This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
There were 11 games played Tuesday, and another nine clashes are scheduled for Thursday, but in between that, we have a fairly light night of hockey. Tonight's games are also skewed toward later starts. The earliest outing starts at 7:30 p.m. ET (Buffalo at Detroit) followed by games at 9 p.m. (Vancouver at Calgary), 10 p.m. (Anaheim at Utah) and 10:30 p.m. (Montreal at Seattle). Here are my FanDuel lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Vancouver, Anaheim and Montreal all played Tuesday, so fatigue might be a factor working against those three squads when they play again tonight. Wednesday's action might be particularly trying for the Canadiens, who are also at the tail-end of a four-game road trip.
GOALIES
Karel Vejmelka, UTA vs. ANA ($7,900): With just a handful of games scheduled for tonight and several teams playing tired, compromises must be made. Vejmelka has had a rough time recently, posting a 1-1-2 record, 2.93 GAA and .900 save percentage across his past four outings, but he's been respectable overall with a 17-16-6 record, 2.49 GAA and .909 save percentage in 41 appearances, and the 28-year-old netminder is set to face favorable competition. In addition to facing Anaheim when it's in the second half of a back-to-back, the Ducks also rank 29th in games per game with 2.66.
Dustin Wolf, CAL vs. VAN ($7,800): The Flames rank last in goals per game (2.56), but Calgary is still in a wild-card spot, and that's largely thanks to Wolf. He's 22-12-4 with a 2.52 GAA and a .915 save percentage in 38 appearances this campaign and is coming off a 26-save shutout over Montreal on Saturday. The Canucks are 3-6-0 over their last nine games and have managed just 2.11 goals per game in that span.
VALUE PLAYS
Juraj Slafkovsky, MON at SEA ($5,400): As noted above, the Canadiens are likely tired, as they enter their second game in as many nights and their fourth straight road clash, so I don't love recommending one of their players tonight, but among the limited affordable options available, Slafkovsky is one of the hottest. He's coming off a three-game points streak (one goal, two assists), and has four goals and nine points across his past nine appearances. Montreal is also in an intense race for a wild-card spot, which will perhaps help Slafkovsky and the Canadiens dig a little deeper to overcome the challenges on their schedule.
Josh Doan, UTA vs. ANA ($4,500): Doan was quiet across his first 22 outings with Utah this campaign, providing just two goals and five points, but he's found his rhythm lately. The 23-year-old has provided two goals and eight points across his past 11 appearances. We saw a glimpse of this kind of production in 2023-24 (five goals and nine points in 11 outings), and it'll be interesting to see if he can keep this up for the remainder of the campaign.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Utah HC vs. Ducks
Logan Cooley (C - $6,500), Clayton Keller (W - $8,100), Nick Schmaltz (W - $6,500)
Keller has 23 goals and 73 points in 63 appearances this campaign, putting him on track to surpass his career high of 86 points, which was established in 2022-23. He's racing toward his personal best by supplying five goals and 16 points across his last 10 games.
Schmaltz might surpass his career high in points, too, which currently stands at 61. He has 15 goals and 50 points in 64 outings this campaign, including four goals and six points over his past five appearances.
The third member of this unit, Cooley, has been held off the scoresheet for each of his past four games, but he's still having a strong campaign overall with 17 goals and 47 points across 57 outings, so I recommend taking him to round out the line. It helps that the 20-year-old has been steady this campaign – this is already his longest point drought of 2024-25 – so he shouldn't remain quiet for much longer.
DEFENSEMEN
Mikhail Sergachev, UTA vs. ANA ($5,800): Sergachev has provided a goal and six points across his past five outings, bringing him up to 11 goals and 42 points in 59 appearances in 2024-25. Barring an incredible string to end the campaign, he'll fall below his career high of 64 points, but hitting the 50-point mark for the second time in his career is an obtainable goal for the 26-year-old.
Adam Larsson, SEA vs. MON ($4,600): Larsson typically doesn't stand out offensively. He did set a career high in 2022-23 with 33 points, but the 32-year-old has otherwise never recorded more than 25 points in a single campaign. However, he's going through a hot stretch with two goals and seven points over his past nine outings, so he's a good value play for as long as that string of production continues.
