Friday's main slate is a three-game card: CBJ @ BUF, ANA @ CGY and SJS @ MIN. It locks at 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT), and the salary cap is $50,000.
Our model's top-ranked play by ceiling is Tage Thompson (BUF) at $8,400, with a 35.0 ceiling against a DraftKings average of 17.5. Cutter Gauthier (ANA) is next at $8,100 with a 31.0 ceiling and a 17.2 average. Matt Boldy (MIN) sits at $7,800 with a 30.5 ceiling, and Kirill Kaprizov (MIN) costs $8,300 with a 26.6 ceiling and the second-highest DraftKings average of the group at 16.8. Macklin Celebrini (SJS) is the most expensive of the top plays at $8,700, with a 27.8 ceiling.
Minnesota shows up often on our board. Jesper Wallstedt is the top-ranked goalie at $8,400, with a 21.3 ceiling and a 13.8 average. On defense, Quinn Hughes (MIN) at $6,800 carries a 24.1 ceiling, while Zach Werenski (CBJ) at $7,600 has a 25.9 ceiling. Hughes is the cheaper way to get that kind of upside from the blue line.
Value is where our model finds its lineup room. It likes Kent Johnson at $4,800, Noah Ostlund at $4,100, Mason Marchment at $4,000, Zayne Parekh at $3,400 and Nick Jensen at $2,500. Those cheap pieces are what let it pay up elsewhere.
We don't have ownership figures for this slate, so we can't say where the crowd will land. Check the injury designations before building: Filip Gustavsson, Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon (all MIN) carry IR tags, as do Alex Lyon (BUF), Kyle Keyser (SJS) and four Anaheim players, Troy Terry, Ryan Poehling and A.J. Greer among them.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,600 of the $50,000 cap: Joel Eriksson Ek and Ostlund at center, Kaprizov, Boldy and Johnson on the wings, Parekh and Jensen on defense, Wallstedt in goal and Marchment at UTIL.
Lock is 7:00 p.m. ET, so get your lineups in before then.
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