We’re getting a beefy ten-game slate on tap in the NHL on Tuesday night, which means we’ve got a lot of promising DFS lineup construction ahead of us! The playoffs are just around the corner and teams who remain mathematically alive are scrambling to go on a late-season surge to claw their way into a Wild Card seed. In the Eastern Conference, the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins occupy the Wild Card seeds, while Seattle and Winnipeg have a slight lead over Calgary and Nashville for the two Western Conference Wild Card seeds. It’s a bit of a madhouse in the East, with Florida, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Washington all within six points of tying the Penguins for the second Wild Card spot.

Of course, Boston has had a historically dominant season, currently sitting atop all other 31 teams with a record of 57-11-5 and a +118 point differential. The next highest point differential is Carolina at +53, which gives a lot of perspective toward how impressive the Bruins have been on both ends of the rink this season. Don’t let teams who are already eliminated or trending downward evade you when constructing DFS lineups, as players still want to win and ruin playoff chances for their opponents that they face down the stretch. Teams with bad records and low point totals also tend to have a couple of big-time studs that their offense flows through, which also leads to huge production that will help us cash our contests on DraftKings and FanDuel. Targeting players on the best teams makes sense, just don’t let it blind you from assessing other rosters that can create the same production at a discounted salary.

Friday’s DFS Primer had a ton of production from my recommended plays, specifically, the skaters. Led by Jack Hughes (C – Devils), who netted three points, including two goals, Nick Schmaltz (RW – Coyotes) and Dougie Hamilton (D – Devils) also logged assists. Nathan MacKinnon (C – Avalanche) was another recommended player who tallied three points, including one goal, while Valeri Nichushkin (RW – Avalanche) racked up a pair of assists during a 3-1 win over Arizona. Only the goaltending fell flat, with Ilya Sorokin (G – Islanders) surrendering five goals to Columbus, while Vitek Vanecek (G – Devils) allowed two goals on 19 shots during a 5-4 loss to Buffalo. Overall, it was a great bounce-back effort, so hopefully, you tailed and cashed a few contests!

Speaking of cashing contests, I’ve identified eight of my favorite prospects to target when constructing DFS lineups during Tuesday’s ten-game slate. Let’s jump right into it and enjoy the final few weeks of the 2023 NHL regular season!

Check out today’s One-Timer contest from FanDuel

Recommended Plays: DraftKings

DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000

J.T. Miller (C – Canucks): $6,800
Vancouver has been on a tear lately, going 8-2 SU in their last ten games played. A big piece of the production and late-season surge has been J.T. Miller. The 30-year-old centers the Canucks’ second attack line and he’s normally priced higher, but two consecutive games without a goal has created value for acquiring Miller on DraftKings. He’s still logged an assist during this goal drought in both games, plus we know that he has a monster ceiling, scoring between 16.5 and 31.5 DK FPPG during a three game stretch against Anaheim, Vegas, and San Jose. St. Louis has bad goaltending and defense but they can score, which is the perfect matchup for Miller to log a couple of points and return immense value at $6.8K.

Adrian Kempe (LW – Kings): $6,400
Los Angeles is flying under the radar but they could wind up being the team that comes out of the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup. Adrian Kempe has been on fire in 2023, scoring a career-high 36 goals and remaining a pivotal piece of the Kings’ offense. He’s going for $6,400 on DraftKings which is an absolute steal. Kempe just recorded a three-point game, including two goals, against Calgary last week and now he gets to face them again on Tuesday night. He can disappear at times, but his current form is too strong to ignore, so add Kempe into lineups with confidence against the Flames.

Tyson Barrie (D – Predators): $5,000
Nashville has enjoyed consistent production from Tyson Barrie since acquiring him at the trade deadline. Barrie has a four-game point streak intact ahead of Tuesday’s road contest up in Boston, but he’s racked up six points during this four-game streak, including goals in back-to-back games against Seattle and Toronto. If Barrie is attempting six shots on goal as he did during the 3-2 loss to Toronto in his last game played, he’s bound to extend his point streak despite a matchup against the best goaltending team in the league. It’s only going to cost $5,000 to roster Barrie on DraftKings and the Predators are dealing with injuries, so expect Barrie to continue his usage in the offensive zone, making him a good value play on Tuesday’s crowded slate.

Connor Hellebuyck (G – Jets): $8,200
After a rough patch, Connor Hellebuyck looks like his old self, holding opponents to three or fewer goals in seven consecutive starts. The Jets have everything in front of them regarding the postseason, so expect Hellebuyck to continue playing an elite brand of goaltending in between the pipes on Tuesday night against the spiraling San Jose Sharks, who are 1-6-3 in their last ten games played. Save a few bucks and get a quality goaltender to anchor your DraftKings lineups in the process.

Recommended Plays: FanDuel

FanDuel maximum salary is set at $55,000

Mika Zibanejad (C – Rangers): $8,300
We’re getting significant value on Mika Zibanejad’s salary on FanDuel. He has gone three straight games without scoring a goal, so we need to strike right now. Zibanejad has gone without a point in two of these three games but is still attempting two to four shots on goal and did log a two-assist outing against Carolina last week. Now, the Rangers will host the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have some of the most porous goaltending in the league. It’s a bounce-back spot for Zibanejad, who is normally the most expensive center on a slate excluding Connor McDavid (C – Oilers), so consider this a discount to add one of the Rangers’ premiere point leaders against a bad defensive team like the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

Tyler Toffoli (RW – Flames): $7,000
Calgary is still fighting to make a late playoff push and Tyler Toffoli has been one of the top forces creating opportunities for the Flames’ attack lines to score and keep their playoff aspirations alive. Toffoli has at least one point in five of his previous six games, including three multi-point outings. Fresh off of a two-goal game against San Jose, Toffoli is a consistent contributor for the Flames, so landing him at $7,000 against the Kings, who expect to deploy Joonas Korpisalo (G – Kings) on Tuesday night, will be a nice addition to FanDuel lineups. Korpisalo has played great for Los Angeles since arriving from Columbus, but Toffoli has the skillset and usage to return value in a tough matchup. There are at least a dozen more expensive wingers to add ahead of Toffoli on FanDuel, so treat him as a priority and add accordingly.

Erik Karlsson (D – Sharks): $7,800
I don’t often recommend high-salaried defensemen but I’ll make an exception for Erik Karlsson. He’s on a basement-dwelling team but Karlsson has led the Sharks lately, logging five points across his previous three games played. If we get 10 or more FD points against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, consider this a successful outing. However, I expect Karlsson will continue setting up his teammates with crisp passes and bury any loose pucks that are rebounded in front of Winnipeg’s net. It may feel like you’re overpaying for a good defenseman on a bad team, but Karlsson is essentially always baked into San Jose’s attack strategy, so view him as a low-risk, high-floor prospect worth the elevated salary on FanDuel during Tuesday’s home matchup against the Jets.

Tristan Jarry (G – Penguins): $7,700
Pittsburgh has been clutch down the stretch, rattling off big wins to preserve their Wild Card seed in the Eastern Conference. Tristan Jarry has had an up-and-down season, which is the way the Penguins have played all season. Jarry held Colorado and Ottawa to two goals during his previous two starts, leading to a 1-1 record. It’s a vast improvement from allowing four to six goals as he did earlier in the season, so going up against a team like Detroit, who has struggled to manufacture offense, treat Jarry with respect and take advantage of his cheap salary at $7.7K on FanDuel.