NHL Building Blocks – October 9
Great opening night last night, and now we’ve got 12 more teams kicking things off. Let’s dive in!
The premise of each article in this series is to feature starting spots (building blocks) for your lines. These are plays that are cash-viable as well as GPP-worthy and can be considered in all contest formats.
Starting Lineup – October 9
The Goalie: Arturs Silovs
Silovs had a taste of action in last season’s playoffs, and he afforded himself well stepping in for the injured Thatcher Demko, allowing just 29 goals through 10 games (including helping the Canucks take the Oilers to seven games). He gets one of the better matchups tonight in the Flames who were sellers at last year’s deadline and who didn’t do much at all during the offseason to improve themselves. Solid play here, especially with Vancouver being a -200 favorite at home.
The Center: Auston Matthews
Matthews likes the Leafs’ first game of the season a lot: he has 12 goals in nine career season-openers, including a hat trick on Opening Night last season. He’s fresh off a 69-goal campaign and gets a Montreal team that allowed the fourth-most goals in the league last season and that didn’t do much in the offseason besides sign and then lose Patrik Laine for multiple months.
The Wing: Jeff Skinner
Finally out of the hockey purgatory that is Buffalo, Skinner finds himself in the offensive heaven that is Edmonton, sliding onto the second line wing of Leon Draisaitl. He had 80 points in a season as recently as two years ago, and while he most likely won’t match that mark again, he will definitely be a solid offensive piece for them, and the Jets have lost some key players this offseason. Like his price for his upside in this one.
The Defenseman: Quinn Hughes
Hughes had a breakout season last year, scoring 17 goals and 92 points while playing in all 82 regular season games and nabbing the Norris for his effort. He’s got a great matchup against a Calgary team that is in full rebuild mode, and he’s considerably cheaper than the other uber-stud on the slate (Makar), especially on DK.
The Value: Jonathan Drouin
Drouin continues to skate on L1/PP1 with Mackinnon and Rantanen, so he is very viable for his price. He had a solid first season in Colorado and will be looking to build on that this year.
The Stack: TOR PP1 (Matthews-Marner-Nylander-Tavares)
The Leafs are anxious to show that their offseason moves weren’t in vain, and with Tavares and Marner being in the last seasons of their respective contracts, they’ll want to get off to a fast start. This could easily happen in this rivalry game facing a Canadiens team that allowed the fifth most goals and third most shots last season.. Mix and match any of these four; they’re expensive, so even if you can only slide two of them into your lineups, they’ve got great upside.
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May 20, 2024; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) handles the puck against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period in game seven of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
