Fantasy Spin: Eakin shouldering load for Stars

The Dallas Stars will likely need Tyler Seguin healthy to win the Stanley Cup, but the play of center Cody Eakin is a big reason the Stars have not been forced to rush back their injured star.
Eakin, who has centered elite scorer Jamie Benn ($8,300; most expensive wing) at even strength since Seguin sustained an Achilles injury March 17, is priced at $4,100 in DraftKings on Tuesday for Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round at the St. Louis Blues (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports). He is 12th among centers in cost.

Seguin re-aggravated his injury in Game 2 of the Stars' first-round series against the Minnesota Wild, but Eakin has responded with six assists in his past six games, helping Dallas advance and Benn maintain his elite scoring ways.
Eakin assisted on all three Dallas goals in 24:52 of ice time in an overtime loss in Game 2 against the Blues on Sunday. He played 2:48 on the Stars' second power-play unit with mostly Ales Hemsky and Colton Sceviour. He's proven to be a high-floor option in the playoffs with at least 2.0 DraftKings points in six of eight postseason games and at least 1.5 in each game.

Benn, who has the most regular-season points (176 in 164 games) in the NHL since 2014-15, leads the Stanley Cup Playoffs in scoring (12 points in eight games). He has a League-leading 10 even-strength points; no other player has more than seven. Eakin, meanwhile, has a League-best six primary assists this postseason.
In terms of team goals where each player records a point, Benn and Eakin (five) trail only John Tavares and Kyle Okposo of the New York Islanders (seven) among top playoff point pairs.
For as long as Seguin is sidelined, and possibly even when he returns, Eakin is a daily fantasy value pick worth employing, especially as a line stack with Benn. The most frequent lines in the games prior to Seguin's injury were Benn-Eakin-Seguin followed by Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp on the second line. Sharp, who's playing on the right side of Benn and Eakin in the playoffs, could rejoin Spezza in a secondary role once Seguin returns to the lineup.
Eakin has six points in seven games against the Blues this regular season and playoffs combined and has been more productive in DFS on the road (2.8 DraftKings points per game) than at home (1.8).
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