This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Oh, Canada! Saturday's lone NHL matchup pits the Oilers against the Canucks. Edmonton needs to win to push this series to seven games. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EDT. FanDuel allots you $55,000 in salary for five players. One is your Captain, and he will earn you 1.5 times the points. This is the lineup that appealed to me.
CAPTAIN
Leon Draisaitl, EDM vs. VAN ($15,000): Connor McDavid is Edmonton's best player, but Draisaitl is no slouch as he's often come up huge in the playoffs. This year is no different with him providing a league-high 21 points this postseason. Draisaitl has also notched multiple points in eight of 10 appearances with over 100 in the last five regular seasons other than the shortened 2020-21 campaign. If he doesn't register a point on Saturday, it'll be his first time being held off the scoresheet during these playoffs.
UTILITY
Evan Bouchard, EDM vs. VAN ($12,000): Edmonton finished fourth in power-play percentage during the regular season, and that's continued as the unit has since converted 40 percent of its chances. The Canucks ranked 17th on the penalty kill, and that was with Thatcher Demko much of the time as opposed to the unproven Arturs Silovs. Bouchard's booming slap shot is a big part of that man-advantage. He also racked up 35 power-play points over the season with seven more in the playoffs.
Quinn Hughes, VAN at EDM ($10,500): One of the few defensemen as adept on the power play as Bouchard is Hughes with 38 PPPs and another three this series. Silovs is an unproven goalie, yet Calvin Pickard is a proven below-average netminder. He's a 32-year-old journeyman who wasn't even the backup in Edmonton when the season began and enters with a career .904 save percentage.
Elias Lindholm, VAN at EDM ($9,500): The Canucks made a big trade for Lindholm in the quest for the Cup. He managed six goals and six assists across 26 regular-season games, which was a respectable return on investment. Lindholm didn't do much against the Predators, which was worrisome. However, he's bounced back against the Oilers with six points while currently riding a three-game scoring streak.
Pius Suter, VAN at EDM ($7,500): With the players available with the salary remaining, Suter stuck out to me for one reason. It's not so much his 14 goals and 15 assists this season, though that is reasonable complementary scoring. It's the recent makeup of the Canucks' lineup as Suter has been skating with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. If that continues on Saturday, that gives him significant upside.
