Last week our Sabres stack took it on the chin a bit, but this week MarmosDad is back with a new list of names to help you fill out your DFS lineups on this cold mid-December Saturday. Chalk forwards? Check. Value play D-men? Yep. A strong goalie play? MmHmm. A filler named after a color that a lot of you might not be able to identify on a paint palette? Uh…yes?
One of these hot hands to start our lineups is winger Mark Stone, (DK: $5,200). Late 90’s WWE fans will undoubtedly get the Stone Cold reference, but this Stone is definitely anything but cold. Vegas’s captain has scored 3 goals in his last 3 games and has managed to put up some healthy FPTS over at least two of those games (23.0 and 15.6). Regular readers of this spot (yes, both of you) will know that the kicker for these types is time on the first line and PP1. Check both of those boxes for Stone at home against the Isles today…and feel free to smash and empty some beer cans down your gullet if that’s your kind of Saturday thing too.
As far as the schedule goes, our main slate is doubled from last week. We have 10 games to choose from if we’re excluding the three afternoon matchups. I’ll try to focus on the same kind of format for us today – players getting some extra time on either PP unit, seeing increased even strength time, or just skaters that are riding a heater.
Let’s get to it!
C – Brayden Point, DK: $6,800 – I was all set to write up Evgeni Malkin here as the Pens are on a 7 game win streak, but Pittsburgh is on an off day today. Let’s spin off to Brayden Point instead. Point has…er…points in 8 of his last 11 games and double digit FPTS in 6 of those games. The bad news is he’s not running…um…point on PP1 – that’s Stamkos’ spot. But, Point is the #1 center for both even strength and extra man time, so let’s slot him in as our top C today.
C – Mark Scheifele, DK: $6,400 – If we’re looking for a goal scorer to beef up our forwards, this is a top play at a not-so-top price. Scheifele has 18 goals in 28 games and is coming off of a hat trick in Tuesday’s game against the Golden Knights. That was good for 42.9 FPTS. I can see him getting more than a few chances against a Vancouver team that is in the bottom five for goals against and is giving up almost 33 shots a game.
W – Mitch Marner, DK: $6,900 – This is our chalk winger for today, and it’s really hard to argue otherwise. Marner has 37 points in 31 games and just had a 23 game point streak snapped – the third longest streak among active players behind Sidney Crosby (25) and Patrick Kane (26). The Leafs are on the road against Washington tonight, and although there’s another forward making headlines out there too, at this price Marner should have a good chance to add to his top 10 totals.
W – Dawson Mercer, DK: $4,700 – The Devils have looked a bit less threatening the last week or so, (winless in four), but a guy like Dawson Mercer sneaks in today as a top 6 name with a much more affordable price tag. Mercer is skating on the second line for even strength and slots in with Hischier and Bratt on PP1. Averaging over 19 minutes TOI in his last 5 games, Mercer may not be a threat to score a bunch against the Panthers but he does have points in 3 of his last 6. Not a bad situation for a cheaper play today.
D – Miro Heiskanen, DK: $5,300 – A defenceman among the top 10 in D scoring should cost a heck of a lot more than Heiskanen does today. I thought that maybe there were other reasons why Heiskanen was so cheap. Maybe he’s not in the first pairing? Nope. He is. PP1 time? He’s the lone D man with four other top forwards. Ok, maybe Dallas’s offense hasn’t been that strong? Wrong again. The Stars rank 3rd in goals scored, and are in the top half of the league in SOG and PP%. Let’s not analyze this much more. Miro could be a hero against Carolina tonight.
D – Evan Bouchard, DK: $4,200 – To say that everyone’s sleeper D pick in the preseason hasn’t lived up to expectations may be the understatement of the day. But we need to find a blueliner that comes in at a good price, can get some PP time, and skates in a pretty offensively potent lineup. Like most of our names here, this one at least checks all of those boxes. He’s definitely underperforming (12 PTS in 31 GP), but Bouchard is priced right as our D2 even though he’s only skated more than 20 minutes twice in his last 10 games. *Edmonton is a 4:00 PM ET start, so a comparable late slate play would be Mark Giordano ($4,000).
G – Igor Shesterkin, DK: $8,200 – This pick is more about the opponent than the player. Shesterkin faces a fledgling Flyers squad that has lost four of their last five and is not very effective on offense. Philly ranks 30th in goals scored and shooting percentage, and 29th in SOG. Igor may not face many shots today, but that only helps his chances at a W.
UTIL – Pat Maroon, DK: $2,500 – Analysis of pizza ingestion aside, Pat Maroon has been in the news a bit over the last couple of weeks. Did he score a ton of goals? Set a Tampa record for assists in a week? Lay out someone with a bone crunching hit at the blue line? No, no, and no. He was just (un)lucky enough to be the topic of a Jack Edwards rant in a Bruin/Lightning game. Maroon is a ‘sneak-in cheap’ forward we can use to round out our lineup today. Again, he’s not going to light the world on fire here but he has been getting more than 10 minutes a game (on average) and could rack up some hits or blocked shots in that limited ice time.
We’re pretty tight to the $50,000 cap today. If you need to sub out anyone, I’d look to those PP2 names on offensively strong teams to fill in. Like I said last week, think Toronto, Boston, Buffalo (!), Edmonton.
Here’s the three moneyline picks for the week too…
The Sea Bass : (Favorite)
A bit of a personal favorite here, but the Bruins (-360) should bounce back from a tough shootout loss against LA on Thursday night in the afternoon game today. They’re at home to a Columbus team that is as bad as the Bruins are good. It should be an easy W for the B’s today.
The Happy Gilmore : (Underdog)
I had written up Vancouver for our underdog play tonight, but they came in as a marginal favorite at home against Winnipeg. The easy pick would be the Jets here at (+100), but Vancouver is 7-3-0 in their last 10 and look a lot better at home than they did the first couple of months. A good underdog pivot is to Florida (+120) at New Jersey. The Devils are winless in four and look a lot more beatable now than they did at the beginning of the season.
The Claude Lemieux : (Turtle/Flop)
Colorado is still getting favored (-180) despite missing a slew of top forwards and defensemen. Nashville hasn’t exactly been cruising lately either, (4-4-2 in their last 10), but the Avs look like a sucker bet until they start getting some of their top tier talent back.
That’s it for this week! No games next Saturday means I’ll be out for next week. Have a great holiday and I’ll be back for your New Year’s Eve DFS lineups!
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below or give me a shout @MarmosDad.
