Apologies to all of you DFS faithful for the absence last week! Mrs. MarmosDad had an unfortunate mishap at work and ended up at the hospital, so your fearless “penner of puckmovers” ended up much busier than expected. But, fret not! I’m back again today to get us all set up to cash in some Classic NHL lineups on a much fuller main slate than we’ve had for a few weeks. (And if you’re worried, I’m glad to report that the Mrs. still has 9 1/2 fingers in tact).
With a shout out to the Beastie Boys and their best album (although this is like picking the best chocolate bar, they’re all pretty awesome), Check Your Head, we’re going with Vitek Vanecek, G (DK: $8,400) on the road as our lede today. Vanecek heads to Montreal with the Devils for this one and brings a 27-7-3 record with him. The 2.55 GAA and .907 SV% are pretty impressive on the surface, but some might be quick to point out that Vanecek is just 4-2 in his last 6 games, with one of those losses at home against these same Habs. He’s put up a 3.67 GAA over that last half a dozen, but with the Devils reinforcements at the deadline and the Habs mired in a 5 game losing skid, I think it’s a safe bet to play him on the road tonight.
As I said earlier, the main slate is a pretty good one tonight with 11 games in total. Our first 7:00 PM ET games begin with Winnipeg at Florida and run all the way through to two late 10:30 PM ET starts in San Jose (vs Minnesota) and Los Angeles (vs Nashville).
Let’s get to it!
C – Max Domi , DK: $4,900 – Speaking of trade deadline moves, Domi was shipped from a rebuilding Chicago squad to a surging Dallas team looking for a boost up front. Domi slots in on the third line with Mason Marchment, but has averaged over two minutes of PP time since the trade. He has two points in three games with the Stars and should see an increase in minutes at Seattle, especially if Seguin is sidelined for tonight.
C – Curtis Lazar, DK: $2,500 – This one is a bit of a cheat as we need to get at least one affordable pick in somewhere and I figured we could load up on a few Devils. I speak to the trade deadline in the Meier blurb below, but Lazar was another trade ahead of this year’s deadline. Although the Meier one is a flashier headline, Lazar is no slouch in ability. He’s a solid bottom six forward that should at least give us some hits if he’s in the lineup. Double check before locking him in, though, as he’s having Visa issues since his trade from Vancouver.
W – Timo Meier, DK: $7,900 – I mentioned it in the opening up there, but the New Jersey Devils definitely got an offensive boost at the trade deadline, and one that was much needed to beef up their forward group. Timo Meier was one of the most coveted pieces a couple of weeks ago and although he only has one goal in his first three games with the Devils, he’s played more than 20 minutes in his last two games, is lining up alongside Jack Hughes in 5-on-5 time, and is getting PP1 minutes (nearly 4 a game). I like his chances of putting up a bunch of shots and chipping in some points tonight.
W – Mitch Marner, DK: $6,900 – We saved up a bunch of those DFS dollars for this one tonight, kids. And speaking of kids, this toddler look-alike has put up some pretty silly numbers over the last 10 games. 15 points over that span, highlighted by a 5 assist night in Buffalo, definitely qualifies this guy as being on a heater. Couple that with an Edmonton goalie (Stuart Skinner) that let in a couple of sofites against the Bruins on Thursday night, and we might see more from Marner at home tonight.
W – Jared McCann, DK: $6,000 – Speaking of heaters, this guy has been on fire for about as long as Marner. 13 points in his last 10 games, and two goals on Thursday night make this winger a must play again this week. He’s got 52 points in 62 games and looks like he might even crack the 40 goal mark this year (he’s at 33 right now). McCann isn’t just what I’m reaching for in the beer fridge during this game.
D – Vince Dunn, DK: $4,600 – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’ll write this guy up every week that Seattle plays in the main slate. I was a bit worried when the Yahoo! notification came through that he might be day-to-day with an injury, but that was all for naught. This guy just keeps producing and should at least be on a short list for Norris consideration (at least top 10, maybe?). He had two points on Thursday night and has 10 points in his last 8 games. At $4,600, he’s the 30th defenceman in pricing. Cue the Rodney Dangerfield quote.
D – Shayne Gostisbehere , DK: $5,300 – When I started this, I didn’t really plan on making it mostly a trade deadline post, but here we are. The “Ghost Bear” headed to Carolina on deadline day and immediately slotted in on the powerplay. He has 4 PPP in 4GP with the ‘Canes, and has averaged 17 minutes of ice time since the trade.
UTIL – Taylor Raddysh, DK: $3,200 – We’re going ‘affordable’ (aka ‘cheap’) on our UTIL today so we can fit a couple of bigger wingers in above. Picking a Blackhawks player on the road against Tampa is probably a dumb move on any other night, BUT the Lightning have lost 6 of their last 7 games and if there’s any time to play a skater against them, this is it. Raddysh had an assist and a couple of blocked shots at the time of edit here last night, and had two goals on the road against Detroit on Wednesday.
Here’s the three moneyline picks for the week too…
The Sea Bass : (Favorite)
Since we picked on the Habs in a few places above, it makes the most sense to take New Jersey (-255) as our favorite on the road against Montreal (+215) tonight.
The Happy Gilmore : (Underdog)
The Kraken are at home and a modest underdog at (+105) against a Dallas squad that shouldn’t have Tyler Seguin. If you want to roll the dice on a healthier underdog, Vegas is (+160) at Carolina (-190). If you want to get really crazy, Chicago (+400) is a huge dog against Tampa (-500).
The Claude Lemieux : (Turtle/Flop)
The Oilers are coming off a victory in Boston on Thursday night. They trailed by 2 before putting up 3 unanswered and should carry that momentum into Toronto tonight. If you’re looking to play the Leafs (-130), I’d say be careful as the Oilers (+110) showed a lot of bounce back against the best team in the league in their last game.
That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below or give me a shout @MarmosDad.
