C - Mika Zibanejad, NYR ($5,600)
Forward Chris Kreider (W, $5,700) kept his hot streak alive Monday in the New York Rangers' convincing 7-4 win against the San Jose Sharks, and Zibanejad has been largely responsible for the his rise in all fantasy formats. Kreider's four even-strength points in three games is tied for fourth in the NHL entering Tuesday, and this duo is also playing together on the power play. Continue stacking them ahead of a favorable DFS draw against the Detroit Red Wings at home. The Red Wings have allowed the most DraftKings points to opposing centers.
W - Patrik Laine, WPG ($5,600)
It costs a pretty penny to stack Wheeler (W, $7,400) and Scheifele, but you can draft Laine with Scheifele instead for a fraction of the cost against the Maple Leafs. Laine is also much cheaper than fellow rookie Auston Matthews (C, $6,700) for their highly anticipated head-to-head matchup. Laine is averaging 19:19 per game through three games and had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut last Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
W - Gustav Nyquist, DET ($4,400)
Nyquist underachieved last season, but has regained confidence early in 2016-17. Priced affordably in DraftKings, Nyquist has assists in each of his first three games for the Red Wings and is due for some better fortunes against the Rangers; he has no goals on 19 SOG in nine career games against them. He may be outside of Detroit's top six at the moment, but he sees second-unit power-play action and could do some damage against the Rangers' third line, especially if Pavel Buchnevich remains sidelined for New York.
D - Mike Green, DET ($5,400)
Green may be past his prime, but has surprisingly resembled the 70-point defenseman he was earlier in his career this season. He has two multipoint performances in his first three games, including his first career hat trick (12.5 DraftKings points) Monday against the Ottawa Senators. He's the second most expensive defenseman and will be heavily owned in DraftKings, but has outperformed the most expensive player at his position, Dustin Byfuglien of the Jets, by a significant margin so far and is $1,500 cheaper. As strong as the Rangers have been offensively, they remain susceptible to defensive lapses (10 goals allowed in three games).
D - Morgan Rielly, TOR ($4,600)
Rielly was a fantasy sleeper entering the season and has lived up to expectations through two games (two points, two SOG). Even though his power-play usage has been surprisingly low (0:56 per game), he is playing major minutes (23:24) and should earn more looks in those spots over time. He's also racking up blocks (five in two games). He's fourth among defensemen in price behind Byfuglien, Green and Ryan McDonagh ($4,900), but you won't have to break the bank on this light night to get him on your roster.
G - Henrik Lundqvist, NYR ($8,500)
If you have the DraftKings salary cap flexibility, spend up for Lundqvist at home against the Red Wings; he is 5-3-2 with a .932 save percentage and three shutouts in 10 games against Detroit in his career. He has been shaky at points thus far (six goals allowed in two games), but could face a high volume of shots, adding to his DraftKings point total. Even if the Rangers offense comes back down to Earth, Lundqvist could steal this game on his own.
G - Connor Hellebuyck, WPG ($7,600)
Hellebuyck has the fast track at the No. 1 goalie job in Winnipeg after they waived Ondrej Pavelec, but has been less than stellar in his first two games. He's 1-1-0 with seven goals allowed on 51 shots faced. That said, he's third in price out of the four projected goalies, and provides against-the-grain value vs. a Maple Leafs lineup that many DFS owners will flock to because of their rookie star power. If the Jets turn to Michael Hutchinson, he's going for the same price as Hellebuyck and would likely be even lesser owned.
