DFS Tuesday: Top Line Production in Columbus; Horvat and Barzal; Hellebuyck at Home, and More
Morning, all! We havean interesting slate ahead tonight. I’ve gone over the board a couple of times, trying to figure out where I want to attack. There are definitely some chalky spots — Tampa Bay, and pretty much anyone facing the Canucks — but there are also a few other viable angles worth exploring.
Slate Preview
Columbus Blue Jackets
It’s been a while — November, actually — since I’ve seriously considered building a Blue Jackets stack, but today they’re back on my radar. Carolina is absolutely in play on the other side, especially if Columbus rolls out Elvis Merzlikins, but I’m more interested in attacking Brandon Bussi, who has cooled off significantly since the calendar flipped to March. Columbus offers a few different build paths tonight. You can run a fully correlated top line for the power‑play exposure or drop down to the second or third lines as filler or complementary stacks. Thereisalso the option to pair Columbus forwards with Zach Werenski for a pricier four‑man stack, though that feels more suited to multi‑entry builds than single‑entry.
Boston Bruins
I’m a little wary of Boston being on the second half of a road back‑to‑back, but what keeps them firmly in play for me is their shot volume and the appeal of the top line. If Morgan Geekie is reunited with David Pastrnak, I’m interested —that trio was excellent earlier in the season, even with Elias Lindholm running hot at the time. If they’re split up, I still like Boston from a volume standpoint, but my build probably shifts toward a Pastrňákone‑off. Both teams take their fair share of penalties, but this spot feels more about even‑strength matchups. Montreal’s top line is solid defensively, yet they still give up quality chances, which keeps Boston on my shortlist of targets tonight.
New York Islanders
Now we’re talking; another day, another Isles stack. To be honest, I haven’t played them in a while now, but tonight the Isles could get a heavy pour into my single-entry. They’re going up against Toronto,who do not have encouraging underlying numbers despite coming away with a point and a win in their last two games. They’re allowing a good amount of scoring chances at even strength in the past month and are coming away with a top three high danger chances against on the PK. I can confidentlysay that Bo Horvat ($6,900) will be in my mix, who in the last 30 days has 41 shots on goal only behind Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Boldy. With Horvat, always comes Mathew Barzal ($6,400) and I could also see adding either Matthew Schaefer or Tony DeAngelo into the mix.
Defense
For the high‑end defensemen tonight, it’s hard to go wrong with Evan Bouchard ($7,200) or Quinn Hughes ($6,700) —both have racked up five power‑play points over the last 15 days and remain elite ceiling options. The Islanders’power‑play quarterbacks are also firmly in play, and I’d include Charlie McAvoy ($5,500) in that group as well. Lane Hutson ($5,900) has gone up in price but still could be decent value coming off a five-game point streak. For cheaper options, Mario Ferraro ($2,900) is well positioned for the shot‑block bonus on the Sharks’side, and Mattias Ekholm offers similar appeal for Edmonton in that same matchup at $3,700.
Goalies
Filip Gustavsson sits at the top tonight at $8,400, and it makes sense — he’s in a fantastic spot againstthe Chicago Blackhawks. Sergei Bobrovsky at $8,200 is in a similar position; he’s been much stronger over the past month and draws a Vancouver team that doesn’t pose much of a threat to his upside on the power play. Connor Hellebuyck being at home and under $8K makes him my preferred starter– decision made there. If you’re fading the Islanders, Anthony Stolarz is coming off a strong outing against Minnesota and sits at $7,600 and could make for a decent option in multi-entry tournaments.
That’s it for now, best of luck tonight!
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