Joel Dorcas |December 3rd, 2019
Phase 1 of the holiday season is complete, hope everyone got together with friends and family for some sort of feast. Phase 2 is, of course, Christmas, let’s see if we can pad our bank roll for some holiday shopping. 10 games on the docket, four have piqued my interest; Minnesota at Florida, Tampa Bay at Nashville, and Washington at San Jose. Throw on Ottawa at Vancouver for good measure. Let’s gear up and make some ice picks!
CORE MUST-HAVES ⭐
Jared Spurgeon MIN D $5,000
The Wild and Panthers matchup is arguably my favorite. The Wild are all the sudden playing very good hockey after a brutal start. They have won three straight scoring 13 goals in the process. The Wild started the season averaging just 2.31 goals in October, they have since improved dramatically to the tune of 3.54 in November, fourth-best in the league. Florida is giving up 3.23 goals per contest in November, 24th overall. Jared Spurgeon has been leaned upon heavily recently. He is averaging almost 24 minutes per game(23.69) while notching six points, eight shots and 21 blocks over his last five games. Spurgeon is also anchoring the point on the first powerplay unit.
Jakub Vrana WSH W $5,700
The Washington/ San Jose game profiles as a high-event matchup. The Caps have won three straight and rank 6th in goals for per game in November(3.43). The Sharks are 8-2 over their last 10 averaging 3.4 goals per contest. If you have the salary pay up for Alex Ovechkin(8.7 K). If not, Jakub Vrana is a nice pivot at a considerable discount. His 21 shots over the last five games are just three shy of Ovie over the time span. He has also notched five points and is getting first-line powerplay time.
Nikita Kucherov TB W $7,500
The Lightning are certainly nowhere near where they want to be in the standings as they are currently sitting outside the playoff picture. However, in the world of DFS, they are very much relevant. 41 goals in their last 10, with seven games going over the total. Their counterparts, the Nashville Predators are still trying to find their way. They are 3-7 with 33 goals against in their last 10 games. For the month of November, they are allowing the 26th most goals against per game with 3.38. Nikita Kucherov profiles extremely well for this one. He has amassed 10 points with 22 shots in his last five games. He is, of course, a focal point on the powerplay that is chiming in at 30.4%(3rd). The Predators conversely are killing penalties at a rate of just 75%, 27th best.
VALUE PLAYS
Kevin Fiala MIN W $4,300
Another player that has stepped up his game for the Wild is winger Kevin Fiala. Fiala is a featured trigger man on a very effective scoring line. He plays alongside Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise. Fiala also gets first-line powerplay minutes. Over the last five Wild games, Fiala has two goals, four assists and a very impressive 20 shots on goal.
Brett Connolly FLA W $4,000
As well as the Wild are playing lately, they are still suspect in their own end. They have allowed 3.00 goals per contest in November, 16th in the league. This lends well to the Panthers who are struggling, just a single victory in their last four, but the over has hit in eight of the last 10 games. Brett Connolly has provided the Panthers was some good depth scoring, he has four goals and 11 shots over his last five.
Quinn Hughes VAN D $4,300
Time to start paying attention to rookie rearguard Quinn Hughes. How about 23 points in 27 games. With Alexander Edler out with an upper-body injury, Hughes slots into the first line D pair. Hughes has been rock-solid over the last 10 contests averaging just over a point a game with 11 assists. This is a great home matchup for the Canucks against the Ottawa Senators who are bottom feeders in many defensive categories.
STACK ‘EM
- Minnesota Wild- Fiala(W), Spurgeon(D), Koivu(C), Parise(W)
- Washington Capitals- Vrana(W), Ovechkin(W), Kuznetsov(C), Oshie(W)
- Tampa Bay Lightning– Kucherov(W), Point(C), Stamkos(W), Hedman(D)
*All prices listed are from DraftKings*
Good luck to everyone tonight, keep grinding out those lineups!
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