Thursday's DraftKings NHL slate is a single-game showdown, BUF @ ANA, with the captain slot scoring 1.5x points at 1.5x salary under a $50,000 cap. Lock is Thu 10/29 at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT).
The top of our model's ranking is led by upside. Leo Carlsson of ANA carries a ceiling of 24.9 at $9,000, and teammate Beckett Sennecke sits at 24.5 for $9,200. Tage Thompson of BUF is the priciest skater of the group at $10,000, with a ceiling of 21.1 and a DraftKings average of 14.5, the highest average among our top eight. Rasmus Dahlin of BUF costs $8,800 with a ceiling of 18.9 and an 11.4 average.
The value plays are where the salary math gets interesting. Nick Jensen of ANA is $3,600 with an 18.8 ceiling, while Jason Zucker of BUF is $4,400 with a 19.3 ceiling. Tim Washe of ANA is the cheapest of the bunch at $2,000, with a ceiling of 14.4. At those prices, each one offers a path to a big return and leaves room to pay up at the top of the lineup.
The sheet gives no ownership figures, so we won't guess where the crowd will land. Check the status tags before building, though. Jiri Kulich of BUF is tagged OUT and Justin Danforth of BUF is tagged DTD, while Alex Lyon and Matt Grzelcyk of BUF, along with Troy Terry, Ryan Poehling, Pavel Mintyukov and Ian Moore of ANA, all carry IR tags.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,000 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Sennecke at captain for $13,800, then adds Thompson at $10,000, Cutter Gauthier at $10,400 and Carlsson at $9,000. The final two spots go to A.J. Greer at $3,800 and Jeff Malott at $2,000, which funds the stars up top.
Set your lineups before lock on Thu 10/29 at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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