Sunday's NHL showdown is a single game, MIN @ VAN, with a $50,000 salary cap and a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks Sun 10/25 at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT).
Kirill Kaprizov of MIN leads the pool in raw upside. At $10,800 he carries a 29.4 ceiling, the highest on the sheet, and a DraftKings average of 18.4. Matt Boldy sits close behind at $10,400 with a 23.7 ceiling and a 16.2 average. Calvin Pickard, MIN's goalie at $10,200, has a 25.0 ceiling, though his DraftKings average is -3.5, so the number is more volatile than the price suggests. Across the ice, Elias Pettersson of VAN costs $8,200 with a 19.7 ceiling and a 10.3 average.
The value plays are where this slate gets interesting. Jonathan Lekkerimaki of VAN is only $2,400 and carries a 13.5 ceiling with a 7.6 average, a strong return for the price. Elias-Nils Pettersson, also VAN, runs $5,000 with a 21.8 ceiling, a higher top-end than his more expensive namesake. Max Shabanov of MIN at $4,600 shows a 20.0 ceiling and a 5.8 average. Leevi Merilainen, VAN's goalie at $9,400, offers a steadier 12.6 average but a lower 15.5 ceiling.
On the injury front, DraftKings lists Filip Gustavsson, Brock Faber, Marcus Foligno and Nick Foligno of MIN, along with Thatcher Demko of VAN, with an IR tag. We have no ownership figures for this slate, so there is no read on where the crowd will land.
Our model's top lineup spends the full $50,000. It puts Kaprizov at captain for $16,200, then fills the FLEX spots with Elias Pettersson at $8,200, Yakov Trenin at $2,000, Quinn Hughes at $9,200, Danila Yurov at $4,200 and Pickard at $10,200. Trenin's $2,000 price frees up the cap room for the stars around him.
Lock is Sun 10/25 at 10:00 p.m. ET, so get your lineups set before then.
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