Squad Up Daily NHL Fantasy Dose: Stars will take advantage of bye week woes

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Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Saturday's games beginning at 7 p.m. ET and later (all advanced statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and apply to 5v5 situations):

Dynamic Duos

• LW Jamie Benn (81K) & RW Patrick Eaves (44K), DAL (vs. TB): NHL teams are 3-9-2 coming off the bye week. The Lightning could come out flat having not played in a week. Dallas has been inconsistent this season, but they are 15-9-6 at home. Benn and Eaves play together at 5v5 and on the top power-play unit.

• C Logan Couture (46K) & LW Patrick Marleau (40K), SJ (at ARI): Nobody has surrendered more scoring chances in the NHL this season than Arizona. It's impossible to stack San Jose's most prolific duo of Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton since Squad Up still has the former listed as a center, but Couture and Marleau have both been very productive. Their affordability allows you to pay up for Brent Burns.

• C Jeff Carter (63K) & LW Tanner Pearson (55K), LA (vs. FLA): The Kings will take on the Panthers, who won 4-1 in Anaheim last night. The California road trip is historically not kind to east coast teams. Expect that to show on Saturday. Roberto Luongo has been fighting it lately, posting an .885 SV% in his last eight games.

Goalie Breakdown

• TARGET - Devan Dubnyk (106K), MIN (vs. NSH): The Predators are also coming off their bye week and are just 11-14-2 on the road. Dubnyk should live up to his high salary.

• BARGAIN - Aaron Dell (75K), SJ (at ARI): Dell will start in place of Martin Jones. He has been spectacular in that role this season, going 6-3-1 with a .930 SV% and a 2.05 GAA in nine starts. He represents the best value by far among the goaltenders.

• FADE - Mike Smith (114K), ARI (vs. SJ): Smith gets peppered with shots on a nightly basis, which actually increases his upside thanks to the point-per-save scoring system Squad Up implements. But he comes with plenty of risk against an offensive juggernaut like the Sharks and his expensive salary significantly handcuffs you when building the rest of your roster.

• CONTRARIAN - Cory Schneider (105K), NJ (vs. NYI): Schneider is having the worst season of his career, so he will likely go unowned with a 105K salary against the surging Islanders. Although, the Isles are just 7-12-4 on the road this season and Schneider has been more like himself lately, posting a .930 SV% in his last 17 games.

Bargain Plays

• D Nikita Zaitsev (25K), TOR (vs. OTT): Zaitsev has five points in his last six games and logs big minutes on Toronto's back end. His floor is very stable thanks to his willingness to throw hits and blocks shots.

• RW Kevin Labanc (25K), SJ (at ARI): Labanc is being granted a glorious opportunity to skate alongside Pavelski and Thornton on San Jose's top line and he has not disappointed, picking up four points in his last three games.

• C Zack Smith (32K), OTT (at TOR): Smith plays LW on a line with C Kyle Turris and RW Mike Hoffman. He has chipped in with 13 goals this year in addition to his 94 hits. Maple Leafs G Frederik Andersen has been shaky between the pipes lately.

Top Fades

• C Anze Kopitar (71K), LA (vs. FLA): Kopitar is priced the exact same as Connor McDavid, but obviously hasn't come close to matching his production. If you really want a Kings center, Jeff Carter represents much better value at 63K.

• LW James van Riemsdyk (54K), TOR (vs. OTT): JVR has spent some time in Mike Babock's dog house lately. He played just 12:51 in his last game and hasn't exceeded his season long ATOI of 15:43 in five games. To top it off, he will likely be without electric linemate Mitch Marner, who is dealing with an upper-body injury.

• RW James Neal (51K), NSH (at MIN): The Predators are dealt a tough matchup coming off their bye week. Neal has underperformed this season and is currently skating on the third line.

Contrarian Options

• C William Nylander (53K), TOR (vs. OTT): Marner's injury has caused Babcock to shake up the lines in practice. Nylander is now skating with C Auston Matthews and LW Zach Hyman. Matthews and Nylander have shown excellent chemistry this season when given the chance to play together.

• LW Taylor Hall (72K), NJ (vs. NYI): Hall will probably be faded since he plays for the boring, low-scoring Devils and comes with a high salary. However, the Islanders have been awful on the road this season, opening up a potentially big night from New Jersey's most dynamic player.

• RW Jordan Eberle (54K), EDM (at CHI): Eberle showed signs of busting out of his funk on Thursday, picking up a goal and an assist against the Flyers. He could very well pick up where he left off as long as he continues to play on a line with McDavid.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)