The NHL kicked off the season Tuesday with a tripleheader, and now Wednesday takes things to a new level. There are six games on the slate, all in the traditional evening hours. The first games start at 7 p.m. ET. Also, we already have our first team on the second leg of a back-to-back in the Chicago Blackhawks. Man, they really want to wring every ounce out of Connor Bedard early, huh? Here are the guys to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Ilya Samsonov, TOR vs. MON ($31): With Matt Murray out for basically the entire season, Samsonov is going to have to be the guy for the Maple Leafs. He was up to the task last year when he posted a 2.33 GAA and .919 save percentage. While the Canadiens averaged 2.77 goals per game last season, they also averaged a mere 27.3 shots on net per contest. It’s hard to convert goals at that rate when you manage so few shots on target.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Alexandar Georgiev, COL at LOS ($36): Last season Georgiev had a 2.53 GAA and .918 save percentage, both personal bests. Can he replicate that success? The Kings averaged 3.34 goals per contest last year, 10th in the NHL, and they notably added Pierre-Luc Dubois in the offseason to try and boost the high-end talent on the team.
CENTER
Pavel Zacha, BOS vs. CHI ($18): Zacha, your time is now. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have both retired. Zacha is in line to be the new top-line center. In his first season with the Bruins he did post 21 goals and 36 assists. This is a nice game to ease in with, as the Blackhawks are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back and Arvid Soderblom has a career .889 save percentage.
CENTER TO AVOID
Connor Bedard, CHI at BOS ($21): Well, Bedard has NHL experience come Wednesday, and even a point to his name, so there’s that. Of course, he’ll also be playing his second game in as many nights. Plus, Boston’s goaltending duo had a 2.12 GAA last season, which was best in the NHL by a wide margin.
WING
William Nylander, TOR vs. MON ($25): For two seasons in a row, Nylander has had at least 80 points, with at least 28 of them coming on the power play. He also notched over 250 shots on net in both campaigns. I don’t see anything changing this season. The Canadiens ranked 29th on the penalty kill last year, and over the last three seasons Jake Allen has a .900 save percentage.
Connor Brown, EDM at VAN ($10): Brown’s time with the Capitals was swift. He played in four games before tearing his ACL. Now, not only is he healthy, but he’s expected to skate on Edmonton’s top line. That is to say, he’s expected to play next to Connor McDavid. We have seen what that spot has done for the likes of Zach Hyman. Plus, if he sees any power-play time, the Canucks finished last on the penalty kill last year.
WINGS TO AVOID
Claude Giroux, OTT at CAR ($20): Giroux was excellent in his first season with the Senators, though his 16.4 shooting percentage was fairly elevated. However, the Hurricanes have a track record of keeping opposing offenses in check, particularly when it comes to preventing shots. Indeed, Carolina allowed a mere 26.0 shots on net per contest last year, lowest in the NHL. It also had the second-ranked penalty kill, and 24 of Giroux’s 79 points came with the extra man.
Jonathan Huberdeau, CGY vs. WPG ($17): In his first season with the Flames, Huberdeau saw his point total dip from 115 to 55. Now, he will likely rebound some, but perhaps not in Calgary’s season opener. It turns out Connor Hellebuyck is staying with the Jets for the long term. While he has a reputation of losing steam due to heavy workloads, he still had a .920 save percentage last season. Rested from the offseason, the American netminder should be at peak performance.
DEFENSE
Charlie McAvoy, BOS vs. CHI ($20): McAvoy is now one of the cornerstones of the Bruins, not to mention the key defenseman. He has over 50 points in each of his last two seasons, built largely on taking on an outsized role with the power play. A rebuilding Blackhawks team on the second leg of a back-to-back likely won’t have much of a penalty kill.
Brady Skjei, CAR vs. OTT ($13): While Skjei likely won’t score 18 goals again, his 38 points last season was actually one fewer than the 39 he had the season prior. The Senators are turning to Joonas Korpisalo in net, and he is coming off a campaign where he posted a .914 save percentage. However, his career save percentage is .904, which is not discouraging.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Josh Morrissey, WPG at CGY ($21): Morrissey is coming off a great year, but there are a couple reasons to be skeptical he replicates that performance. One, he had a 9.3 shooting percentage. Two, he had 28 power-play points, which almost doubled his previous high of 15. The Flames had the fifth-ranked penalty kill last year, even though Jacob Markstrom had a bad campaign. I expect the netminder to regress toward the mean in a positive sense, the inverse of Morrissey. The Swedish goalie has a .911 save percentage over the previous eight seasons.
Seth Jones, CHI at BOS ($16): Jones is basically the only good player in his prime on Chicago’s roster, aside from perennial trade fodder Taylor Hall. That makes it a tough situation for the defenseman. What’s even tougher is facing the Bruins, who were first in GAA and penalty-kill percentage last season.
