We’re now over 2 weeks into the season so we can start to draw some conclusions from what we’ve been seeing and start to apply them into how we build our lineups.
One of the factors that I want to stress is I think that shots on goal are still the best metric to use first when building lineups. If you can find games where you will see a lot of shots getting through to the net, then you’ll find the most impactful fantasy plays for the night.
This works for both sides, as you want forwards and defensemen who shoot a lot, as they’ll receive fantasy points for shots. You’ll also want defensemen and goalies who see a lot of shots, as goalies get points for saves, and defensemen will have opportunities for blocks.
Goals and assists will always be your bread and butter, but if you can pick up these high scoring stats along with utilizing the other stat categories to fill in bonus points, you’ll have a recipe for NHL DFS success.
Tonight we have 9 games which is a decent sized slate. There are a couple of games that stand out which could be high scoring affairs. Consider joining the DFS Army today. You will get access to all of the great membership perks below. Join today using coupon code SPOWEEZY for 20% off your monthly membership! https://wp.dfsarmy.com/register/dfs-army-monthly-vip
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Let’s take a look at tonight’s action.
7 p.m. Minnesota Wild at Buffalo Sabres
I was at the game in Philadelphia on Tuesday when Buffalo blew a 3-0 lead and took a 4-3 shootout loss.
The Sabres have some very talented players, and when Jack Eichel and Evander Kane return from injury, i think they will be a team that surprises some people. But as of right now, they just don’t have enough depth to put together a complete game.
If there’s one line that’s worth taking, it would be the top line of Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo, and Ryan O’Reilly.
Right now they are just a GPP play, but one with a very high ceiling. Moulson had two goals on Tuesday, and four on the season. O’Reilly has 6 points through 5 games. This is a line that can make a shaky defense pay multiple times in a game.
And even though the Wild have started the season great, they can absolutely look shaky on the back end at times.
Speaking of the Wild, they shook up their lines on Tuesday and were rewarded with a 5-0 win over Boston.
The best line for Minnesota was the second line of Nino Neiderreiter, Eric Staal and Charlie Coyle.
Steal and Coyle each have 5 points through 7 games and Neiderreiter has 4. This line has the potential to be one of the more underrated plays in the league if they stay together. Given the matchup tonight, they’re a very safe GPP play.
When you look for consistency you have it in Wild defenseman Ryan Suter. He has 7 points in 7 games and skates over 26 minutes a game. He’s a safe play in all formats.
You also have to mention Zach Parise when you talk about the Wild. He’s known to get hot and go on point scoring binges. He’s got 5 points so far this year and one of those streaks might be on the horizon. This would be a good game to lead it off. He’s skating tonight with Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund.
7 p.m. Arizona Coyotes at Philadelphia Flyers
When these teams met 10 days ago in Arizona the Coyotes pulled out a 4-3 overtime win in a back-and-forth game that could have easily seen another 4 or 5 goals.
I like plays on both sides of the puck tonight as I think there will be goals scored in bunches here.
First and foremost, the Flyers power play has been on fire, scoring all 3 of their regulation goals with the man advantage on Tuesday.
Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek, who both see time on the PP1, lead the Flyers with 8 points apiece.
Also rounding out the top unit is forwards Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn, and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.
All five of these players are a solid play in all formats tonight.
Also keep an eye out for two other players in Philadelphia going forward.
One is defenseman Mark Streit, who has 5 points in 7 games, and also saw some time on the PP1.
The other is winger Matt Read, who has 5 goals in 5 games, and saw some time on the top line with Giroux and Simmonds when Philly was shuffling the lines looking to create some offense. It’s clear that they see Read as someone who can finish plays from the Flyers stable of playmakers. He should be pretty cheap and is a great punt option.
For the Coyotes, the scoring has been pretty balanced with 10 players scoring 3 or more points through their first 6 games.
One of the surprise names in this group is center Jordan Martinook who is tied for the team lead with 5 points. He’s now seeing 2nd line minutes with Anthony Duclair and Jamie McGinn, two talented players who can score. I like this line as a GPP play tonight.
