Sunday's NHL showdown on DraftKings is a single game, WPG @ CAR, and it locks at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT). The format uses a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary, with a $50,000 cap.
Three names sit at the top of our model's ranking. Pyotr Kochetkov (CAR) costs $10,800 and carries a ceiling of 26.4 against a DraftKings average of 13.8. Kyle Connor (WPG) is $10,400 with the highest ceiling on the board at 28.9 and a DraftKings average of 16.2. Sebastian Aho (CAR) is $9,600, with a ceiling of 24.3 and an average of 14.3. All three are priced at the top of the pool, so using more than one means building around cheaper pieces.
That is where the value plays come in. Mark Jankowski (CAR) is just $4,600 with a ceiling of 20.4, well above his DraftKings average of 8.8. K'Andre Miller (CAR) is $5,000 with a ceiling of 22.5 against an average of 5.3, which is the widest gap between ceiling and average among the top plays. Alex Iafallo (WPG) at $4,200 has a ceiling of 18.8, and William Carrier (CAR) at $2,800 offers a 14.6 ceiling for almost nothing. Logan Stankoven (CAR) is pricier at $7,800 but has a ceiling of 16.3 and an average of 13.2.
A note on the player pool: Taylor Hall and Alexander Nikishin (CAR) are tagged OUT, while Jordan Staal (CAR) and Josh Morrissey, Nick Bjugstad and Vladislav Namestnikov (WPG) carry IR tags.
Ownership figures are not available for this slate.
Our model's top lineup uses the full $50,000. It puts Sebastian Aho at captain for $14,400, then adds Logan Stankoven ($7,800), K'Andre Miller ($5,000), Jalen Chatfield ($3,800), Pyotr Kochetkov ($10,800) and Cole Perfetti ($8,200) in the flex spots. Lock is Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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