PIT at COL · BOS at ANA · October 16 · first lock 9 p.m. ET.
MacKinnon leads the supplied projection board. Compare Colorado spending, Boston value and three power-play constructions.
Two games, one expensive Colorado decision
Nathan MacKinnon leads the uploaded board at $9,000 and 16.60 projected points. Cale Makar costs $7,500 for 11.53. Paying for both buys access to Colorado's main offensive routes but makes the remaining roster salary-sensitive. Build the entire lineup before deciding that either premium player is mandatory.
Pavel Zacha at $4,100 and Charlie McAvoy at $5,300 are important Boston comparisons because the snapshot gives them power-play exposure alongside useful projected output. Sidney Crosby offers Pittsburgh access at $6,200. Leo Carlsson at $6,900 and Jackson LaCombe at $5,900 are Anaheim alternatives. These are projections from the supplied file; line assignments and ice time can change.
Best-play comparison board
Cash builds: compare the complete goalie decision
Jeremy Swayman and MacKenzie Blackwood are the two illustrated starting points below. Neither is represented as a confirmed starter. A goalie swap changes both salary and the set of skaters that make sense around him. The examples avoid skaters facing their own goalie and include at least three teams.
On a two-game slate, removing one opponent's skaters creates a meaningful concentration elsewhere. Favor predictable involvement and the strongest full-roster projection rather than forcing a favorite label onto the goalie. A projected win is not guaranteed, and goals allowed can erase an apparent salary advantage.
GPP builds: three distinct power-play branches
Colorado PP1: MacKinnon and Makar are the premium anchors. The supplied group also includes Nazem Kadri, T.J. Hughes and Jaden Schwartz. The example uses three members rather than requiring a five-player stack, preserving room for production elsewhere.
Boston PP1: David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, McAvoy, Zacha and Elias Lindholm form the uploaded unit. The Boston construction takes a different scoring branch from Colorado while allowing Colorado pieces outside its core. Unit correlations should be refreshed if the team changes its power play.
Pittsburgh PP1: Crosby, Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson and Ben Kindel supply a third tournament route. Pittsburgh plays Colorado, so do not pair a Penguins goal stack with the opposing Colorado goalie in the same construction.
Stacks increase shared upside and shared failure. They are most useful when the selected contest pays strongly for the top finish. A less popular stack still needs enough scoring opportunity; ownership alone cannot make a weak unit a good play.
Lock and contest checks
Pittsburgh at Colorado starts at 9 p.m. ET; Boston at Anaheim starts at 10 p.m. ET in the supplied official DraftKings file. All 75 positive-projection players in this feed were matched to that file for salary and player ID. Confirm actual goalies, scratches, line changes and contest eligibility before entry.
No new Friday NHL contest payout table was supplied with these files. Import the intended contest or enter its actual entry fee and payout ladder before interpreting profit or ROI. A generic prize-pool assumption cannot describe a specific contest. Run enough outcome trials to assess how rankings move; first-place estimates from a two-game slate can be highly sensitive to ties and duplicate lineups.
Complete cash and GPP lineup examples
All salaries and roster slots below were checked against the supplied slate. These are construction examples, not simulated winners. Refresh availability before entry; projected totals are snapshot estimates. Contest entry limits still apply.
Cash · Jeremy Swayman
Full CASH roster| Slot | Player | Salary |
|---|
| C | Elias Lindholm · BOS | $3,100 |
| C | Nathan MacKinnon · COL | $9,000 |
| W | Jaden Schwartz · COL | $3,300 |
| W | David Pastrnak · BOS | $7,800 |
| W | Nazem Kadri · COL | $5,200 |
| D | Erik Karlsson · PIT | $4,700 |
| D | Charlie McAvoy · BOS | $5,300 |
| G | Jeremy Swayman · BOS | $7,500 |
| UTIL | Pavel Zacha · BOS | $4,100 |
$50,000 / $50,000 · $0 remaining · 95.93 projected points
A projection-led example with the listed goalie. It avoids skaters facing its own goalie and uses at least three teams. Starting-goalie confirmation is still required before entry.
Cash · MacKenzie Blackwood
Full CASH roster| Slot | Player | Salary |
|---|
| C | Fraser Minten · BOS | $3,000 |
| C | Nathan MacKinnon · COL | $9,000 |
| W | Gabriel Landeskog · COL | $4,500 |
| W | David Pastrnak · BOS | $7,800 |
| W | Nazem Kadri · COL | $5,200 |
| D | Noah Warren · ANA | $2,900 |
| D | Charlie McAvoy · BOS | $5,300 |
| G | MacKenzie Blackwood · COL | $8,200 |
| UTIL | Pavel Zacha · BOS | $4,100 |
$50,000 / $50,000 · $0 remaining · 93.17 projected points
A projection-led example with the listed goalie. It avoids skaters facing its own goalie and uses at least three teams. Starting-goalie confirmation is still required before entry.
GPP · COL PP1 correlation
Full GPP roster| Slot | Player | Salary |
|---|
| C | Nathan MacKinnon · COL | $9,000 |
| C | Elias Lindholm · BOS | $3,100 |
| W | Nazem Kadri · COL | $5,200 |
| W | David Pastrnak · BOS | $7,800 |
| W | T.J. Hughes · COL | $3,500 |
| D | Cale Makar · COL | $7,500 |
| D | Declan Carlile · PIT | $3,100 |
| G | Jeremy Swayman · BOS | $7,500 |
| UTIL | Fraser Minten · BOS | $3,000 |
$49,700 / $50,000 · $300 remaining · 93.48 projected points
A three-player power-play group from COL concentrates scoring correlation. ES and PP assignments come from the uploaded snapshot and must be checked for late changes. The goalie is not opposed by this lineup’s skaters.
GPP · BOS PP1 correlation
Full GPP roster| Slot | Player | Salary |
|---|
| C | Nathan MacKinnon · COL | $9,000 |
| C | Fraser Minten · BOS | $3,000 |
| W | David Pastrnak · BOS | $7,800 |
| W | Morgan Geekie · BOS | $5,800 |
| W | Judd Caulfield · ANA | $2,500 |
| D | Charlie McAvoy · BOS | $5,300 |
| D | Noah Warren · ANA | $2,900 |
| G | MacKenzie Blackwood · COL | $8,200 |
| UTIL | Nazem Kadri · COL | $5,200 |
$49,700 / $50,000 · $300 remaining · 91.23 projected points
A three-player power-play group from BOS concentrates scoring correlation. ES and PP assignments come from the uploaded snapshot and must be checked for late changes. The goalie is not opposed by this lineup’s skaters.
GPP · PIT PP1 correlation
Full GPP roster| Slot | Player | Salary |
|---|
| C | Sidney Crosby · PIT | $6,200 |
| C | Fraser Minten · BOS | $3,000 |
| W | Rickard Rakell · PIT | $5,700 |
| W | Nazem Kadri · COL | $5,200 |
| W | Jaden Schwartz · COL | $3,300 |
| D | Erik Karlsson · PIT | $4,700 |
| D | Charlie McAvoy · BOS | $5,300 |
| G | Jeremy Swayman · BOS | $7,500 |
| UTIL | Nathan MacKinnon · COL | $9,000 |
$49,900 / $50,000 · $100 remaining · 91.55 projected points
A three-player power-play group from PIT concentrates scoring correlation. ES and PP assignments come from the uploaded snapshot and must be checked for late changes. The goalie is not opposed by this lineup’s skaters.
Source and workspace
Sources: supplied CourtEdge projections Hockey Main 23453 snapshot and official DraftKings salary file (44). Goalies and units are projected assignments.
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