Tuesday's late NHL slate is a two-game card: DET @ STL and NSH @ LAK. DraftKings locks at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT), and the $50,000 cap leaves little room for waste across nine roster spots.
Goalie is where our model starts. Juuse Saros of NSH is priced at $7,300 with a ceiling of 22.7, while Joel Hofer of STL costs $8,200 and tops out at 21.7. Daniil Tarasov of DET sits at $7,200 with a 19.1 ceiling, the lowest of the three. On the skater side, Adrian Kempe of LAK carries the highest ceiling among the top plays at 27.9 for $6,900. Steven Stamkos of NSH is right behind at 26.2 for $6,300, and Artemi Panarin of LAK checks in at 25.5 for $7,400. Roman Josi of NSH offers a 25.2 ceiling from the defense spot at $6,800.
The value plays are what make the lineup fit. Philip Broberg of STL costs just $5,000 and still carries a 22.9 ceiling, a strong number for a defenseman at that price. Stamkos is the other bargain relative to his upside, since his $6,300 salary sits below both Kempe and Panarin.
The fact sheet gives no ownership figures for this slate, so we can't say where the crowd is headed. Check the status tags before building, though. Gustafsson of LAK, Marchessault of NSH and Gibson of DET all carry a DTD tag from DraftKings.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,800 of the $50,000 cap. It runs Ryan O'Reilly ($5,800) and Mason McTavish ($5,400) at center, Kempe ($6,900), Stamkos ($6,300) and Michael Rasmussen ($2,700) on the wings, and Josi ($6,800) and Broberg ($5,000) on defense. Saros ($7,300) is in goal, and Connor McMichael ($3,600) fills the UTIL spot.
Lineups lock at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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