At risk of ignoring the 6’7” elephant in the room, the Sabres have been absolutely cruising with Cozens for the last week. Tage Thompson (that 6’7” elephant) was one of our writeup targets earlier in the year, and he definitely had a game for the ages with 5 goals (and 6 points) on Wednesday night. But there’s more to be excited about for Buffalo fans that have been cramming into the ‘Cozens cab’ for the last couple of weeks.
C – Dylan Cozens, (DK: $5,600) has been a man possessed with multi-point games in each of his last 4 GP, and at least one goal scored in 4 of his last 5. He got on the board for the crushing of Columbus with 3 points in Wednesday’s 9-4 win and seems to have established himself as a reliable 2C. He’s also getting time on PP1 with the Sabres’ big guns. I’d say he’s a good pick to continue the lofty pace of production on this Saturday.
There’s a lighter grouping of games today with just 5 evening matchups (and 3 afternoon ones). We’ll select our group from that main slate, but you can mix and match an early lineup from those 6 teams if you want to dip in with a couple of lists.
C – Tage Thompson, DK: $8,500 – This was the second time in two weeks that I was ready to write about Cole Caufield, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to recommend the player that had the biggest DraftKings game of the year this week. Thompson’s 4 goal first period and 6 points overall was good for a whopping 70 (yes, you read that right) FPTS. The 9 SOG were a nice added bonus and if you haven’t been awestruck by this guy at least once this season, you haven’t been paying attention.
W – Jack Quinn, DK: $3,400 – I swear there are more players than just those that wear the yellow Buffaslug…er… Buffalo on their chest. But in looking through the list for some value plays, yet another Sabre popped out as a good pick. Jack Quinn only has 15 points in 21 games, but he’s riding a 5 game point streak after keeping it going by registering an assist in that Nuketown game at Columbus on Wednesday night. 18:51 in TOI in his last game, plus 2LW and PP2 duty makes this a good value bet today.
W – Kirill Kaprizov, DK: $8,300 – We’ll go with this Wild beast for our chalk winger of the day. Like most of these elite types, they don’t really need much of a word boost from yours truly. 33 points in 21 games gets one’s name near the top of the NHL player stats leaderboard. A goal in each of his last 7 games qualifies Kaprizov as a guy who’s on a definite heater. They played in Edmonton last night and are in Vancouver tonight, so some of the Wild may be a bit gassed, but if any of them have the stamina to put together impressive back-to-backs it’s this stud.
W – Marcus Foligno, DK: $2,600 – Sabres centermen, Sabres wingers, Sabres defensemen…might as well add in a former Sabre here too! Foligno isn’t going to net you any bonus points for hat tricks, but the potential for a bucketful of hits is there to get us some FPTS. The 3rd line duty isn’t ideal, but he does get some PP2 time.
D – Owen Power, DK: $3,400 – Another Sabre from this pen would be considered some kind of disguised plea for help or ransom warning of some sort to those who know MarmosDad on the regular, but again this is a very talented name at a very affordable price. I texted a buddy on Wednesday that I couldn’t believe Power didn’t register one point in their 9-4 drubbing of the Blue Jackets. Said buddy pointed out that Tage Thompson’s wingers stole most of those 1st and 2nd assists that would’ve gone to Power otherwise. His nearly 24 minutes of ice time (23:54) and +4 rating that night backs it up. If he keeps getting top minutes and 2nd pairing even strength and PP time, I don’t think there are many better selections with a $3,500 price tag.
D – Noah Dobson, DK: $6,700 – I nearly wrote Alexei Zhitnik’s name here, but somehow broke the spell of Western New York. To be honest, this spot was between either Dobson or teammate Ryan Pulock. For straight points and ice time, Dobson is the pick. He has 18 points in 27 games and is averaging over 20 minutes a game. Pulock is your guy if you want to invest in hits or blocked shots, though (avg. 2 per game), but Dobson is the one that posted a goal and an assist on Tuesday night.
G – Matt Murray, DK: $8,100 – Playing the Leafs’ netminder at home on a Saturday night certainly isn’t the most ‘edgy’ play. Toronto’s overall point total is good for 4th in the league and they’re as good a bet as any to put up enough goals to give their backstop a great chance at a ‘W’. Add in that Murray stopped 44/44 Dallas shots on Tuesday night for his first Maple Leafs shutout, and it’s a solid choice for our lineups here. Murray may be less durable than a glass house in a hailstorm, but he has the potential to quell the Flames at home tonight.
UTIL – Martin Necas, DK: $6,700 – ‘Canes fans have been without a team to watch since Tuesday, but I can see playing a couple against the Isles in New York today. Necas skated 22:41 in that game, his second highest TOI of the year, and just had a 4 game point streak snapped. His 28 points in 26 games have come pretty quietly, so getting in here at $6,700 seems like a good UTIL play.
I wrote up a bunch of these before the final salaries were released and it puts us roughly $3,300 over the $50,000 if you followed to the letter. The obvious substitution spot would be our UTIL guy, so if you need to ‘cut cash’, we can pivot to Kasperi Kapanen. He has 4 G in his last 3 GP and tallied a hat trick last Saturday. Not bad for the leftover scratch to round out the list.
If this is still too pricey, we can always pick the cheapest from the Leafs bottom 6 : Pierre Engvall, Denis Malgin, or Conor Timmins (all on PP2).
Here’s the three moneyline picks for the week too…
The Sea Bass : (Favorite)
We’ll roll with our goalie pick for this one and stick with the Leafs (-165) at home to Calgary. There are a few favorites to look at today, and I can see avoiding this one because the Leafs are in the second of a back-to-back, but I think Matt Murray makes another difference tonight.
The Happy Gilmore : (Underdog)
These ones are always tough because it seems like there is quite a bit of parity in the NHL. I guess that’s a good thing for fans, but not great for spotting favorites and underdogs. For our + pick today, let’s go with the Habs (+135) at home. They host the LA Kings who are 3-4-3 in their last 10 and just got pumped 5-0 in Toronto on Thursday night. Montreal has a good shot to upset at home tonight.
The Claude Lemieux : (Turtle/Flop)
Well, we might as well make this a full Sabres article and go with the Claude Lemieux flop for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh is at home in this one, and favored at (-205). The Sabres’ offense has been chugging for the last couple of weeks, though, and I wouldn’t bet against them – especially at this kind of moneyline (+175). Steer clear of this trap tonight.
That’s it for this week! I hope everyone enjoyed it. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below or give me a shout @MarmosDad.