There’s another GPP play tonight in the Yotes top line of Martin Hanzal, Max Domi and Radim Vrbata.
Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team with 4 goals in 6 games and is a solid play in all formats.
7 p.m. New York Islanders at Pittsburgh Penguins
Tuesday saw the return of Sidney Crosby and he wasted no time getting on the stat sheet with a goal in a 3-2 win.
Anytime Crosby plays he is a good play in both cash and GPP, but tonight he also sees a great matchup against the Islanders who played last night in a 3-2 loss to Montreal.
With Crosby back in the lineup, Pittsburgh gets a whole lot scarier. They have 3 lines that can score on you, and you need to pick your poison if you want to play the matchups game.
Crosby is playing with Scott Wilson and Patric Hornqvist.
The second line is just as talented and features Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz. They’re a solid play in all formats tonight with a good matchup and probably seeing less tough minutes than Crosby’s line who will draw New York’s best checking unit.
7:30 p.m. Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews is riding a 4 game point streak with 2 goals and 4 assists over that span. He’s second in the league in points with 10, and is doing his part so far to live up to the incredible hype surrounding him.
Tonight we will get to see how he plays against an elite defensive system. It should be a good one.
Matthews is playing on the same line that he started the season with, William Nylander and Zach Hyman. What’s interesting about this is that Nylander has kept pace with his center, scoring 9 points in 6 games, while Hyman has added only 1 assist.
So while Matthews might be on his way to being matchup proof, his linemates might not always be right to stack with him.
As of right now, I like Matthews as a GPP play tonight with Nylander and possibly Hyman. How he fares tonight against a defensive team will be a great indicator on if you should be building your cash lineups around him going forward this year.
For Florida, they’ve scored 18 goals through 6 games this year, and winger Jonathan Marchessault has points on 8 of them. He’s emerging as one of Florida’s top offensive threats and looks good skating on a line with Alex Barkov and Jaromir Jagr.
Tonight they face Toronto, a team that has allowed 26 goals through 6 games, so it might be a night to stack FLA1 in all formats.
7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens
Montreal played last night in a 3-2 win, but they saved starting goaltender Carey Price for tonight against this dangerous Lightning team.
Price is the best goaltender in the league so he’s at the least a GPP play every time he’s active. Tonight is a tough matchup, but the Habs are 3-0 this year at home and he will face a lot of shots. This could mean a lot of fantasy points should Montreal get the win.
Montreal has been stingy defensively; giving up only 12 goals through 7 games, so it’s tough to feel confident rolling out offensive lines against them, even ones as deep as Tampa’s.
The Bolts did just shuffle the lines and the top line of Steven Stamkos, Vlad Namestnikov and Nikita Kucherov played well. Given the matchup, they’re a GPP play only tonight, with a low floor and decent ceiling.
Stamkos and Namestnikov also see the PP1 minutes, and Bolts defenseman Anton Stralman is still seeing time on this unit. He’s a cheap option and can be used in all formats to fill out your lineup as you’ll get access to one of the more talented power play units the league.
8 p.m. Detroit Red Wings at St. Louis Blues
St. Louis took a step back on Tuesday with a 4-1 loss in Calgary, and Detroit is 5-2 on the young season, surprising some people with how well they’ve played to start the year.
Tonight I think that St. Louis will bounce back, and at the very least put some goals on the board at home against the Wings.
Vlad Tarasenko has started the year on absolute fire, scoring 8 points through 7 games and leading the Blues. He’s playing on a line with David Perron and Jaden Schwartz. They’re a solid play in all formats tonight.
Also for St. Louis Alex Steen and Paul Stastny have each contributed 7 points in 7 games, and are playing on a line together with Robby Fabbri.
Stastny, Steen, Tarasenko, and Schwartz are all seeing time together on the first power play unit, which is where St. Louis has been picking up a lot of their goals. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is the QB for this unit, and all 5 are a playable tonight in all formats.
