This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
This Saturday afternoon features a couple games -- Philadelphia-Columbus and Vancouver-Minnesota -- that aren't on the FanDuel slate, which utilizes the 10 evening contests. Of course, that still leaves us with plenty of choices for our lineups, so let's jump right in.
GOALIE
Brian Elliott, CGY at STL ($8,600): Elliott will be making his second return to St. Louis on Saturday; he allowed just one goal en route to a victory over the Blues when he first faced his old mates back on Oct. 25. That was part of an otherwise feeble start to his 2016-17, but Elliott has returned to his old ways lately, as he's long since retaken Calgary's starting role. Even though his 11-game winning streak came to an end in Washington on Tuesday, the veteran netminder still has a 1.89 GAA and .937 save mark over his last 12 outings. The Blues have been rolling in their own right, but Elliott should be motivated to take them down -- and the price is appealing, too.
CENTER
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WAS vs. ARI ($5,700): This seems like a very friendly price for Kuznetsov at home against Arizona's defense, which ranks around the bottom of the league in most metrics. The young Russian has been a bit cold lately, netting just three points in his last 10 games, but that'll just serve to drive both his cost and ownership down; the opportunity's still there, and this matchup is gold.
Auston Matthews, TOR at BUF ($6,900): Hey, you've got to spend up somewhere, and Matthews is about as cheap as you'll ever find one of the stars of the league. He leads the league's best power play, which is facing the NHL's 28th-ranked penalty kill in the Sabres. Matthews has also heated up lately after slumping for a bit, as he's hit the scoresheet in four straight games. No reason he shouldn't make it five.
WING
William Nylander, TOR at BUF ($6,400): Speaking of hot Leafs, Nylander has hit the scoresheet in 10 straight games, and there's no cause to believe the Sabres will slow him down. Five of his 12 points in that span have come on the man advantage, and we've already noted how poor Buffalo's penalty killing is.
Ryan O'Reilly, BUF vs. TOR ($5,800): Might as well play both sides of this matchup; Frederik Andersen is a solid goalie, but he can run hot and cold, and he's not immortal when he's hot. O'Reilly hasn't put up a multi-point effort since the first game of March, but he sees enormous ice time and power-play time alike. This could be a wide-open contest that sees offense on both sides.
Josh Bailey, NYI vs. BOS ($4,600): If you don't want to pay up for John Tavares, you can get a piece of him by using Bailey, who's on the top line with him. With struggling Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask sitting out due to injury Saturday, backup Anton Khudobin and his .897 save percentage will be starting behind a Boston defense that's been something less than totally responsible. We haven't seen much production out of Bailey lately, but he's well positioned to end his six-game point drought in this one.
DEFENSE
Oscar Klefbom, EDM vs. COL ($4.600): After throwing down one of his most useless performances of the year in Colorado on Thursday, expect Klefbom to step up his game in the home rematch. We all know how bad the Avs are both in general and on defense, so it seems hard to believe that they'll hold the Oilers' top blueliner down twice in a row. He's also generally been a pretty prolific shot blocker, so the fantasy floor is generally pretty high here.
Kevin Shattenkirk, WAS vs. ARI ($5,200): Shattenkirk's first 10 games in Washington have been just so-so, as he hasn't yet scored a goal, but he does have six assists. He's also increased his shot rate, which is quite promising, and we're still talking about a blueliner who's coming up on 50 points and gets to share the power play with Alex Ovechkin. You should expect the Caps to produce plenty of offense in this terrific matchup against Arizona, and Shattenkirk should get a piece of that action.
