The Saturday 11/07 NHL showdown is a single game, VAN @ EDM, with a $50,000 salary cap. The captain slot scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT).
The top of our model's ranking is all Edmonton. Connor McDavid costs $11,000 with a ceiling of 43.0 and a DraftKings average of 21.4. Leon Draisaitl is $10,600 with a 41.3 ceiling and a 19.3 average. Evan Bouchard, at $9,400, brings a 36.2 ceiling and an 18.2 average, a steep price for the position but backed by a real upside number. Devon Levi sits at $10,000 with a 20.2 ceiling and an 11.8 average, so his appeal rests more on role than on raw ceiling.
The value plays come from the Edmonton skaters at the bottom of the salary scale. Jake Walman is $5,000 with a ceiling of 23.1, and Colton Dach is $4,800 with a 21.8 ceiling. Those ceilings sit well above what their salaries imply, which is exactly what you want from pieces that free up cap room for stars. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins costs $8,600 with a 12.7 average and an 18.0 ceiling, which makes him the pricier mid-tier option. On the Vancouver side, Leevi Merilainen is $9,200 with a 13.4 ceiling, and our model does not see much room for him to pay off at that number. Tom Willander (VAN) carries a DTD tag, so check his status before lock.
The fact sheet does not include ownership figures for this slate, so we can't say where the crowd is likely to land.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,300 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Draisaitl at captain for $15,900, then fills the flex spots with Walman at $5,000, Elias-Nils Pettersson at $4,200, Levi at $10,000, Dach at $4,800 and Bouchard at $9,400. The build pairs one premium captain with cheap, high-ceiling Oilers to afford Levi and Bouchard.
Lineups lock at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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