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Card Overview: I'm not quite sure how to feel about this card. It's better than Monday's card, but not as good as some we saw this past week. I'm leaning on some subtle changes that I've seen over the past few games, instead of injuries or lineup changes, because, quite frankly, there isn't much going on with injuries right now, and the only lineup change I've seen in the past few days is addressed below. Let's hope nothing weird happens because this is the final game before the break for these teams.
BUILDING BLOCKS
Moritz Seider 26.75 at Colorado Avalanche - 9:00 p.m. ET (MORE)
As long as Simon Edvinsson remains out, Seider is going to be a minutes machine. I went ahead and just kept that first line in from my most recent article because it's true. Seider played just over 23 minutes in a blowout loss to Colorado on Saturday, but he bounced back with 27+ minutes in a 2-0 win at Colorado on Tuesday. The Red Wings are small underdogs on Wednesday, which should require more ice time from Seider if Detroit wants to win this game.
Cale Makar 25.75 vs. San Jose Sharks - 9:00 p.m. ET (LESS)
Devon Toews returned to the ice on Tuesday, and what an impact it had on Makar's ice time. Makar had been putting in a lot of time on the ice in Toews' absence, but even with Toews in the lineup, Makar would generally go over his line in a trailing script, but that wasn't the case on Tuesday. The Avalanche trailed the entire game on Tuesday, and Makar still didn't crack the 25-minute mark. The Avalanche are huge favorites in this game, so we probably don't have to worry about a trailing script, and if that's the case, I don't see how Makar puts in more minutes than his current line.
Aaron Ekblad 22 vs. Boston Bruins - 7:00 p.m. ET (LESS)
Ekblad got me once during the past couple of weeks, but that game against St. Louis this past Thursday is the only time he's gone over his number in the past two weeks. There's no apparent reason why Ekblad has been playing less, but starting on January 24th, his ice time dropped dramatically. Maybe that will change since the Panthers have dropped four straight games and Ekblad is one of their best defensemen, but in cases like these, I'd rather ride the trend and be wrong once than try to get ahead of the switch and be wrong multiple times.
INJURY DEPENDENT
Macklin Celebrini 22 at Colorado Avalanche - 9:00 p.m. ET (LESS)
Celebrini has been putting in a lot of minutes lately, but the same was true prior to Will Smith's return to the lineup a couple of weeks ago. Soon after that, Celebrini's minutes took a hit. Now we get some new blood entering the Sharks lineup in the form of Kiefer Sherwood, who is expected to play on Wednesday. If that happens, that pushes a top-line player down one line, and a second-line player down one line, and so on. In other words, they are replacing a 3rd or 4th-line guy who plays about 10 minutes a game with Sherwood, who plays about 18 minutes per game. With that said, the Sharks will likely be trailing in this game, so Celebrini still has a path to go over his number, but then again, there's also a chance this game becomes a blowout, so there is more than one path to hitting the under on Celebrini as well. I would not make this play if Sherwood is inactive again, though.
SCRIPT/LINE DEPENDENT
Roman Josi 26.75 vs. Minnesota Wild - 8:00 p.m. ET (LESS)
I zigged as the market zagged on Monday, and it paid off as Josi went well under his line, but some of that was due to a lineup change that I wasn't even aware of at the time of writing this article. Nashville went to seven defensemen on Monday, and it made a huge difference as the Preds were trailing most of the night, and Josi still came nowhere near his number. There are two paths to a win here, one, a positive script where Nashville gets the lead, or two, they trot out seven defensemen again. Either one should get the win, but both would absolutely ensure victory.
Miro Heiskanen 26.25 vs. St. Louis Blues - 9:30 p.m. ET (LESS)
As recently as this past week, Heiskanen was in a pattern where he was getting more minutes, but that's shifted over the past few games, and now he's been getting slightly less minutes than normal. In a trail script, he could still see 26+ minutes, but in the current situation, in a neutral or positive script, he's not going to get there. Considering the Stars are playing the Blues, we should see Dallas play from ahead in this game, and if that's the case, then Heiskanen is not going to get more than 26 minutes of ice time.
