The NHL is taking Thanksgiving off, and there was only one game Tuesday. However, Wednesday (and Friday, but that's a story for the near future) are making up for that. A whopping 15 games are taking place Wednesday, all starting at 7 p.m. ET or later. You get 30 teams worth of players from whom to select your NHL DFS lineups. With that many choices, having some suggestions would surely help. That's why I am here.
SLATE PREVIEW
All but two teams are playing Wednesday, and two teams played Tuesday, so you might assume that the two teams getting Wednesday off are the Stars and Oilers. Nope! Edmonton is off, but Dallas somehow is stuck playing on the second night of a back-to-back. They have to visit Seattle at that! For whatever reason, the Kings are getting Tuesday through Thursday off. Enjoy it, guys.
GOALIES
Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA vs. PHI ($8,400): Bobrovsky is the kind of guy who will post a .906 save percentage and pick up five shutouts in 54 appearances. That's what he did last season, by the way. In his last nine starts he's allowed at least four goals three times and posted two shutouts. The Flyers have impressed defensively this year, but the offense has significantly lagged behind. They are in the bottom seven in goals and shots on net per game.
Cam Talbot, DET vs. NAS ($8,200): The Red Wings added John Gibson, but Talbot remains the team's best goalie. His overall numbers are hindered by him being in net when the Islanders hosted the Wings when the Wings were closing out a back-to-back, but he still has a 2.78 GAA. Ultimately, though, this choice is simple. Detroit is hosting the worst team in the NHL. There is, to my mind, no argument for any team being worse than the Predators.
Joey Daccord, SEA vs. DAL ($7,600): Maybe Daccord needed that respite to heal up from injury. In three starts since returning he has an 1.63 GAA and .940 save percentage. The Stars are the only team on the second leg of a back-to-back, and while they are in the top 10 in goals per game, they are in the bottom 10 in shots on goal per contest.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Evgeni Malkin, PIT vs. BUF ($6,200): The Malkin "I'm old and I'm burnt out" drop-off that has become the norm after a hot start has not arrived yet. Maybe it won't arrive at all, given that he has a point in four of his last five games. That gives him 24 points through 21 contests, and that's with a lower shooting percentage than in either of the prior two seasons. The Sabres have a 3.41 GAA, but they have also allowed a league-high 31.5 shots on net per contest.
Patrick Kane, DET vs. NAS ($5,600): Since returning from injury, Kane has seven points in nine games. That's with a 3.1 shooting percentage in that time, dropping his percentage on the season to 7.3. Kane is no stranger to single-digit shooting percentages, but he's only finished below 9.1 once. I mentioned the Predators are the worst team in the NHL. By that, I mean they are in the bottom three in both goals per game and GAA.
Matty Beniers, SEA vs. DAL ($4,200): You don't need to target the Stars just because they are the only team on the second leg of a back-to-back, but I don't think it's a bad idea. Beniers has 14 points in 22 games, but that's with a 9.7 shooting percentage decidedly below his 13.6 career number. He's also averaged 2:54 per game on the power play. While Casey DeSmith is one of the best backup goalies, the Stars have a bottom-10 penalty kill, and killing penalties on the road on the second day of a back-to-back is not easy.
FORWARD LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Ducks vs. Canucks
Leo Carlsson (C - $5,800), Cutter Gauthier (W - $6,600), Beckett Sennecke (W - $3,200)
The Ducks are so fun and full of promising young players (not to mention that their aesthetic rebrand was one of the biggest improvements in recent memory) that I've basically made peace with Gauthier sulking his way out of Philadelphia. Recently the future of hockey in Anaheim has played together on one glorious line, and may it continue until the Sun burns out. The Canucks are last in GAA, last in penalty-kill percentage, and just outside the bottom five in shots on net allowed per game. While Anaheim has done some power-play juggling, any time these three get with the extra man is good in my book.
Adam Fantilli is a good player who will log multiple 30-goal seasons in his career, and the fact that the Ducks took Carlsson over him is already aging well. That's how good the Swedish center has been. He's tallied 29 points in 22 games, including an assist in each of his last three outings. Gauthier has 13 goals to go with 13 assists, and puck luck hasn't played a big role. He's posted a 13.4 shooting percentage because he's put a whopping 97 shots on net already. Sennecke is the third top-five pick on this line. He's a bit younger, and not quite on the same level, but the 19-year-old has 16 points. However, he's also on a four-game point streak.
Devils vs. Blues
Nico Hischier (C - $6,500), Jesper Bratt (W - $6,800), Timo Meier (W - $6,100)
The Blues have a 3.61 GAA, and they also have a bottom-eight penalty kill. I grant you Jordan Binnington played well in his last start, but that raised his save percentage only to .880 on the season. Currently, this is the first line for the Devils, and also the forwards on the top power-play unit.
The Devils are fortunate that they have Hischier to serve as a second-line center when Jack Hughes is healthy, and a first-line center for the many occasions in which Hughes hasn't been able to play. In the five games that Hughes has been out, Hischier has six points and 17 shots on net. Brett has five goals on 50 shots on net, but he's really fashioned himself as a play-making wing. He had 67 assists last season, and he already has 17 through 22 games this year. Meier has 10 assists, but he's also scored seven goals on 69 shots on net. That includes a goal in each of his last two outings.
DEFENSEMEN
Moritz Seider, DET vs. NAS ($5,700): As a Thanksgiving gift to myself, I'm going to recommend another Red Wing. I know Thanksgiving gifts aren't a thing, but even if you aren't a Wings fan, Seider is somebody to be enthused about rostering. The German has routinely been a 40-point defenseman, but apparently if he's not stuck with as difficult a series of defensive assignments as anybody in the NHL, he can contribute a bit more offensively. Seider has 10 points in his last seven games, and on the year he's tallied 59 shots on net while blocking 43 shots. Juuse Saros is only 30, but he may be cooked. Over the last two seasons he has an .894 save percentage, and, even to be charitable and include the last three seasons, that number only rises to .900.
John Carlson, WAS vs. WPG ($5,200): Yes, Jakob Chychrun has been amazing, but there has been enough offense to go around on the blue line for Carlson to also have good numbers. The veteran defenseman has 21 points in 22 games, including 14 points in his last 10. Maybe Eric Comrie will start for the Jets, or maybe it will be Thomas Milic making his first NHL start. Either way, I'm not too concerned.
Jackson LaCombe, ANA vs. VAN ($4,900): LaCombe emerged on the Anaheim blue line last year with 14 goals and 29 assists. That earned him the role of being the rock in the Ducks' defensive corps. LaCombe has averaged a whopping 25:06 per game in ice time, including 3:32 with the extra man. He's tallied 10 points and put 48 shots on net through 22 contests. All that ice time against the Canucks should pay off. I mentioned Vancouver has the NHL's highest GAA. Don't forget they got 10 appearances from Thatcher Demko. Until Demko returns, the situation is even bleaker.
