This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
We had a couple of games in Europe. We had three games open the NHL regular season proper Tuesday. Now, Wednesday is an uptick in action. There are five NHL games on the docket today. That's not exactly a cavalcade of contests, but it does give DFS players plenty of options. It also gave me options to look through to provide lineup recommendations. Puck drops at 7 p.m. ET. Good luck.
SLATE PREVIEW
We don't have any teams on the second leg of a back-to-back just yet, but we do have three teams on the first leg. Of course, if a team decided to go with its backup goalie in its opener that would be a surprise, so I don't expect any unlikely options tending goal.
GOALIES
Joseph Woll, TOR at MON ($8,200): No roster is identical to what it was last year, and no team perfectly replicates prior performances. Montreal may be better offensively this season, but last season they averaged 2.83 goals and 27.7 shots on net per game. The Habs pretty comfortably had the worst offense of today's 10 teams. Woll scuffled a bit last season, finishing with a .907 save percentage. He's only 26, though, and Craig Berube was hired as head coach to try and help shore up the Maple Leafs defensively.
UPDATE: Woll will miss the contest due to lower-body tightness, but Anthony Stolarz ($8,000), who is now expected to start for Toronto, is a good substitute. The 30-year-old netminder is a capable understudy who posted a 2.03 GAA and a .925 save percentage across 27 regular-season appearances with Florida in 2023-24.
Igor Shesterkin, NYR at PIT ($8,100): Shesterkin's 2020-21 season will likely prove an outlier, but a 2.07 GAA and .935 save percentage would be an outlier for just about any goalie, even a very good one. The Russian netminder is very good, as even in his "down" campaign last season he had a 2.58 GAA and .912 save percentage, both above-average numbers. The Penguins finished 18th in goals per game last year, but the big names are all another year older. As the old saying goes, Father Time is undefeated.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Gabriel Vilardi, WPG at EDM ($5,000): Vilardi is only 25, but he's already threatening to get the "productive… when healthy" tag. He had 23 goals in 63 games in his last season as a King (2022). Last season with the Jets he had 22 goals in 47 games. Notably, when in the lineup, Vilardi averaged 3:17 per game with the extra man and had 14 points with the extra man. Stuart Skinner is still the guy for the Oilers, and the team has managed with him as the No. 1 guy, but it has never been a comfortable ride for the team. Last season his up-and-down performance left him with a 2.62 GAA, but also a .905 save percentage.
Connor Zary, CGY at VAN ($3,000): As a rookie, Zary potted 14 goals and added 20 assists in 63 games. He also averaged 2:10 per contest with the extra man. The expectation this season is that Zary will man the point on the top power-play unit. The Canucks had a middling penalty kill last year, but they also don't have Thatcher Demko right now. That leaves Kevin Lankinen – and his .905 career save percentage – as the likely go-to goalie for now.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Maple Leafs at Canadiens
John Tavares (C - $6,000), William Nylander (W - $7,200), Max Domi (W - $3,300)
Last season, the Canadiens allowed 33.4 shots on net per game. Given that they've added more youth and inexperience into the defense, improvements will likely be marginal, at best, on that front. This is not ideal for the Habs, given the goaltending situation. Sam Montembeault has been tapped to start Wednesday. He had a .903 save percentage last season. His career save percentage is .898. Thus, I am going with the Maple Leafs' second line for my stack.
Tavares may no longer be Toronto's captain, but he's still a productive player. He had 29 goals last season on 279 shots on net. He notched at least 20 power-play points for the third season in a row. Nylander has tallied 40 goals in each of his last two campaigns, and he could easily do that again this year. He's also an elite power-play producer, having notched at least 28 points with the extra man in each of the last three seasons. Domi's role, and minutes, saw a lot of fluctuation last season. Right now, though, a spot on the wing on Toronto's second line bodes well for him. He had 47 points last season – with a 6.6 shooting percentage that speaks to bad puck luck.
DEFENSEMEN
Filip Hronek, VAN vs. CGY ($3,800): The Canucks liked how well Hronek meshed with captain and cornerstone Quinn Hughes they signed him to a new eight-year deal. Hronek seemed to enjoy his role on Vancouver's top defensive pairing as well, given he tallied 48 points with a plus-33 rating. Dustin Wolf is only 23, and he was considered a top goaltending prospect. He still is, reasonably so, given his AHL success. That being said, in 17 NHL games last season, he had a 3.15 GAA and a .893 save percentage. Someday, Wolf will probably be a good NHL goalie, but he has not shown he is quite there yet.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, TOR at MON ($3,300): Though Ekman-Larsson had a lesser role with the Cup-winning Panthers than he was used to in prior stops, playing with talented teammates paid off. The Swede had nine goals and 32 points, both his best totals since the 2018-19 season. Ekman-Larsson has plenty of talent around him in Toronto and a favorable matchup for his first game with the team. Sam Montembeault has never finished with a GAA under 3.00 in any season of his career.
