This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Let's do it all again, huh? The Predators and Sharks played in Prague on Friday afternoon. They will do it once more Saturday with another 2:00 p.m. EDT puck drop. On FanDuel, you get $55,000 to spend on a roster of five players. That includes a captain, who earns you 1.5 times the points. FD doesn't let you select goalies, but that doesn't matter today as it's expected backups Kevin Lankinen and Kaapo Kahkonen will be in net. I'm predicting a lot of goals.
CAPTAIN
Timo Meier, SAN vs. NAS ($15,000): Of the two projected goalies, I have less faith in Lankinen. I know he spent his two NHL campaigns in Chicago playing behind a poor defense, but his .901 save percentage can't be anything other than discouraging. Unless you're considering the opposition, then it is very encouraging. Enter Meier, coming off a year where he potted 35 goals on a whopping 326 shots on net. That level of activity against a goalie like Lankinen? It just screams for success.
UTILITY
Matt Duchene, NAS vs. SAN ($13,000): Admittedly, Duchene's 43 goals and 43 assists last season was a real uptick in production for someone so deep into his career, and an 18.9 shooting percentage will be hard to replicate. However, he's previously produced two 30-goal and two 70-point campaigns. He also scored a goal and directed five shots on net in the season opener, a nice omen of what's to come.
Tanner Jeannot, NAS vs. SAN ($10,000): Jeannot enjoyed an out-of-nowhere breakthrough campaign with 24 goals in his first full season of NHL action. While he's still slotted in on the third line, he logged 17:37 in the opener and received over two minutes on both the power play and penalty kill. Kahkonen, by the way, enters with a career .908 save percentage.
Mikael Granlund, NAS vs. SAN ($9,500): Granlund has long been a playmaker, but how did he end up with 53 assists last season? Probably because he centered a line between Duchene and Filip Forsberg, who both ended up as 40-goal scorers. Granlund's still there, and Forsberg and Duchene are still clearly the Preds' top-two forwards. That should translate into plenty of helpers.
Kiefer Sherwood, NAS vs. SAN ($7,500): I didn't head into this looking to stack Predators – I think both netminder are worth targeting – but the salaries led things to play out this way. Sherwood, already a journeyman, is currently slotted on Nashville's second line and started the season with a goal and an assist. So far, so good for the winger on his new team with new center Ryan Johansen.
