Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

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Final newsletter of the 2021 season...

Now if you paid attention the last couple of nights, you'll see that teams are sitting starters. Boston basically ran the JV squad out last night. I would be surprised to see that tonight as Vegas, Colorado, and Toronto are all in contention to win the Presidents' Trophy, and Colorado and Vegas are trying to pick up the number 1 seed in the West Division. Still, I would keep an eye on Twitter in the 30 minutes before each game's start time to make sure there are no last-minute changes.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read the NHL newsletter this season!

That said, we have 4 games on tap tonight!

LETSSSSSSSSSSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight's Slate

Here's numbers on the teams from their past 10 games. Generally, I start my research by looking for teams in good spots. For example, teams that score goals (GF60) that are facing teams that give up goals (GA60). I also look at teams that shoot a lot (CF60) that are facing teams that give up a lot of shots (CA60).

Line Stacks

Vegas has the best matchup tonight, so it should be no surprise that they're the top ranked stacks of the night. VGK2 is my favorite.

Minnesota is a long shot to pick up the number 2 seed in the west if they can win their final two games and Colorado loses their final two games in regulation. In other words, they still have something to play for. I like the 2nd and 3rd lines for Minnesota tonight, with MIN2 being my preference.

Finally, let's look at the top line for Ottawa. Frederik Andersen is expected to start for Toronto for the first time since March 19. It's possible he could be a little rusty after missing 23 games so I would look to stack against him with OTT1.

Biscuit Stack

If you want to pick a team and line that stands a good chance of being a "spoiler" tonight, I'd look at the top line for the Kings. As a line stack, they rank surprisingly high for me tonight and are cheap enough to stack alongside a top line from Vegas.

Goaltender Rankings

How to Read This: 

I'm giving you a comparison of LineStar projections vs the average fantasy points scored over their last 10 games. I've also given you their save percentage (over 0.910 is ideal), goals allowed (lower is better), saves per game (more is better), GAA (Goals Saved Above Average), and my projected upside for each goalie.

Generally, if I'm stacking a team, I'll correlate a goalie if I can. In GPPs, I may not have the salary to make this work. In this case, I usually spend down on someone that I expect will take a lot of shots and could pick up the W.

As always - double-check that your goalie is starting before the game starts.

My Favorites:

CASH: Marc-Andre Fleury - VGK (DK: $8000, FD: $8400)

GPP: Filip Gustavsson - OTT (DK: $7300, FD:7400)

Forwards and Defensemen Rankings

Here are my overall rankings on the top 15 skaters on the main slate. These are players that I would look to insert into my lineups as one-offs or lineup fillers if I'm stacking or double-stacking lines.

My Favorites

I'm purely guessing here, but my assumption would be that Vegas and Colorado don't sit anyone tonight as both teams are trying to clinch the Presidents' Trophy and the number 1 seed in the West Division.

Reilly Smith - VGK - DK: $4100 | FD: $5000

His low price should make him a popular choice for tonight.

Kirill Kaprizov - MIN - DK: $7100 | FD: $6900

I really like MIN2 tonight and he's my favorite one-off from that line.

Auston Matthews - TOR - DK: $9200 | FD: $9100

Of the studs to pay for tonight, Matthews is my favorite.

Erik Karlsson - SJS - DK: $4300 | FD: $5100

He doesn't have the production he once did, but a PP1 defenseman that gets over 23 minutes of ice time is always a solid play to me.

Bottom of the Barrel

Here are my cheap calls for a skater to pick up a goal or assist.

Tyler Bozak: STL - C - DK: $3800 | FD: $3900

Alexander Barabanov: SJS - W - DK: $2900 | FD: $3600

Artem Zub: OTT - D - DK: $2700 | FD: $3600

Disclaimer: Keep in mind, plays and thoughts listed are my own. You should all do your own research and you might (and probably should) disagree with me in some spots. Don't be afraid to go your own way.

Good luck today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.

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