Hello folks and welcome to my NHL Positional Breakdown for Fanduel!
For those of you who are new to the DFS Army, new to NHL DFS, or just like to read different articles, my name is Matt Dell’Agnese and I’m an MLB and NHL coach and writer for the DFS Army. Hit me for a follow on twitter at mdellagnese14. If you are a DFS Army VIP member you will know that I’m fairly active in our NHL rooms and around to help coach for the amazing sport of Hockey. I was brought to the DFS Army in January and I wrote Painting the Black for baseball, analyzing pitching picks for the slates. If you’ve played MLB, NHL is very similar. The sports are both volatile and players can put up a 0 or low score at any time. Don’t get discouraged if you get cold, just keep with your process and the players will come around. For cash games, you want to correlate players who skate on the same line or same Power play line, in GPPs stack up the full lines. Thankfully, Chop has asked me to help out with our NHL content articles!
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I will be breaking down each position with the players who I like with my reasonings for liking them on the slate! I am a Fanduel player, so these articles will include Fanduel pricing and scoring references! Remember to always check for confirmation of goalies and lines! Let’s dive into this big Wednesday Slate!
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Goalies
Pekka Rinne (NSH) (9k): Tonight seems like a pay up night in the net for me. Rinne has one of the best matchups tonight against Ottawa. Nashville’s offense is struggling, but OTT is allowing the most shots on goal on the slate and they could slip a few through the goal. Rinne is nothing but consistent. ALL
John Gibson (ANH) (8.6k): More GPP for me tonight. The Ducks have been allowing SOG and the Pens have been scoring. This is more of a gut GPP play as I believe the Pens will come out flat tonight. Gibson has been great lately though and can stop plenty of shots. GPP ONLY
Casey DeSmith (PIT) (8.3k): His price doesn’t move at all ever and this matchup with the Ducks is a good one. The Ducks aren’t projected to score a ton tonight and the Pens could see Letang come back tonight on D. We can use him in cash tonight, but I don’t see much upside with the Ducks rarely shooting. Lean Cash.
Semyon Varlamov (COL) (8.6k): Varly has not been as hot as his team has been lately, but this matchup with the Islanders at home is wonderful. They are not scoring at all (1.7 goals/game of late) and are not shooting much either. This brings down his ceiling a bit, but with how hot their offense is, he should have a great chance at the win. ALL
Carey Price (MON) (8.8k): Price is very frustrating to roster, but this spot here tonight against Boston is someplace no one will go. This makes Price a GREAT tournament play. Boston is shooting the puck 37 times per game lately, but are scoring just 2.4 goals per game. The volume will be there for Price tonight that makes his ceiling high. GPP ONLY
Centers
Nathan MacKinnon (COL) (8.8k): Nasty Nate is always in play and I love this matchup with him. I’m starting my lineups with him tonight. Amazing floor with his SOG and this matchup with NYI is a good one.
Pierre-Luc Dubois (CBJ) (5.7k): I really want Subban to be in the nets for the Knights tonight because this makes for a wonderful game stack if he is. Dubois has been a part of the Blue Jackets top line who has the 3rd most goals of any line on this slate.
William Karlsson (VGK) (7.3k): I do have interest in the Knights tonight, but more so towards tournaments. Vegas’s top line has been heating up lately, and Karlsson has 4 goals in his last 5 games.
Matthew Barzal (NYI) (5.8k): Even though I really like Varly, Barzal has been on fire and COL has been leaky allowing goals. Barzal had an amazing game last time out with a goal, assist, and 7 shots. He’s trending upwards though and is still priced right.
Carl Soderberg/J.T. Compher (COL) (4.4k/4.6k): You will see tons of COL in this article today. These two are more tournament plays for me but are very very close to being cash viable for their prices. COL is scoring and scoring and it is coming from every line.
Boone Jenner (CBJ) (4.5k): GPP only for me stacked with Anderson. CBJ2 is playing well lately and if they see Vegas1 they could sneak one through.
Wings
Mikko Rantanen/Gabriel Landeskog (COL) (8.4k/7.2k): Whichever one you can fit with Nate, play them. In tournaments try and get all 3 in, it will take a ton of salary but they have all been crushing value.
Andrew Shaw (MON) (4k): Shaw is nearly a lock and load for me at his price for his production lately. MON is rolling and Shaw is a part of that hotline for the Habs.
Cam Atkinson (CBJ) (7.2k): Likely will be lower owned than Landeskog on this smaller slate but he’s in a good spot too. He does have those pop off games, but when he isn’t scoring goals, he’s still shooting. Over his last 3 games, he has 3 assists and 20 SOGBS. He hasn’t scored since his hat trick (5 games), but I see that changing tonight.
Jonathan Marchessault/Reilly Smith (VGK1) (6.8k/5.3k): March has been a solid piece of production for Vegas. They are scoring nearly 4 goals per game in their last 10 and have a decent matchup with the Jackets tonight. Smith has also been heating up of late and almost brings a better value for cheaper. I love Smith back up on the top line too and it looks like he liked it too after scoring 18.9 fanduel points last time out.
Alex Tuch (VGK) (5.5k): Another guy who has been great for his price. We are seeing his price rise slowly and slowly, but it isn’t quite too high for me yet. This is a great spot for him too as we know, Bob can be leaky.
Ondrej Kase/Pontus Aberg (ANH) (4.6k/3.8k): Love both of these guys for value tonight skating on the top line for the Ducks. Now, don’t expect all that much as PIT and DeSmith have been playing well, but they are both very cheap and pair great with Getz on that top line. Both have been hot over their last 10 games or so too. If just playing 1, I prefer Kase as he has the higher floor.
Others to consider: Mark Stone (OTT, 6.7k), Brendan Gallagher (MON, 6k), Josh Anderson GPP ONLY(CBJ, 4.2k), Jakob Silverberg (ANH, 4.9k)
Defense
Shea Weber (MON) (5.8k): I hate needing to pay up for both defense tonight, but I don’t see that much value that I like. Weber is absolutely on a tear since coming back. He’s shooting, scoring, and blocking shots which brings his floor up. I do like a #DoubleD tonight with Weber and Petry.
Jeff Petry (MON) (4.6k): Oh hey! It’s Mr. Petry. Petry has been great all season and getting Weber back in the lineup seems to have lit a small fire under him. In the 9 games since Weber has been back, Petry has 30 SOG, 8 blocks, 5 goals, and 3 assists. For just 4.6k on FD, he’s a great value.
Seth Jones (CBJ) (5.7k): I hope it’s Subban in the net instead of Fleury tonight. If it’s Subban, the Jackets are wonderful plays. Jones is a stud defenseman and can shoot, score, block shots, and pick up apples.
Torey Krug (BOS) (6k): Doubt many people will use Krug tonight, but Price can be leaky and he’s been playing well. Krug has a solid floor and has some nights with 4+ SOG. If he can pick up a goal or assist tonight, he could pay off that salary. GPP only for me though.
Others to consider: Brandon Montour (ANH, 4.2k), Thomas Chabot (OTT, 5.4k)