DraftKings NHL Showdown: Bruins vs. Rangers & Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens

DraftKings NHL Showdown: Bruins vs. Rangers & Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens

It’s time for another DraftKings NHL Showdown breakdown. With only two games on Wednesday Night’s slate and each of them having a Showdown contest there’s no better way to get into the action.

Last Wednesday Night was similar with a two-game slate and we absolutely nailed it for the Bruins-Flyers Showdown.

David Pastrnak (CPT $15,600), Patrice Bergeron ($10,000), James van Riemsdyk ($7,800), Claude Giroux ($7,400), Jakub Voracek ($7,200), Scott Laughton ($2,000).

Our captain, David Pastrnak, picked up a hat trick, Patrice Bergeron had a goal and three assists as our top flex, and our value play of Scott Laughton at $2,000 had an assist. James van Riemsdyk picked up two assists and Jakub Voracek scored a goal to round out five of our six players picking up points. Claude Giroux was held off the scoresheet but did have three shots on goal.

That’s a high-quality DraftKings NHL Showdown lineup right there.

Saturday’s slate featured the Maple Leafs, as tonight does. We targeted Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in that game. as “must-takes” and Wayne Simmonds as the value pick. Matthews had two goals and four shots, Marner had three assists and three shots, and Simmonds had two goals and five shots.

We dominated the slates involving the Bruins and Maple Leafs in the last week. Luckily for us, they are both in action this Wednesday night as well.

Let’s do it again this week.

DraftKings NHL Showdown: Bruins at Rangers

We have a similar matchup here with the Bruins on the road, but this time against a worse opponent in the Rangers. New York has a few players worth targeting, but we’re going to be loading up on the top line again.

The Perfection Line

David Pastrnak ($10,600; $15,900 CPT)

Pastrnak has been an absolute machine since making his season debut. He has a point in each of his four games for eight in total. He also has 22 shots in those four games, averaging over the five-shot threshold for the bonus. He’s averaging 27 fantasy points per game.

Pastrnak has to be in your lineup. The question is if you want Pastrnak as your captain or if you want to save a bit of salary.

Patrice Bergeron ($10,000; $15,000 CPT)

Bergeron has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 11 games this season. He has 20 or more points in six of his last 10 games, but also has performances of 3, 5.8, and 1.5 fantasy points. Bergeron is just as much of a must-take as Pastrnak. He had 1.5 fantasy points last time out but followed up his other single-digit performances with 20 (an assist, eight SOG) and 33.6 (goal, three assists, three SOG) fantasy points.

Bergeron won’t have back-to-back bad games. I don’t think the slight difference between him and Pastrnak is worthy of making him your captain, however, unless you really need the $300 in salary.

Brad Marchand ($9,600; $14,400 CPT)

Marchand is the one that I would consider for your captain position. With Pastrnak at captain and Marchand at flex, that costs you $25,500 of your salary. If you captain Marchand and put Pastrnak at flex, it only costs you $25,000. It’s a difference of $500 compared to $300 with Bergeron, but that is a big $200 and Marchand has just been better than his center this season.

Marchand has at least 6.5 points in each of this last 10 games, with 9.3 or more in seven of them. Oh yeah, he’s had 18 or more in five of them as well. He is riding an eight-game point streak with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in that span.

Pastrnak is my top choice for captain, but Marchand is right behind him for the extra $500 in this DraftKings NHL Showdown.

The Rest

Filling out your lineup after the top three is going to be the hard part. The Bruins don’t have many good depth options and the Rangers are really shallow. Here are a few options.

Artemi Panarin ($8,600)

Panarin is the Ranger to look at. He has 15 points in 11 games and has 11 or more fantasy points in seven of his last 10 games, including three games over 21 points (two in his last three games). He’s coming off a 4.5-point performance against the Islanders, which may cause you to hesitate, but if the Rangers do damage it’ll likely be Panarin.

Charlie McAvoy ($7,800)

McAvoy is on a seven-game point streak with at least 7.8 fantasy points in each of those games. In fact, he has 12.3 or more points in two straight games, three of his last four, and four of his last six. If for some reason you don’t want to take all three members of the Bruins’ top line, look at McAvoy.

Kaapo Kakko ($2,000)

There are a few players worth taking a flier on in the middle of the pack, but none have been too consistent. You’re going to need some cheap players with Boston’s studs, and Kakko fits the bill.

Kakko only has three points this season, but this is an opportunity play. He is on the second line with Panarin (for a potential stack) and Ryan Strome. He is also on the second power-play unit. For $2,000, you aren’t going to get much better.

DraftKings NHL Showdown: Maple Leafs at Canadiens

We have another similar lineup build here with two big guns at the top.

Toronto’s Top Two

Auston Matthews ($10,800; $16,200 CPT) and Mitch Marner ($9,400; $14,100 CPT)

I’m grouping these two together. They have to be in your lineups.

Matthews has double-digit points in each of his last 10 games and is on a 10-game point streak. He has also reached the five-shot bonus four times during that streak. So yeah, he’s that good.

Marner is on a similar tear with at least 9.3 fantasy points in eight straight games and nine of his last 10, and is on a point streak of eight games. He has not reached the five-shot bonus, however.

You are going to likely want to captain one of these two. If you captain Matthews, it costs you $25,600. If you captain Marner, it costs you $24,900. Once again, not a huge difference, but the $700 can go a long way down the lineup.

Other Maple Leafs to look at include John Tavares ($8,200)Morgan Rielly ($7,800), and Jake Muzzin ($6,400) as mid-to-high tier options. Rasmus Sandin ($2,000) is a value pick. As of now, Sandin is expected to skate on the second line with Tavares and William Nylander. With Sanhdin out of the lineup, Jimmy Vesey ($2,000) is the value pick as the Leafs’ third-line winger.

Contrarian Canadiens

Unlike the Rangers, the Canadiens are an opponent with a few players worth checking out.

Jeff Petry ($8,800)

Petry has four goals, six assists, 25 shots on goal and 11 blocked shots in his last 10 games. His last four games have been even more impressive with a showing of 17.1, 7.3, 16.3, and 32.3 fantasy points (starting with the most recent). Petry is a candidate to get the shots on goal and blocks bonus, while also having the ability to put points on the board.

It’s rare that Petry will have a huge game, but he should give you double digits and possibly up to 20 points.

Brendan Gallagher ($8,600)

Right behind Petry in price is Gallagher. He has at least 11.8 points in three of his last four games and four of his last six games. However, he has topped out at 15.8 points in those contests. Not an incredibly high ceiling, but he should give you a decent floor and could be a sneaky captain option.

Josh Anderson ($7,400)

Anderson is over $1,000 cheaper than both of the above options and might work himself into my lineup. He is averaging 12.8 fantasy points per game on the season and has double-digit points in seven of his last eight games. Twice he has topped the 20-point mark, with 21.0 and 23.0 fantasy points in the two games before last. If he can find the back of the net, which he has done eight times this season, and/or reach five shots on goal, he’ll be worth it.


If you are in a pinch and deciding between two players, or want to share what lineups you are working with, let me know on Twitter @RGilbertSOP or in the Sports Gambling Podcast Slack channel.

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