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Note: Time on Ice projections and picks can change frequently throughout the day due to injuries and changes to line combinations, especially power-play lines. I encourage readers to check the comments section below for any last-minute updates prior to puck drop.
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Card Overview: Not a great card today, in fact, like Thursday, there is just one building block. This happens from time to time and you just have to wait it out. The opportunities will come, you just have to be patient. There are some picks below in addition to the building block that have potential, so there is enough here to make some plays, but overall I would tread lightly on this slate.
BUILDING BLOCKS
Aaron Ekblad 23.25 at Minnesota Wild - 9:00 p.m. ET (MORE)
Ekblad is one of the top defensemen on Florida, but he was never a minutes hog...until Seth Jones went down this past month. With Jones out, Ekblad has gone from averaging around 21 minutes per contest to around 24 per game. The only prerequisite is that the game stays somewhat close. The only time he's missed this number in the past five games was a 9-1 blowout against Carolina on the 16th of January.
INJURY DEPENDENT
Zach Werenski 26.5 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 7:00 p.m. ET (MORE)
Werenski is the closest thing to a building block on this slate...if Denton Mateychuk continues to be out, but he could be back for this one. If he's out, then Werenski simply needs a close game to go over. If Mateychuk returns, then Werenski becomes a script dependent play, but Werenski is usually one of the better scrpit dependent plays because sometimes he'll still go over if Columbus is up by a goal most of the way, just like he did in his most recent game.
Charlie McAvoy 23.25 vs. Montreal Canadiens - 7:00 p.m. ET (MORE)
Just like Thursday, if fellow defenseman Henri Jokiharju is out again on Saturday, McAvoy makes for a good play to get more minutes than his line. Jokiharju was actually a scratch this past game, so if that is true again on Saturday, then McAvoy deserves a look. Proving that he's not necessarily script dependent, McAvoy went over his number on Thursday even though the Bruins got out to a four-goal lead.
SCRIPT DEPENDENT
I won't spend as much time on these plays because they're mostly dependent on the game script going in their favor. However, these picks can be used to fill out your plays if needed. I'll only put players in this category if the script is supposed to be in their favor.
Quinn Hughes 28.75 vs. Florida Panthers - 9:00 p.m. ET (LESS)
Hughes burned me on Thursday, rather, the Wild burned me because they never took the lead until OT, but one of these times, the Wild is going to get out to a lead and that will give them the option to cut back on Hughes' minutes a little. The Wild were trailing or tied for the entire game in Thursday and they went to OT and Hughes still barely got over 29 minutes. If they take the lead at any point, for any sustained stretch, it will be hard to get on top of this number, so I'm going with less once again.
Evan Bouchard 24.25 vs. Washington Capitals - 10:00 p.m. ET (LESS)
Bouchard was gobbling up the minutes in late-December and early-January with Jake Walman out of the lineup, but now that the Edmonton D is back to full strength, we can expect a more reasonable amount of ice time moving forward. With that in mind, Bouchard will get more minutes than his line if the Oilers are trailing, but I don't expect them to trail in this one as they are heavy favorites coming off an embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh the last time out.
