Richard Masana 
Let’s gear up for a ten-game Thursday slate full of some huge contests! Aside from reading the 2/23 NHL DFS article, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS Projection Model which is available every morning. If you like what you see, sign up for more Win Daily content here.
2/23 NHL Main Slate of Games – Beginning 7 p.m. ET
*All odds and player pricing below have been obtained from DraftKings and are accurate as of the time of writing*
Minnesota Wild (-180) at Columbus Blue Jackets (+155) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Los Angeles Kings (+120) at New Jersey Devils (-140) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
New York Rangers (-165) at Detroit Red Wings (+140) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Edmonton Oilers (-110) at Pittsburgh Penguins (-110) – 7 Projected Goal Total
Buffalo Sabres (+190) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-225) – 7 Projected Goal Total
Anaheim Ducks (+215) at Washington Capitals (-255) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Vancouver Canucks (+100) at St. Louis Blues (-120) – 7 Projected Goal Total
Calgary Flames (+130) at Vegas Golden Knights (-150) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Boston Bruins (-175) at Seattle Kraken (+150) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Nashville Predators (-140) at San Jose Sharks (+120) – 6 Projected Goal Total
2/23 NHL Favorite Popular Line
Tampa Bay One – “Brayden Point ($6,700), Nikita Kucherov ($5,900), Brandon Hagel ($5,500)” (This can be run as a two-man stack with Point and Hagel).
The most popular line of the night “and line in the best spot” is one of the more tried and true top lines. Hosting the Canucks as -225 favorites in a seven total game, the Lightning are in a great spot tonight. All three skaters on their top line also feature on Tampa Bay’s top power-play unit. For the season, they are fifth in all NHL lines in terms of SATF. They are also relatively affordable, particularly if you run this as a two-man without Nikita Kucherov. It is hard to justify his price tag most nights given his lack of goal-scoring this season. With 21 goals and 59 assists for Kucherov this season, it is clear he is becoming more of a setup man as he ages.
Season Long Sample Size – SATF “accounts for all shots including blocked and missed shots”
2/23 NHL Favorite Contrarian Line
Minnesota One – “Ryan Hartman ($4,200), Kirill Kaprizov ($7,400), Mats Zuccarello ($6,300)”
Aside from Kaprizov, this line gets overlooked at times. However tonight, despite six total, they are facing a Columbus team that allows their fair share of goals. The Wild enter tonight -180 money line favorites and the top line has shown some very strong recent form. Their 127 SATF over the last ten games is good for fourth among all lines in the NHL across that span. They only have six goals to show for that effort but positive regression should come out in their favor. Just as the case is with the Lightning’s top line, this line’s pricing is very fair all things considered. However, in this case, I’d run out all three skaters and not condense to a two-man stack.
10-Day Sample Size – SATF “accounts for all shots including blocked and missed shots”
Defenseman and Goalie
Defenseman
Erik Gustafsson – Washington – $4,800 – If for no other reason, only because I’m the Gustafsson whisperer. Washington is a whopping -255 money-line favorite tonight. He allows us to get some cheap exposure to a potential power play assist or two with Ovechkin back now.
Goalie
Jusse Saros – Nashville – $7,200 – Ol’ Jusse Saros just ain’t what he used to be. He’s had a shaky last few games, to say the least. However, the season-long numbers (2.89 GAA and .915 SV % are still relatively strong) and the price is right. It’s a great spot for a bounce-back game tonight with the Predators -140 favorites in a six-total matchup.
2/23 NHL Best Bet
Calgary (+130) – DraftKings – 1 Unit – 37.06% EV in the Sharp Model with a projected model money line of -167 “although that may be a bit too much and subject to adjustment, it tells us all we need to know”.
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