This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Tuesday's NHL slate is a large one, with 11 games on the schedule after 7:00 PM Eastern time. Below, you'll find an overview of the matchups and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
There are plenty of lopsided matchups to target in this large slate. Some teams with the highest upside include the Sabres (vs. Detroit), Panthers (at New Jersey), Golden Knights (at Minnesota) and Avalanche (vs. Ottawa). Other games that feature plenty of high-end skill on both sides include the Lightning-Penguins and Rangers-Jets clashes.
GOALIES
Philipp Grubauer ($8,500) has the highest floor among this slate's goalies, as his Avalanche are 14-7-4 on home ice while the visiting Senators are 6-16-5 on the road. Even if the German netminder isn't at the top of his game, he has a high floor thanks to a high likelihood of plentiful offensive support from Colorado's league-best offense.
Jordan Binnington ($7,800) has scuffled recently, but he still has a solid 24-10-6 record, 2.66 GAA and .910 save percentage for the season. This meeting with a 29th-ranked Ducks offense that's averaging just 2.52 goals per game offers a great buy-low opportunity on Binnington as he looks to get back on track.
Mike Smith ($7,900) is on a tremendous run for the Oilers, going 7-0-1 with a combined 20 goals allowed over his last eight starts. He'll look to stay locked in at home against a Blackhawks team that's scoring the 12th-fewest goals per game (2.91).
The Flyers and Islanders are both playing their second game in as many nights, so expect some sluggish hockey that should benefit home-side goalie Semyon Varlamov ($8,100). Varly owns a 16-9-4 record, 2.58 GAA and .915 save percentage despite some recent struggles, while the Flyers are just 12-13-3 on the road.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Nathan MacKinnon ($8,500) is worth paying up for as this slate's most expensive skater. He's fourth league-wide in both goals (32) and points (76), and MacKinnon has a great opportunity to add to both totals against an Ottawa team that's surrendering 3.33 goals per game — third-most in the league.
Patrik Laine ($7,200) has suffered from poor shooting luck for most of the season, but he's been rapidly closing the gap between his season and career marks with nine goals in his last nine games. As things stand, the fourth-year winger's 13.0 shooting percentage still sits below his career mark of 15.3, and that has taken attention away from his development as a passer. Laine already has a career-high 29 assists and is a threat to mark the scoresheet in multiple ways against a Rangers team that's allowing 3.17 goals per game.
Mika Zibanejad ($7,900) has been the Rangers' biggest weapon on the power play. He leads the team with nine power-play goals, and Zibanejad only trails Artemi Panarin's team-leading total of 18 power-play points by one despite missing 13 of the team's 54 games while Panarin has only missed one. The Swedish center should thrive against Winnipeg's 26th-ranked, 75.3 percent penalty kill, especially since he's coming in hot with a 5-7-12 line and 43 shots in his last nine games.
Blake Coleman ($6,000) has some against-the-grain appeal in what figures to be a high-scoring affair against a Panthers team that averages 3.45 goals per game but allows 3.31. New Jersey's leading goal scorer has 21 in 54 games, including eight in his last 12.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Sabres vs. Red Wings
Jack Eichel (C - $8,200), Sam Reinhart (W - $5,900), Jimmy Vesey (W - $3,900)
Buffalo will be looking for revenge after losing 4-3 in a shootout to the Red Wings last Thursday. Considering Detroit allows the most goals per game (3.72) and scores the fewest (2.04), the Sabres are likely to get what they're looking for. That loss marked the start of a hot streak for Vesey, who has two goals, two assists and nine shots during an active three-game point streak. He joins Buffalo's top two scorers on the first line, as Eichel leads the team in both goals (31) and points (69), while Reinhart's second with 20 goals and 45 points.
Panthers at Devils
Aleksander Barkov (C - $7,400), Jonathan Huberdeau (W - $7,100), Evgenii Dadonov (W - $5,600)
Florida's finishing up a back-to-back set, but the Panthers' highly skilled top line still holds plenty of appeal against a Devils team that's giving up the second-most goals per game after Detroit (3.41). Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 68 points through 55 games while Dadonov leads them with 23 goals, yet Barkov is actually the team's most expensive skater. The center has a 16-39-55 line in 52 appearances, but last year's 35-61-96 output suggests Barkov's capable of picking up the pace even more moving forward.
Golden Knights at Wild
Paul Stastny (C - $5,100), Jonathan Marchessault (W - $6,100), Reilly Smith (W - $5,300)
Stastny has been terrific in the first-line center role since William Karlsson went down with a finger injury, racking up a 4-6-10 line in eight subsequent games. Karlsson is set to return for this matchup with a Wild team that's allowing 3.25 goals per game, but he'll be eased back in with a bottom-six deployment while Stastny stays on the top line. Meanwhile, Marchessault is riding an extended hot streak that's seen him post an 8-6-14 line in his last 15 games, while Smith owns an 8-10-18 line in the last 20.
DEFENSEMEN
Rasmus Dahlin ($4,900) missed the last meeting between the Sabres and Red Wings with an upper-body injury, but he's healthy now and has a nice opportunity to add to the robust 10 points he's compiled in his last 12 games played.
Cale Makar ($6,000) stuffed the stat sheet with a goal, an assist and five shots in Ottawa last Thursday in what was the second game of what has now become a four-game point streak for the rookie blueliner. He's closing in on a point-per-game pace with 42 in 46 appearances, and Makar could well bridge that gap further here.
Shea Theodore ($5,900) is the lone defenseman on Vegas' top power-play unit, which is a great role to occupy against the Wild's league-worst, 73.7 percent penalty kill. The Vegas defenseman comes in red hot with 11 points in his last nine games.
Jakob Chychrun ($4,700) has an active four-game point streak rolling and 16 shots over that span. The streaking Coyotes blueliner should stay hot against a Maple Leafs team that's allowing 3.27 goals per game and missing starting goalie Frederik Andersen (upper body).
Winnipeg's Neal Pionk ($4,500) has 37 points in 57 games, including four points in the last two. He's heating up just in time for a revenge game against the Rangers team that dealt him to Western Canada this past offseason.
