This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Tuesday's NHL slate begins at 7:00 p.m. EDT and features five games. Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
Each of the five games in this slate have a clear favorite, though the Avalanche (at Arizona) are easily the largest favorites. The Panthers (at Chicago) and Flyers (vs. New Jersey) are set up for success offensively in what are projected to be the night's highest-scoring games, with over/unders of 6.5 and 6.0 goals, respectively. Red Wings-Predators and Lightning-Stars matchups round out this slate, with Nashville and Tampa Bay expected to win those games. Putting an emphasis on power play production could pay off here, as the league's four worst penalty kills (New Jersey, Nashville, Detroit and Chicago) will all be in action.
GOALIES
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB at DAL ($8,000): Vasilevskiy's rarely a bad option, as he comes into this one riding an 11-game winning streak. Overall, he's 20-3-1 with a 1.86 GAA and .933 save percentage, and two of Vasilevskiy's three shutouts have come against this Dallas team.
Adam Werner, COL at ARI ($8,100): Whichever goalie Colorado starts against the bottom-five Arizona offense will be an appealing choice here, as the Avalanche have won seven consecutive games while the Coyotes have dropped six of seven. After Philipp Grubauer ($8,300) started Monday's 5-1 win over Arizona, the heavily favored Avalanche will likely turn to Werner, though Grubauer again, Jonas Johansson ($8,100) and Hunter Miska ($6,500) are all options as well.
MacKenzie Blackwood, NJ at PHI ($7,200): Blackwood went through an extended drought after a red-hot start to the season, but he's back on a hot streak with wins in each of his last two outings and 68 saves on 71 shots over that span. Facing a Flyers team that's playing for the second time in as many nights and has won only four of its last 12 games, Blackwood's a boom-or-bust bargain option with plenty of upside.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
James van Riemsdyk, PHI vs. NJ ($6,200): Van Riemsdyk's 13-16-29 line has him leading the Flyers in both goals and points through 30 games, and he has been especially effective on the power play. The veteran power forward's team-high seven goals with the extra man rank top-10 in the league, and he has a golden opportunity to increase that total against New Jersey's league-worst 70.9 percent penalty kill.
Yanni Gourde, TB at DAL ($4,900): Gourde isn't one of the more prominent names on the Lightning's roster, but he's among the team's hottest players. He has a three-game goal streak going, and Gourde has consistently generated chances for a while now. Over his last nine games, the center has a 5-4-9 line, with at least four shots on goal in five of those nine contests.
Jesper Bratt, NJ at PHI ($4,200): Bratt has been quietly effective of late, with a four-game point streak going and eight points in his last 10 games. The affordable winger has a nice opportunity to extend his point streak against a struggling Flyers team that's 4-7-1 in its last 12 games with 53 goals allowed over that stretch.
Robby Fabbri, DET at NSH ($4,700): Prior to Detroit's shutout loss to Dallas on Saturday, Fabbri had compiled four goals in the previous two games and still has five in his last five. Given his first-line deployment, the skilled winger's in position to add to his recent scoring binge against a Nashville team that's giving up 3.22 goals per game.
Brandon Hagel, CHI vs. FLA ($2,700): Hagel's an under-the-radar value option who's quietly heating up. The second-line winger lit the lamp in each of Chicago's last two games against Florida (Feb. 13 and Feb. 15), and he has recorded a point in five of his last six games against teams besides the Lightning. That stretch also includes just one point in five meetings with Tampa Bay, but Hagel's far from the only player who has struggled against the reigning champs.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Panthers at Blackhawks
Alexander Wennberg (C - $3,700), Jonathan Huberdeau (W - $6,400), Patric Hornqvist (W - $6,600)
Chicago's giving up 3.25 goals per game, and the team's defensive struggles can be traced back to a bottom-five penalty kill that's denying only 72.5 percent of opposing power-play opportunities. Huberdeau and Hornqvist not only team up at even strength, but they're also prominent fixtures on Florida's top power-play unit, which should add to Chicago's shorthanded struggles. Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 15 power-play points and Hornqvist leads the team with seven power-play goals. Both wingers are also among the team's top three scorers overall, as Huberdeau boasts an 11-24-35 line through 31 games while Hornqvist's at 12-13-25. The affordable Wennberg has delivered a respectable output in between them, with a 6-8-14 line.
Avalanche at Coyotes
Nathan MacKinnon (C - $9,000), Mikko Rantanen (W - $8,000), Gabriel Landeskog (W - $7,000)
Committing to this stack will use up a large chunk of your cap room, but this trio can carry your lineup and has been doing so over the last few games. Colorado has healed up recently and steamrolled the competition, winning each of its last seven games while trampling the competition with a 24-6 goal differential over the last four. This line has unsurprisingly led the way over those last four contests, with MacKinnon and Landeskog posting identical 2-6-8 lines and Rantanen adding a 5-3-8 line. Meanwhile, Arizona has trended in the opposite direction, as the Coyotes have won only once in their last seven games.
Predators vs. Red Wings
Ryan Johansen (C - $3,900), Filip Forsberg (W - $7,700), Eeli Tolvanen (W - $3,900)
Nashville's having a disappointing season, but the Predators are still markedly better than the visiting Red Wings, who are getting outscored 3.25 to 2.22 on average and have won just 10 of 32 games. Forsberg has been far and away the best player for the Predators, leading the team in both goals (11) and points (28) through 32 contests. Tolvanen's actually third on the team with seven goals in just 23 games, and the 2017 first-round pick is coming off the best game of his brief NHL career, totaling a goal and two assists Sunday in Dallas. Johansen had a goal and an assist in that game against the Stars, perhaps finally marking a return to form for the highly paid center, who's much more of a bargain in fantasy than real life.
DEFENSEMEN
Cale Makar, COL at ARI ($5,200): Makar has hit the ground running in three games since his return from an upper-body injury, racking up a goal, an assist and 10 shots. The standout blueliner should only see his value increase from here as he gets back into top form, so lock Makar in at $5,200 while you still can.
Filip Hronek, DET at NSH ($4,700): Hronek has cooled down a bit after a dominant four-game stretch, but he still has eight points in his last six games. The 23-year-old blueliner actually leads Detroit in both points (18) and power-play points (seven) through 32 games, and Hronek has a nice opportunity to improve those totals against a Predators team that ranks 30th on the penalty kill at just 71.0 percent.
Keith Yandle, FLA at CHI ($4,500): Yandle remains one of the league's most effective power play point men, as his 14 points with the extra man have him trailing Huberdeau by just one. Fellow top-unit member Aaron Ekblad ($6,000) has higher upside thanks to his superior shot, but Yandle's pass-first approach can still help him provide excellent value against the vulnerable Chicago penalty kill.
Ty Smith, NJ vs. PHI ($3,200): Philadelphia's recent defensive struggles have already been touched upon, and Smith's the Devils defenseman best positioned to capitalize on those struggles. The rookie has 15 points through 29 games — putting him just three points shy of Pavel Zacha's team-high total — yet Smith can still be had for just $3,200.
