Week 15 in the NHL is set to get underway on Tuesday with an eight-game slate. Several teams at the top of their division will face teams scraping and clawing their way to secure the final playoff spots. Vancouver has managed to overcome their COVID-19 outbreak, which is great news, except now they will have to play all of the games they postponed in a condensed amount of time. Meanwhile, a third Colorado Avalanche player tested positive for COVID-19 this past weekend, and the league has since decided to postpone their matchup.
Teams such as Florida, Pittsburgh, and Boston all have favorable matchups against teams that have been or are on the brink of postseason elimination, so second and third-line skaters have a shot at returning value in your Tuesday lineups. Let’s look at a few skaters I really like based on their recent performances and their opponents!
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Center
Jamie Benn (DAL): $5,200 vs. DET
The 31-year old Benn centers the second line for Dallas and recently had a multi-point performance against the Blue Jackets. Averaging roughly 17 minutes per game across his last four starts, fantasy managers should feel good rostering Benn at this salary. He has 24 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 40 games this season and earns additional minutes on the Stars’ top power-play unit alongside Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski.
He will face an intriguing goaltender at home on Tuesday, with Detroit projected to feature Jonathan Bernier in the net. Bernier has been all over the spectrum in his three recent starts — he allowed Nashville to rack up seven goals, held the Carolina Hurricanes to just one goal on 38 shots, and led Detroit to a win over the Central Division’s top team. Benn is adept at accruing points while in the offensive zone, but Dallas averages 2.84 goals per game, a bit under the league average (2.92). However, Detroit has a league-worst 2.23 goals per game this season, meaning that Dallas could be spending a lot of time in the offensive zone, allowing Benn to convert passes and shots into points.
Wing
Bryan Rust (PIT): $6,900 vs. NJ
I like this play based purely on the Penguins’ favorable home matchup against the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey’s projected goaltender, Mackenzie Blackwood, has been struggling recently. He gave up nine goals to Pittsburgh across their last two contests earlier in the month. With a poor 3.10 GAA on the season, there are a lot of Pittsburgh skaters to target when constructing your lineups.
Bryan Rust averages roughly 20 minutes of action per game this season and has been playing well despite earning just one point (goal) across his last three starts. Rust has totaled 10 shots on goal and two blocks in this same three-game stretch but has proven he is capable of lighting up the lamp, benefiting from the elite play of Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on Pittsburgh’s talented first-line unit. With 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) in 45 games for Pittsburgh this season, Rust gets the perfect matchup to secure a multi-goal or multi-point outing against Blackwood and the Devils, making him a must-add for your Tuesday lineups.
Defense
Jacob Trouba (NYR): $5,600 at NYI
The Rangers remain four points behind Boston in the East Division and will face an Islanders’ team sitting in second within the division due to a +22 goal differential. While Rangers’ defenseman Adam Fox certainly stands out, his salary is fairly steep, and second-line defenseman Jacob Trouba gets just as much opportunity in the offensive zone at a reduced salary. Trouba has netted one goal in his last three starts, but he has peppered the net with 10 shots while forcing seven blocked shots across this same span. He draws Islanders’ goalie Semyon Varlamov, who gave up three goals on 35 shots against the Rangers back on April 9th. Trouba also earned an assist and five blocked shots in that same outing, which would be a great performance based on his low salary for this slate.
Goalie
Tristan Jarry (PIT): $8,300 vs. NJ
The 25-year old netminder for Pittsburgh should dominate between the pipes during Tuesday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils. In his last start against the Devils, Jarry finished with a 0.93 save percentage and secured a win despite allowing two goals. While he certainly had a slow start to the season, the Penguins’ goaltender has consistently improved throughout the year, and he’ll face a New Jersey team that ranks in the bottom-five for scoring per game (2.48), way below the league average (2.92). Facing a Devils team that lacks firepower throughout their roster (they have also failed to score in consecutive games during this past week), Jarry is positioned to be very successful in the net on Tuesday night. Roster him with confidence.
View daily consensus odds from all major sportsbooks for the NHL at BettingPros
Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
