): WThere's plenty of battles for defensive ice time in Minnesota with Brock Faber and Zeev Buium around, yet Spurgeon doesn't have to worry about his role. He skated 20:22 on Thursday, including 1:53 on the man-advantage. That's in line with last year when he recorded 32 points with over 100 shots and blocked shots. Elvis Merzlikins will be in net for Columbus with a 3.41 ERA the last four seasons.
Mason Lohrei, BOS vs. BUF ($4,600): Pressed into a larger-than-expected role last year, Lohrei responded with 33 points. He was also minus-43, but now gets to skate with Charlie McAvoy instead of trying to replace the star. The Sabres struggled to a 3.50 GAA and haven't done anything to improve their goaltending situation.
