This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Wednesday's modest three-game NHL slate is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. EST. Below, you'll find a breakdown of the action and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
The Coyotes are no longer winless, but they're still the league's punching bags, so expect most lineups to be built around the Wild, who will be the night's largest favorites in Arizona. Elsewhere, the star-laden Maple Leafs are modest road favorites in what's expected to be the night's highest-scoring game in Philadelphia (over/under 6.0 goals), and the Stars are slight home favorites with the Predators in town.
GOALIES
Kaapo Kahkonen, MIN at ARI ($8,100): With the Wild kicking off a back-to-back set, Kahkonen will likely draw the front end against the inferior opponent and let Cam Talbot deal with Vegas on Thursday. Arizona's averaging a league-low 1.58 goals per game to go with its horrid 1-10-1 record, so whichever goalie Minnesota goes with will be the chalk play in net. Kahkonen has been used sparingly this season but showed promise last year, with a 16-8-0 record, 2.88 GAA and .902 save percentage.
Juuse Saros, NSH at DAL ($7,500): Saros has an extensive track record of posting strong numbers while working in a timeshare with Pekka Rinne, and so far, he's holding up just fine as the unquestioned No. 1 option in Nashville's net. He'll have a nice opportunity to further improve his 5-4-1 record, 2.31 GAA and .925 save percentage against a Stars team that's scoring just 2.18 goals per game — fourth-fewest in the league.
Carter Hart, PHI vs. TOR ($7,600): Hart's off to a strong start after disappointing last year, as he's 3-2-2 with a 2.41 GAA and .926 save percentage. Deploying him against the star-powered Toronto attack is risky, but it's a strategy that has paid off more often than not thus far, as the Maple Leafs average just 2.54 goals (sixth-fewest) on 35.4 shots (sixth-most) per game.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Auston Matthews, TOR at PHI ($9,200): Matthews is capable of carrying lineups in the largest of slates, so not locking him in opens you up to the possibility of digging an insurmountable hole in this three-game slate. The 24-year-old three-time 40-goal scorer has three multi-point efforts in his last four games, notching two goals on six shots on two different occasions during this strong stretch.
Claude Giroux, PHI vs. TOR ($6,000): Giroux and Sean Couturier boast identical 5-7-12 lines through 10 games, leaving them tied for the team points lead. Both are available at $6,000 here, so Giroux's your man if you need a winger while Couturier should offer similar value at center. Digging into the weeds, Giroux has 32 shots to Couturier's 28, and the winger has points in all but one game this season while the center has been blanked thrice.
Matt Duchene, NSH at DAL ($5,800): Duchene is enjoying a bounce-back season on Nashville's top line. His 5-5-10 line includes four goals and five assists in the past seven games. Keep plugging him in while he's hot.
Lawson Crouse, ARI vs. MIN ($3,400): Crouse led the Coyotes to their first win of the season with a two-goal effort in his last game, and the affordable winger leads the team with four goals. He also trails only Shayne Gostisbehere (1-8-9) in points, as Crouse has racked up six through 12 games. If you think the Coyotes can build on that win over the Kraken with another competitive performance, Crouse makes for a nice value option.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Wild at Coyotes
Frederick Gaudreau (C - $3,600), Kirill Kaprizov (W - $7,400), Mats Zuccarello (W - $6,600)
Kaprizov and Zuccarello are a pair of skilled scoring wingers who are primed to dominate the lowly Coyotes, who are allowing 4.00 goals per game. The former has a 2-7-9 line through 11 games after notching a 27-24-51 line in 55 games last season, while the latter's performing at a point-per-game pace, with a 3-4-7 line through seven appearances. Minnesota remains without an elite center to stick in between these two high-scoring wingers, but Gaudreau's a solid value play as long as he maintains his top-line deployment, especially in favorable matchups like this one.
Maple Leafs at Flyers
John Tavares (C - $7,100), Mitch Marner (W - $7,500), Alex Kerfoot (W - $3,200)
This has been one of the league's hottest lines of late, though anyone looking to use this stack will need to check back in and make sure Tavares (undisclosed) is playing, as he's listed as a game-time decision. Marner's the engine that drives this line, and he's put his slow start behind him with a 3-9-12 line during his current six-game point streak. Tavares has tacked on a 6-4-10 line during a six-game point streak of his own, while Kerfoot has chipped in a goal and three assists in his last five games.
Stars vs. Predators
Roope Hintz (C - $5,800), Jason Robertson (W - $4,700), Joe Pavelski (W - $5,500)
Robertson's return has gotten Pavelski going, and it's likely only a matter of time until Hintz gets rolling as well. After taking a game to get acclimated in his return from an upper-body injury, Robertson — who had 45 points in 51 games as a rookie last season — has notched a 1-3-4 line in his last four games. That productive stretch has coincided with a four-game Pavelski point streak. Hintz just notched only his second point of the season last game, but he has multiple shots in each of the past eight, with st least three shots in six of those. The 24-year-old center is too good to stay snakebitten much longer, as Hintz had 43 points in 41 appearances last season.
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Dumba, MIN at ARI ($5,900): Dumba has a 1-4-5 line during his active four-game point streak and a 2-7-9 line in 11 games overall. He has also provided secondary stats in spades, with 33 shots and 21 blocks. His well-rounded game gives Dumba a high floor, while facing the defensively challenged Coyotes boosts his ceiling as well.
Miro Heiskanen, DAL vs. NSH ($6,000): Heiskanen's breakout came in the 2020 postseason, when he had 26 points in 27 games, and he's finally maintaining that level in the regular season. The third-overall selection in the 2017 draft is producing at a point-per-game pace through 11, and Heiskanen has supplemented that scoring with 30 shots and 16 blocked shots.
Shayne Gostisbehere, ARI vs. MIN ($4,400): With nine points through 12 games, Gostisbehere offers nice offensive upside at a reasonable valuation. He already has a pair of three-point performances this season, and Gostisbehere has compiled a 1-4-5 line and 11 shots in his last four games.
Rasmus Ristolainen, PHI vs. TOR ($3,100): Ristolainen has been quietly effective on a Flyers team that doesn't ask him to leave his comfort zone and do everything like the Sabres did. Despite scoring only one point so far — which came in his last game — the former 58-point scorer has eclipsed 8.0 fantasy points in four of his past six games, notching at least three blocked shots in four of those six contests.
