This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Tuesday will be a great day for the NHL. All 32 teams will be in action. Monday is…a little less robust. There is only one game happening. The Sabres host the Canadiens, but you can still play DFS hockey. You have $50,000 in salary for six players. One is your Captain, who earns 1.5 times the points, though with an elevated salary. I'm steering clear of goalies here. First, I honestly don't have any sense of who will be starting, and both teams will need a goalie to go Tuesday, what with every team player. Second, all the goalie options are below average.
CAPTAIN
Nick Suzuki, MON at BUF ($12,000): With Suzuki, I got Montreal's best player at a reasonable salary that is still easily managed when elevated for the Captain role. Maybe his salary is little down because he doesn't have a goal yet, but he has three assists and nine shots on net through four games. He had 26 goals last season, and 21 the year prior. Plus, he's averaged 4:46 per contest on the power play, and the Sabres have a bottom-eight penalty kill since the start of last year.
FLEX
Tage Thompson, BUF vs. MON ($11,000): Thompson isn't off to a slow start as much as he is off to an unlucky start. He has one goal, but he's put 24 shots on net through five outings. That's a 4.2 shooting percentage for a guy that put up a 15.5 shooting percentage across the two prior campaigns. His shooting helped him score 47 goals last year, so I think Thompson will be just fine, perhaps as soon as Monday.
Cole Caufield, MON at BUF ($9,200): Caufield rides alongside Suzuki, and the two will likely be tied together for years, or at least that's the goal for Montreal. Speaking of goals, Caufield is quite good at scoring them. Across 127 career games he's potted 56 goals, including three this year. He also has five shots on net in each of his last three outings for good measure.
Dylan Cozens, BUF vs. MON ($8,200): Cozens has been on the first power-play unit all season, but recently he's also been moved to the wing on the first line, playing next to Thompson. He also happens to have a three-game point streak. The Canadiens also have the distinction of being in the bottom five in GAA, shots on net allowed per game, and penalty-kill percentage since the start of last year.
Casey Mittelstadt, BUF vs. MON ($4,600): I had to dip down in salary, but there are a couple of good options at this salary level. One of them is Mittelstadt, at present the second-line center for the Sabres, even getting to skate with Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch. He's been a little hit or miss, with two two-point games and three games without a point. However, those multi-point contests show the upside Mittelstadt has at this salary.
Tanner Pearson, MON at BUF ($4,400): Pearson is kind of the perfect third-line winger, and that's where he is with Montreal. The Habs actually have a solid veteran third line, with Pearson paired with Sean Monahan and Brendan Gallagher. Pearson is doing well for his new team, as he has a three-game point streak.
