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There’s just one NHL game scheduled for Monday night, which gives us an unusual situation with a featured NHL Showdown slate. The sole game is taking place in western Canada, with the Vancouver Canucks hosting the Ottawa Senators. The game is set for a late start, with lock at 10:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy hockey lineups here: NHL $40K Great White North Showdown [$10K to 1st] (OTT vs VAN)
Top Offensive Targets
Vancouver Canucks
Elias Pettersson ($8,800), J.T. Miller ($8,400), Brock Boeser ($8,200)
Pricing is pretty tight for this showdown slate, especially in lineups that include a goalie or two, and the Canucks’ first line comes at a slight discount from some of the other big names in this game. Bo Horvat ($9,600) has easily been the Canucks’ top producer so far this season, but he has lower quality linemates on line two than Pettersson does on line one. Horvat is an integral part of the first power-play unit and has plenty of scoring potential, but he’s probably just comparable to his aforementioned teammates, and he’s harder to afford.
Ottawa Senators
Nick Paul ($5,800), Evgenii Dadonov ($4,600), Artem Anisimov ($2,000)
The Senators' third line is theoretically an off-the-board pick, being lower down on the depth chart, but this group actually led the team in even-strength ice time in their last game against the Jets. The main appeal here is really the pricing, which would have to be considered cheap for any line with decent scoring potential. The first two Senators’ lines are simply going to be much harder to fit, and the expected output for line three might not be much lower, if at all.
Top Defensive Targets
Vancouver Canucks
Alexander Edler ($7,400), Nate Schmidt ($6,600)
Edler sat out one game last week, and without their most important defenseman, the Canucks lost 7-3 at home to the Canadiens. Edler’s role is more toward the defensive side, especially compared to Quinn Hughes ($8,800), but at $7,400 there’s reason to like him for this showdown slate as well. Edler skates on Vancouver’s top pair and figures to get plenty of ice time, and he’s live for the shots on goal and blocked shot bonuses as well. Schmidt is on the top pair too and has a similar profile while coming in even cheaper than Edler does. Schmidt also gets the benefit of second power-play unit time, which makes him an interesting pivot off of Hughes if the first unit struggles.
Ottawa Senators
Thomas Chabot ($9,000)
There’s not a lot to like from Ottawa’s defense in terms of value, and that could make Chabot worth paying up for. Chabot is an integral part of the Senators’ power play and that’s generally where he does the most damage, and correlating him with some of the PP1 forwards is certainly a viable strategy. Chabot has been held off the score sheet in three consecutive games and that could work to keep his ownership lower.
Slate Strategy
Finding an edge in an NHL showdown is often a difficult task, but this seems like a game in which the goalies will be under-owned, particularly on the Ottawa side. The Senators are arguably the worst defensive team in the NHL which should make most of the Canucks’ top scoring options extremely popular, and that likely will lead to some pretty low ownership on goaltender Matt Murray ($15,300 CP; $10,200). Murray is cheaper than his goalie counterpart Braden Holtby ($11,200), but he’s still more expensive than any of the skaters, and it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be prioritized for this game. Murray is surely a scary pick, but it’s a pick that has a lot of potential if it does happen to work out.
Set your DraftKings fantasy hockey lineups here: NHL $40K Great White North Showdown [$10K to 1st] (OTT vs VAN)
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