The Olympic break isn't that far in the future, so let's make the most of these busy NHL DFS days. Saturday's FanDuel slate offers 10 games with the first ones starting at 7 p.m. EST. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations. Good luck!
SLATE PREVIEW
Three teams are on the second leg of a back-to-back: Chicago, Los Angeles, and St. Louis. All three are on the road Saturday and set to start their backup goalie, which bodes well for their opponents - i.e. Nashville, Edmonton, and Vegas.
GOALIES
Filip Gustavsson, MIN vs. NYI ($7,00): It's Gustavsson's turn in the rotation. He's posted a .912 save percentage after a .914 last season. The Isles have a solid goalie of their own in Ilya Sorokin and the presumptive Calder winner in Matthew Schaefer, yet they've also only averaged 2.86 goals.
Akira Schmid, VGK vs. STL ($7,700): This is clearly the matchup to target. The Blues are last in goals and shots and will be on the road for their second straight day. Schmid hasn't been great, but Vegas has only allowed an average of 24.9 shots. I'll note that I believe he's starting on Saturday since Carter Hart left last time out with a lower-body injury.
Juuse Saros, NAS vs. CHI ($7,500): Saros has endured two awful starts from his last 15 outings, though has been good enough otherwise to registered a 2.81 GAA and .906 save percentage during that span. Chicago is on the fringes of the bottom-10 in offense and just got Connor Bedard back, yet sits bottom-five in shots. And of course, the Blackhawks are on the road for the second consecutive night.
VALUE PLAYS
Zach Hyman, EDM vs. LOS ($6,600): Hyman has recorded 23 points and 78 shots in only 25 games because that's what happens when you get to skate next to a motivated Connor McDavid. The Kings are on the road for the second day of a back-to-back. And while Anton Forsberg is better than a lot of backups (and some starters), he still has a .901 save percentage overall and played a period on Friday.
Tomas Hertl, VGK vs. STL ($6,300): Hertl has tallied 12 points and 33 across 11 appearances. He's productive for a third-line center mainly related to him participating on Vegas's lead power play. The Blues maintain a bottom-eight penalty kill and were also in action on Friday.
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR vs. SEA ($5,900): Svechnikov has racked up 35 points even with a 9.8 shooting percentage that's the lowest of his career. He's also been productive on the man-advantage, which works well on Saturday as the Kraken have solidified themselves with the league's worst penalty kill.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Predators vs. Blackhawks
Ryan O'Reilly (C - $6,000), Filip Forsberg (W - $5,900), Steven Stamkos (W - $5,700)
The Blackhawks are on the road for the second day of a back-to-back and are bottom-10 in shots allowed. There's also a significant question in net for Chicago as both Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom missed Friday with an illness. As there's a real chance both are also out for Saturday, I've opted to go with Nashville's top line at home.
O'Reilly has gone from being one the many struggling Predators to being on pace to possibly compile his best season having accumulated 24 points in his last 21 games to give him 37 overall. Forsberg is suffering from a goal drought, yet still has 16 to go with 15 assists and previously eclipsed 40 twice. Stamkos has potted 10 goals through his last 15 matchups to go with 51 shots.
Sabres vs. Ducks
Josh Norris (C - $6,000), Alex Tuch (W - $6,300), Jason Zucker (W - $5,800)
The Ducks were the story early this season, but they've fallen off while the Sabres have soared. Anaheim's issue is clear with the league's highest GAA. You could argue that's because Lukas Dostal missed some time, yet he's registered a 3.97 GAA and .852 save percentage since returning. Buffalo's second unit hasn't played a lot together due to injuries, but have been productive of late.
Norris has trouble staying healthy, yet has 15 points over 16 games while finding the scoresheet in each of the last three. He also scored 21 goals last year. Tuch is at 14 goals on 105 shots, including a marker from each of his last two outings. He found the back of the net 36 times last season and could approach that number again with similar linemates. Zucker has been back for two matchups and didn't do anything during the first one, but grabbed a goal on three shots with an assist in the second while producing 20 points through only 23 appearances.
DEFENSEMEN
Evan Bouchard, EDM vs. LOS ($7,000): It's been business as usual for Bouchard with 41 points and at least four shots from four of his last six games. The Kings haven't been as stingy defensively as in recent years, though the defense likely won't be at full power on the second day of a back-to-back with Anton Forsberg likely starting in net.
Noah Hanifin, VGK vs. STL ($5,700): I don't know if Hanifin has fully seized the opportunity of Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb all being out, yet has still produced through sheer quantity averaging 25:40 in the last 11 games where he's provided 10 assists and 24 shots. The very notion of a defenseman getting to log over 25 minutes against the Blues is intriguing, especially with Jordan Binnington set to start as he's slumped to a 3.55 GAA and .871 save percentage and just allowed seven goals last time out.
Nick Perbix, NAS vs. CHI ($3,900): This is definitely a roll of the dice, but your defensive corps is a good place to take a gamble for DFS. Perbix isn't really involved on special-teams, yet skates with Roman Josi at five-on-five while averaging 19:55 that's led to eight points, 42 shots, and 49 blocked shots on the campaign. Those aren't remarkable numbers, though Nashville is about to host a Chicago team that also played Friday. The Blackhawks have been porous on defense while Arvid Soderblom has struggled. So why not see if Perbix to do something? The stakes are low, but there's potential DFS value.
