Saturday night hockey is here – and with that, we have a six game Main Slate, a little shorter than most as the league has scheduled a fair number of games spread out through the day. Given by this point in the season, I think it’s likely that you’ll now who is likely going to be the chalk for the slate – I’m going to pivot to a bit of a different format tonight to try it out, starting by quickly listing some stacks that I think will be among the highest owned, then having a look at some other options that I like for the slate tonight – so let’s get right to it!
- I’m expecting the top lines to be popular for both the Jets and Oilers tonight in a game with the highest projected total on the board – so if you are looking to get some exposure here to another interesting line, I like the spot for WPG2 tonight as a contrarian option. Ehlers has been incredible all season long, and has continued that into his recent play which has seen him light the lamp five times in his past 5 games – and while his advanced metrics are lacking a little bit, Copp makes up for them, sitting 6th in the league in terms of xG/60.
- The top PP unit for the Wild, focused on the wingers (mainly Fiala and Kaprizov) is a great way to approach Minnesota tonight, who are one of my favourite plays on the board as they go up against a Sharks team that struggles to defend. I hate the options up the middle for the Wild, though you could tack on Victor Rask as a punt with upside at his price point with this pair if you wanted to free up some salary for min-price. The match-up against the Sharks is outstanding, and I like the spot for the big guns for the Wild tonight.
- An underrated line for the Bolts is their third unit, a line that I loved as a contrarian option in the playoffs last year to mix into builds. The surface stats aren’t great with them, and only Gourde sees time with the man advantage – but they are one of the better lines in hockey in terms of advanced metrics, checking with 2.73 xGF per 60 minutes. They pretty regularly see 16-17 mins a night and the spot for them is a good one as they go up against the Panthers.
- The Red Wings have allowed the 7th most goals in the league and while the analytics say they have been a little bit unfortunate in that statistic, I still think the spot is a good one for the Hawks tonight. They no longer have Kane skating with Debrincat here at even strength, though I do like the idea of a 3-man PP1 stack for them with Dach-Kane-Debrincat in this spot, partly as it just gets access to the best options up front for Chicago on a slate where I am not expecting them to be too popular in terms of ownership levels. The Hawks are tied for 5th in PP goals on the season, checking in with 31.
Who do I think are going to be the chalk stacks tonight?
- CAR1/CAR PP1
- McDavid/Draisaitl, EDM PP1
- WPG1
- TB1
This article focuses mainly on stacking, and with the short slate, it is a little bit more condensed today than usual. If you want to see my favourite one-off plays, please look out for the NHL Daily Cheat Sheet that will be out a little later on this afternoon!
