Boston Bruins Vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Let’s take a look at the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. Both teams have options on either side, and there are some value plays worth considering. 

For Boston, we can never go wrong with their top line. Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron are all great options. If you had to pick just one, Marchand would be the player to go with. He’s been lights out since the start of the season, including a two-goal performance in the last game. 

If you need some value, Taylor Hall is the player to target. He’s skating on the second line, but joins the top line on the top power play unit. He’s also affordable on DraftKings.

On defence, Charlie McAvoy is skating on the top unit, so if you’re going with BOS1 as your main stack, it might be a good idea to add McAvoy to it. A cheaper option to consider is Matt Grzelcyk. He was quiet in game one of the season, but we can still expect him to contribute on the score sheet more often than not.

In goal, Jeremy Swayman is confirmed to get the start, and he was very good in his first start of the season against Dallas. The Flyers can score goals, but the Bruins should be able to limit chances, giving Swayman a great opportunity to pick up the win.

On the flip side, the Flyers are a good team, but we won;t go crazy trying to fit their superstars into our lineup.

We want to avoid Philadelphia’s top line because they should be matched up against Boston’s top line, so we move down one and look at Derek Brassard and Cam Atkinson. Brassard had three points last game, including two goals, while Atkinson had two points and nine shots on goal in the last two. Both players play together on the second unit, so there is some power play correlation.

On the blueline, Ivan Provorov is the only player I’d consider. Even if you’re playing Swayman, Provorov can shoot the puck, and more importantly, block shots. DK rewards you with three points for any defenceman who finishes with three or more blocked shots, and this is a great spot for him.

In goal, Martin Jones is confirmed to get the start. If you’re new here, we never play Martin Jones, because he is #NotGood. There’s no reason to play him tonight, unless you hate money.


St. Louis Blues Vs. Vegas Golden Knights

This matchup on paper looks pretty even, but there’s really only one side to target, and it’s not who you think it is.

Let’s start with the Blues, because that’s who we should be looking at. They have a 2.7 implied team total, which doesn’t seem accurate considering Vegas is going to be without Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. 

Their second line is where we need to focus, specifically Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou. Pavel Buchnevich is out of the lineup due to suspension, so we may see Vladimir Tarasenko move up. Should that be the case, the entire second line can be considered in a GPP. For cash games, it’s Schenn and Kyrou, because both players are going to dominate tonight.

On the back end, Justin Faulk is off to a good start, but is he worth his $5400 price tag on DK? Some will argue yes, but it’s hard to buy into a two game sample. He’s worth considering if you need to play a defenceman, but we can leave him off our team and be fine. Same story for Torey Krug, who is cheaper but isn’t doing much of anything.

In goal, Jordan Binnington should get the start in this one and he’s dirt cheap on DK at $7100. As mentioned earlier, the Golden Knights are missing their two best forwards, and while Binnington isn’t a safe bet, at $7100, the upside is there. We need to take it.

For Vegas, we can look past their forward group completely. Their top line isn’t really that great, and the rest of their lineup doesn’t look good. No idea why their implied team total has opened at 3.0, but it just doesn’t look possible.

On the back end, this is where we can find a ton of value. Alec Martinez is usually a shot blocking machine, but he only has three blocked shots in two games. That could change tonight. We’re not trying to target points with Martinez, but more the shots blocked bonus on DK. He should be in every lineup you build.

It’s the same story for Zach Whitecloud, who has seven blocked shots in the last two games. He’s $2500 on DK and is providing crazy value. If you want to go super cheap, pair him with Brayden McNabb and just spend up elsewhere. Both players combined will cost you $500, which is $400 more than Martinez alone. It’s not a sexy strategy, but it’s one that could help you win a GPP.

In goal, Robin Lehner should get the start in this one, but he hasn’t been nearly good enough to earn his $8300 price tag on DK. He’s a GPP option, but the risk just doesn’t outweigh the reward.


 

DK
Position Top Tier Mid-Tier Value-Tier
C Patrice Bergeron Brayden Schenn Derick Brassard
W Brad Marchand Cam Atkinson Jordan Kyrou
D Ivan Provorov Alec Martinez Zach Whitecloud
G Robin Lehner Jeremy Swayman Jordan Binnington
FD
Position Top Tier Mid-Tier Value-Tier
C Patrice Bergeron Brayden Schenn Derick Brassard
W David Pastrnak Taylor Hall Jordan Kyrou
D Charlie McAvoy Ivan Provorov Matt Grzelcyk
G Robin Lehner Jeremy Swayman Jordan Binnington