This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
The NHL season has only just begun, and we're already getting a day with only one game. Hey, consider it a breather before we dive all the way in. This means that DraftKings contests are operating under Showdown rules. The Senators are hosting the Stars, and both teams played on the road Saturday. One player will be your captain, and their points are worth 1.5 times the points. Then, you choose six more players on top of that.
Here's a lineup I might make with my $50,000 salary cap...
Captain
Roope Hintz, DAL at OTT ($12,600): Hintz broke out last season with 43 points in 41 games. Sure, Tyler Seguin wasn't around, but Seguin is not necessarily back to full strength yet. Out of those two, it's Hintz who is on the top power-play unit for the Stars. Last year the Senators allowed the fifth-most shots on net per game, and the goalie situation is far from ideal. With Matt Murray out, it looks like the Sens might start Anton Forsberg on back-to-back days.
Flex
Anton Khudobin, DAL at OTT ($11,400): This is a bet on the Stars winning this game, even on the road. Khudobin is also clearly the best goaltending option from this matchup. Yes, he had a .905 save percentage last season, but strong defense in front of him meant he still had a 2.54 GAA. Plus, over his previous two campaigns with Dallas he had a .926 save percentage.
Thomas Chabot, OTT vs. DAL ($8,600): This is not the kind of game where you want to just stack up on players from one team. It's early in the season and both of these teams are on the second leg of a back-to-back. The situation is nebulous and could go a variety of ways. Chabot is a workhorse, as he's averaged over 26 minutes in ice time -- and over three minutes in power play time -- in each of his last two seasons. When you are on the ice that much, and are as active offensively as Chabot is, that raises the upside significantly.
Tim Stutzle, OTT vs. DAL ($6,200): Stutzle is currently the top left wing for the Senators. As a rookie, he notched 12 goals and 17 assists in 53 games. Doing that as an 18-year-old in a season as odd as the last one is promising. Will he take the leap this year?
Miro Heiskanen, DAL at OTT ($5,600): Heiskanen opened the season with a bang, picking up a goal and an assist. It feels like he's sort of overlooked now, given that he has perhaps not progressed as quickly as some expected. That being said, in his age-21 season last year he scored eight goals on 121 shots and had 19 assists in 55 games. For a defenseman, that's impressive, and if John Klingberg is still out Sunday he'll get more minutes than usual, as well.
Denis Gurianov, DAL at OTT ($4,600): Gurianov's minutes increased significantly last season, though his goal total dropped from 20 to 12 in part because his shooting percentage dropped by a large margin. On the other hand, he went from having only nine assists as a rookie to 18 last year. The Russian has been active to start the season, notching six shots on goal over two games. As I noted earlier, the Senators ranked in the bottom five in shots allowed per contest last season.
