Joel Bartilotta 
Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Between the Benches. We have a pretty nice-sized 7-game slate of NHL DFS tonight. On the outside looking in, it’s a tricky slate to navigate through but there are also some fun spots to target.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
NHL DFS Goaltending
Alexander Georgiev ($8.4K DK/$7.5k FD) vs. Montreal Canadiens – The Colorado Avalanche are one of the heavier favorites on the board tonight. While their offense is lacking right now, their goaltending has not been. The off-season acquisition of Georgiev has proven to be a good one for the Avalanche. Finally able to get some meaningful playing time, Georgiev has been really good this season. Through 21 games, the Avalanche netminder has 13 wins to go with a 2.46 GAA and a .923 save %.
He’s been great for them and that should continue tonight in a matchup vs. the Canadiens. Over the last 2 weeks, the Canadiens are just 2-4 and have scored just 1.83 goals per game. The only concern here is going to be the lack of shot volume as the Avalanche don’t give up a lot of shots and the Canadiens don’t take many. That said, this has shutout written all over it. I’d reserve Georgiev more for cash games tonight.
Karel Vejmelka ($7k DK/$8.5k FD) vs. Vegas Golden Knights– This is far from a safe pick. Nothing about playing a Coyotes goaltender will ever give me the warm and fuzzies. That said, there aren’t many goaltenders on the slate that have the type of upside that Vejmelka has. Vejmelka hasn’t given up less than 3 goals in a game since Nov 23, a stretch of 9 games. He’s had double-digit DK in 6 of those contests.
The Coyotes give up a ton of shots and that’s why he’s able to still be productive even though he has a GAA over 3 this season. This Vegas offense is not as scary as they’ve been in years past, especially with Eichel on the shelf. If you’re playing GPP’s tonight, Vejmelka is your guy. He will be mine.
NHL DFS Stacks
Minnesota 1 (Steele, Kaprizov, Zuccarello) + Spurgeon vs. Anaheim
I suspect this top line for Minnesota will be extremely chalky tonight. Not only have they been playing lights out, but they get just a monster matchup vs. the Ducks tonight. The Ducks have been bad, giving up over 4 goals per game over the last 2 weeks. They’re also coming off a beating to the Kings last night, losing to them 4-1.
The duo of Kaprizov and Zuccarello have been amazing of late. Over the last 2 weeks, Zuccarello has been both scoring goals and assisting on them. In his last 7 games, he has 6 goals and 6 assists. Because of that, his price is starting to creep up as it’s at $7.9k on DK tonight. Kaprizov has also been really good, with 3 goals and 7 assists in his last 7 games. These 2 should be highly owned tonight, but also extremely productive. They’re going to be a tough fade and not something I’d recommend doing. Adding in Steele will help bring down the average cost of the stack as he’s only $4.1k on DK tonight. I’d go full stack here.
Nahsville 1 (Novak, Forsberg, Granlund) + Josi vs. Chicago
This is going to be a case of which wins outs, bad offense or bad defense. My thoughts are that bad offense will win out here. The Blackhawks have been attrocious. I don’t think there’s anyway to sugarcoat it. They’ve lost 7 in a row and have given up 5 goals per game over their last 5. They are a trainwreck and we’ll want to attack them, even it’s with the Predators.
My lean here is their top line. Flip Forsberg is by far their most talented forward. Although he has just 1 goal in his last 7 games, he does have an iXG pretty close to 3. There’s more in the tank and it should come out today vs. a bad defensive team. I’ll prioritize pairing him with Roman Josi tonight. Josi is the safest play on this team and acts more like a forward than a defenseman. Over his last 7 games, Josi is averaging more than 7 shots + blocks. If you only play one Predator tonight, play Josi. You’ll be rewarded.
Tampa Bay 1 (Point, Hagel, Kucherov) + Hedman vs. Detroit
Tampa was a pretty big disappointment lats night, scoring just 1 goal vs. Toronto last night. Toinght, they get a much easier matchup vs. the Red Wings. The Red Wings are struggling right now as they are 0-4-2 in their last 6 games, while giving up close to 4 goals per game. This is a return to riches matchup for the Lightning.
We’ll utilize the top line here. My favorite 2 here will be Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point. The 2 of them have been the goal scores, as each have 5 goals over the last 2 weeks. I also do love Kucherov here, but he’s the most expensive and he’s really just been getting assists. They’re still great to get, but goals are what wins GPP’s.
Other Stacks: TB 1, FL 1, NJ 2, Col 1, Dal 1, Edm 1, Vgs 1 and 2,
NHL DFS Top Value Defenseman
- Ryan Suter – $2.9k on DK
- Dante Fabbro- $2.8k on Dk
- Erik Cernak – $3.1k on DK
Summary
We have a really solid slate of games tonight. I’ll be going heavy on the Wild tonight, even though they’ll be extremely popular. Let’s crush it team!
Make sure to use our Projection model when setting lineups.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!