I love the way that Detroit’s third line is playing right now and they might be the most GPP friendly line on the state tonight. Tomas Vanek, Darren Helm and Andreas Athanasiou have clicked together. They’ve been forechecking well, winning a lot of races to pucks in the dirty areas and Vanek has found his scoring touch again with 4 goals and 8 points in 7 games.
This line is a definite GPP option tonight, and if you choose to stack them, you should also be able to afford a higher priced stack on the night, giving you good exposure to a high-end play along with a high-ceiling tournament option.
8 p.m. Dallas Stars at Winnipeg Jets
The Stars are beat up right now, but it didn’t stop them from beating the Jets 3-2 on Tuesday.
I think this will be a similar game, but also has a high-scoring upside as the Jets have an up-tempo offense and Dallas has both Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in the lineup.
Anytime Benn and Seguin are playing, they’re a smart option in all formats as long as you can afford them. Tonight you might not have to stack them together as they’re playing on separate lines, but they do still see PP1 minutes together.
Seguin has shown no rust at all, scoring 6 points in 6 games to start the year. He’s centering the top line with Antoine Rousell and Lauri Korpikoski. Seguin is playable as a standalone, and can also be stacked with his cheap line mates if you’re looking to pick up the additional points.
Benn is playing with Patrick Eaves and Radek Faksa. This line falls into the same circumstances, but might have a slightly higher ceiling as Eaves has proved he can play with talent around him scoring 4 points in 5 games this year.
The Jets top line should have plenty of opportunities tonight as well, and they’re a solid play in all formats. Mark Schiefele, Blake Wheeler, and Patrick Laine have combined for 18 points in 6 games since being placed together halfway through the Jets first game.
Laine has been impressive this year with quick hands and he finds ways to get his shot off in traffic. 4 of his 6 points have been goals.
On defense, Tyler Myers has recently taken over the PP1 minutes from Dustin Byfuglien and could be a decent cheaper option for access to a solid power play.
10:30 p.m. Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings
Nashville was embarrassed last night in a 6-1 loss to Anaheim, and now they face the improving Kings on the second end of back-to-back nights.
The Kings fell face-first out of the gate this year going 0-3, but they’ve since won 3 in a row.
The line i like here, especially for GPP’s, is the second line of Tanner Pearson, Devin Setoguchi, and Jeff Carter.
Carter is constantly among the league leaders in shots on goal, which is in itself guaranteed points on both FanDuel and DraftKings. It also leads to goals and assists, and Carter sees the PP1 minutes and his linemate Pearson leads the team with 6 points in 6 games.
On defense Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin both play on the first powerplay unit and can contribute offensively.
Nashville won’t have much time to dwell on last night’s loss, but if that game was any indicator, it might be best to fade their forwards as I’m sure the lines will be shuffled going into tonight and we likely won’t get much notice of who will be skating with who before face-off.
The only players I would say is a definite GPP option are defensemen PK Subban and Roman Josi, who each bring offensive flair from the back end and usually see even strength and PP1 shifts together. Subban leads the team with 5 points in 6 games.
10:30 p.m. Columbus Blue Jackets at San Jose Sharks
This is a perfect matchup for the Sharks tonight for a team that is 4-3 this year despite scoring just 16 goals in 7 games.
Looking at San Jose’s top players, you’d never know that they’re hurting for goals right now. Winger Joe Pavelski and Defenseman Brent Burns each have 3 goals and 9 points through 7 games.
What this means is that San Jose is lacking secondary scoring, but the top producers are still finding ways to get it done.
Part of the reason for this is that Burns and Pavelski each shoot the puck from everywhere at all times. Burns has already fired 35 shots on goal through 7 games and Pavelski has taken 26. Both are a play in all formats tonight along with top line center Joe Thornton.
A GPP play in San Jose is second line center Logan Couture who has 5 points in 7 games and sees minutes with these 3 on the top power play unit. Couture seems to be the only other player in San Jose creating offense to start the year.
If Martin Jones gets the start for San Jose, he’s a safe option, as Columbus has scored just 13 goals so far this year and San Jose figures to get the win at home.
Best of luck tonight and those of you who are VIPs I will see you in the DFS Army SlackChat!