This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
There are just four games scheduled for the penultimate day of the regular season. I have some recommendations to consider for your DFS lineup, but keep in mind that the chances of veterans being healthy scratches are high this late into the season. Just ask the Hurricanes, who kept nine players out of Tuesday's tilt against Columbus in the interest of resting them ahead of the playoffs. With that in mind, you'll want to wait as close to game time as possible before locking in your choices.
SLATE PREVIEW
Toronto is the only team that is playing in the second half of a back-to-back tonight. The Maple Leafs are already locked into the third seed of the Atlantic Division, so they'll probably take this opportunity to rest several of their players. One noteworthy exception might be Auston Matthews ($10,500) to give him a final shot at the 70-goal milestone.
GOALIES
Ilya Sorokin, NYI vs. PIT ($7,600): Sorokin has a 24-19-12 record, 2.99 GAA and .908 save percentage in 55 contests this season, which is a noticeable decline from his 2022-23 finish with a 2.34 GAA and a .924 save percentage. On the plus side, he has been strong recently, stopping 84 of 89 shots (.944 save percentage) over his past three appearances. Like most playoff-bound teams, the Islanders might rest players tonight, but that might be balanced out somewhat by the Penguins no longer being in the postseason hunt, which might put a damper on Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin's late-campaign surge.
Karel Vejmelka, ARI vs. EDM ($7,100): This is a bit of a weird one. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't recommend Vejmelka, who has a 13-19-2 record, 3.35 GAA and .895 save percentage in 38 outings, in a contest against the Oilers, who rank fourth offensively with 3.61 goals per game. Indeed, this pick could end up being a bad one. However, Edmonton might rest several key players, and even if the Oilers don't, they have nothing left to play for until the postseason. Meanwhile, this will be the Coyotes' final game in Arizona before the move to Salt Lake City, so the Coyotes have a reason to put their all into this contest as a sendoff to their fans. At the very least, Vejmelka is an inexpensive option, and on a day where there's so much uncertainty in terms of who is and isn't in the lineup, there are worse ideas than putting your faith in one of the few groups with something left to play for.
VALUE PLAYS
Matias Maccelli, ARI vs. EDM ($4,800): I'm leaning a bit on the Coyotes tonight, but Maccelli would be a nice addition regardless. He's excelled recently with five goals and 10 points over his past 10 outings. He's also had a pretty strong campaign relative to his price point, supplying 16 goals and 56 points across 81 games.
Josh Doan, ARI vs. EDM ($4,300): Doan's NHL career has gotten off to a fantastic start. The 22-year-old has contributed five goals and nine points over 10 outings. Although he only just started playing for Arizona, he does have a deep connection to the Coyotes franchise through his father, Shane Doan, so this final game in Arizona might be a special one for the younger Doan.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Maple Leafs at Lightning
Auston Matthews (C - $10,500), Mitchell Marner (W - $8,800), Tyler Bertuzzi (W - $5,800)
It's hard picking high-end players to recommend tonight because a lot of them could be scratched. Even middle-six veterans aren't necessarily safe. For example, I was going to recommend the Islanders' Pierre Engvall ($4,100) as a value play, but he's now projected to be a healthy scratch Wednesday. Under these circumstances, it's helpful to latch onto those who have something left to play for and Matthews qualifies.
The 26-year-old Leafs center remains one goal away from 70 and this is his last opportunity to reach that milestone, so in a game that's otherwise meaningless for these two squads, he might be the hungriest player on the ice. Marner isn't chasing a milestone, but he is red hot with two goals and nine points over his past six outings. Meanwhile, Bertuzzi has six goals and nine points across his past 11 games, so he'd be worth selecting as well if he's part of the Matthews line.
DEFENSEMEN
Morgan Rielly, TOR at TBL ($7,100): Provided Rielly isn't a healthy scratch, the 30-year-old defenseman would be a great add tonight. He's collected seven helpers over his last seven contests, bringing him up to 58 points (seven goals) in 72 appearances in 2023-24.
Darnell Nurse, EDM at ARI ($5,500): Nurse has 10 goals and 32 points in 80 contests this season, which is down from 43 points in 2022-23. On the plus side, Nurse seems poised to end the campaign on a strong note after supplying a goal and six points over his last four outings.
