We have a pretty heavy slate ahead of us for a Wednesday. There are 10 games on the docket, and the action is skewed toward the West Coast with six outings set to start at 9 p.m. or later. Here are my recommendations for tonight's action.
SLATE PREVIEW
Columbus, Edmonton and Seattle are each playing in the second half of a back-to-back, so fatigue might work against those squads tonight. Nashville, Florida, Los Angeles and Vegas are all set to play Thursday in addition to tonight, which might influence those teams' lineup decisions.
GOALIES
Mackenzie Blackwood, COL vs. SJS ($8,000): Blackwood is working through a mediocre patch, but he has been solid during it, posting a 1.28 GAA and a .953 save percentage across his past four appearances, even if that's resulted in a middling 2-2-0 record due to a lack of offensive support. Colorado is a great team, and Blackwood has been fantastic with a 15-5-1 record, 2.26 GAA and .916 save percentage in 21 outings this season, so this situation will work itself out.
Darcy Kuemper, LAK vs. SEA ($7,600): Kuemper has a 14-10-9 record, 2.55 GAA and .902 save percentage in 35 outings in 2025-26. He's coming off a 3-2 overtime victory over Philadelphia on Saturday in which he turned aside 19 of 21 shots. Seattle is a solid adversary, but the Kraken are playing their second road game in as many days, so Kuemper is facing them at a potentially opportune time.
John Gibson, DET at UTA ($7,500): Gibson posted a 21-save shutout over Colorado on Monday to end a three-game stretch in which he was 0-2-1 with a 3.36 GAA and an .852 save percentage. Even with that rough patch factored in, Gibson has been fantastic over his past 23 outings, posting an 18-4-1 record, 2.07 GAA and .925 save percentage.
VALUE PLAYS
Ivan Barbashev, VGK vs. VAN ($5,000): Barbashev has found the back of the net in each of his past three games. He's up to 15 goals and 38 points across 55 appearances in 2025-26, which means he's hit the 15-goal milestone for the fifth straight regular season.
Matt Duchene, DAL vs. STL ($4,900): Duchene has disappointed this campaign, managing just 18 points (nine goals) in 31 outings after finishing the 2024-25 regular season with 82 points in 82 appearances. However, Duchene seems to have turned a corner with his active five-game scoring streak in which he's collected five goals and seven points.
Pavel Buchnevich, STL at DAL ($4,700): Buchnevich has contributed three goals and eight points across his past six outings, including two goals and an assist in a 6-5 loss to Nashville on Monday. He's still well behind the pace needed to match his 57-point showing from the 2024-25 regular season – he has 11 goals and 33 points in 56 outings in 2025-26 -- but perhaps he's setting himself up for a strong second half.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Jets vs. Canadiens
Mark Scheifele (C - $7,400), Kyle Connor (W - $7,300), Gustav Nyquist (W - $3,400)
Scheifele is on a four-game scoring streak in which he's collected two goals and six points, which gives him 27 goals and 67 points in 55 outings in 2025-26. He's being paced by Connor, who is also on a four-game scoring streak (one goal, four assists) and is up to 24 goals and 63 points in 55 appearances this season.
By contrast, Nyquist has struggled this campaign with just nine assists in 34 appearances. It doesn't help that he's averaged just 12:57 of ice time this campaign, but playing on the top line might help spark him.
Golden Knights vs. Canucks
Jack Eichel (C - $8,000), Ivan Barbashev (W - $5,000), Alexander Holtz (W - $3,400)
Vancouver has struggled in its own zone this campaign, allowing a league-worst 3.63 goals per game. To make matters worse, the Canucks are an abysmal 3-15-3 while allowing 4.10 goals per game across their past 21 games, so it's safe to say these are favorable circumstances for Vegas' forwards.
Barbashev will look to extend his three-game goal-scoring streak, giving him 15 goals and 38 points in 55 outings this year. Meanwhile, Eichel has collected 19 goals and 64 points in 48 appearances in 2025-26.
Holtz has just two goals and seven points in 24 outings this campaign, so you could consider skipping him. If you can afford the upgrade, Pavel Dorofeyev (W - $6,100) has been strong this campaign, with 24 goals and 41 points in 55 outings, while Mark Stone (W - $7,800) has 20 goals and 55 points in just 39 appearances. Stone and Dorofeyev are both projected to serve on the top power-play unit, which gives them synergy with Eichel.
DEFENSEMEN
Quinn Hughes, MIN at NAS ($7,000): Hughes collected three helpers Monday, which extended his scoring streak to nine games (two goals, 14 assists). The 26-year-old is up to five goals and 55 points through 51 outings in 2025-26.
Roman Josi, NAS vs. MIN ($6,900): Josi has an incredible 19 points (five goals) across his past 11 appearances, including four assists Monday. His recent success has propelled him to 10 goals and 37 points across 43 outings this campaign.
Thomas Harley, DAL vs. STL ($5,900): Harley has found the back of the net in three of his past four games, including once with the man advantage. Although he has just five goals (22 points) in 44 outings this campaign, Harley did reach the 15-goal mark in each of the previous two regular seasons, so he's capable of finding the back of the net at a rate higher than he's done in 2025-26.
