SLATE PREVIEW
There are five games on the NHL schedule Friday. Detroit hosts Chicago, Montreal travels to Washington, Vancouver goes on the road to take on a tired Carolina squad, Winnipeg is home to Los Angeles and Utah welcomes San Jose.
GOALIES
Jakub Dobes, MON at WAS ($7,000): Dobes has been outstanding in his first two NHL starts as he shut out the Panthers and then stopped 22 shots to beat Colorado in a shootout. He'll now get to face Alex Ovechkin and a tough Caps team, though he comes in at a reasonable salary.
Connor Hellebuyck, WIN vs. LA ($7,500): After claiming top goaltending honors last season, Hellebuyck has somehow performed even better going 25-6-2 with five shutouts, a 2.08 GAA and .926 save percentage. He'll go up against the Kings, who are hovering around the middle of the league averaging 3.11 goals per game.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Quinton Byfield, LA at WPG ($4,700): Byfield has been on fire with six goals, three assists and a plus-10 rating across his last nine appearances. He's centering the Kings' second line and on the second power play. Byfield represents a nice value addition to your lineup.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, WAS vs. MON ($6,000): Dubois has put his subpar season in LA behind him with points in 10 of his last 11, including both goals Wednesday in a 2-1 win against Vancouver. He's projected for his fourth 60-plus point campaign, a sizable improvement over last season's 40.
Macklin Celebrini, SJ at UTA ($7,200): Celebrini is having a terrific rookie year despite missing 12 games with a lower-body injury. The first overall pick in 2024 is dazzling everyone with his play and has posted 13 goals, 15 assists and 102 shots through 31 matchups.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Red Wings vs. Blackhawks
Dylan Larkin (C - $7,000), Marco Kasper (W - $3,800), Lucas Raymond (W - $7,100)
The Blackhawks rank 26th in goals against, so I'm taking Detroit's top trio. Larkin and Raymond have been together all season and on the first power play while now being joined by Kasper, who was drafted eighth overall in 2022 and has only posted seven points so far with a possibility to get more alongside his new linemates. Larkin is riding a six-game scoring streak where he's combined for five goals and four assists with 35 points overall. Raymond leads the club at 42 points, including nine from his last six games. Raymond and Larkin have also combined for 12 goals and 24 assists on the man-advantage.
Utah vs. Sharks
Clayton Keller (W - $7,200), Dylan Guenther (W - $7,000), Logan Cooley (W - $6,200)
Utah lists a couple of decent units, but I'm combining the two as their top-two centers are Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain. Keller sits first in team scoring with 40 points while Cooley has 35 and Guenther is at 34. All three participate on the top PP where they have totaled 17 goals and 28 assists. The Sharks are solid in net with Yaroslav Askarov, though Alexandar Georgiev with his 3.53 GAA and .876 save percentage is slated to start.
DEFENSEMEN
Moritz Seider, DET vs. CHI ($6,200): Seider has been on a scoring tear with two goals and nine assists across the last 13 outings, including four helpers on the power play. That puts him up to 20 points, which is almost on pace with his rookie campaign when he notched 50.
Quinn Hughes, VAN at CAR ($6,900): Hughes is enjoying yet another great year. He returned to action two games ago and has already registered three assists. Hughes has racked up 45 points so far and could surpass the 92 from last season when he won the Norris Trophy.
