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!
Check out Flynn’s article that describes how we start our process of creating lineups – Beginning NHL Strategy.
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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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Just a small 4-game slate tonight, don’t go too crazy with contests as the goalies are not the greatest. Without further ado, here we go!
Goalies
Louis Domingue (TB) (8.7k): The most expensive goaltender on the slate tonight, but he’s in a great spot. He has been great over his last 10 games and has the 2nd lowest GA/G in that span. He’s going to be chalky, but the Rangers aren’t scoring. They have just 2.7 goals/game over their last ten. The one downside I do see though is New York is only shooting 26.2 shots/game which could cap his upside tonight.
Jimmy Howard (DET) (8.5k): The second highest and he actually could take over the chalk against the Kings tonight. I love Jimmy Howard and the stats back it up. He’s allowed the fewest goals/game in his last 10 starts along with stopping 92.7% of the shots coming his way, also the best on this slate.
Casey DeSmith (PIT) (8.3k): I don’t normally like using PIT goalies because they usually are not that great. But, Smith has been really good of late. He’s right behind Howard in Sv% over his last 10 games and he, along with Domingue and Howard are the only 3 to average over 20 fanduel points over their last 10 games.
Others to consider: Jonathan Quick (LAK)
Centers
Brayden Point (TB) (8.3k): Can’t believe that Point is priced this high, but his recent success shows why. His line is the hottest in the NHL right now with 10 goals over their last 10 games. He is involved in about 32% of the teams scoring and has 7 goals and 6 assists over his last 10.
Sidney Crosby (PIT) (8.8k): Seeing a slight increase in production from his L10 to his L5 and Crosby is playing on a hot line too. His line is the 2nd hottest over the last 10 games scoring 7 goals. Crosby has scored 7 goals and has 8 assists over his last 10 games too.
Logan Couture (SJ) (7.5k): The Devils have been bad, like allowing almost 4 goals per game bad. Couture makes his money on the PP with 4 assists and 1 goal while seeing PP time in his last 10 games. Averaging almost 16 fanduel points in his L10 he has a decent floor.
Dylan Larkin (DET) (6.9k): Larkin is playing great hockey right now. He trails only Crosby in FD average in his last 5 games, while picking up the 2nd highest SOGBS for centers on the slate. Larkin is a shooting machine and also picks up some assists.
Others to consider: Steven Stamkos (TB), Mika Zibanejad (NYR), Nico Hischier (NJD, decent value)
Wings
Taylor Hall (NJD) (8k): Starting to trend up again, Hall is in a great spot against the Sharks. Jones is not that amazing and can be leaky. Hall has 1 goal and 6 assists in his last 5 games and will look to keep it going tonight.
Nikita Kucherov (TB) (9k): Kuch is apart of the hottest line, and he’s expensive but can pay off the salary. He has had such a solid floor of late as well and if you can spend up for him, go for it.
Timo Meier (SJS) (6.2k): Will Meier ever cool off? It doesn’t seem like it. The Devils have been leaky and Meier is still such a great value at his price. He, like Hall, is starting to trend up from his L10 to L5 games. In his L5, he has 23 SOGBS, bringing a high floor to the table.
Tyler Johnson (TB) (5.8k): TyJo has been playing well of late along with the entire TB team. He’s rather cheap and in a good spot at home tonight.
Gustav Nyquist (DET) (5.7k): Holy hot right now. Nyquist has averaged 23.8 FD points in his last 5 games! He’s scored 4 goals and added 5 assists over his last 5 games with 19 SOGBS. Ride the hot hand when they are hot in hockey.
Anders Lee (NYI) (6.5k): What I love so much about our Research Station are the L10 and L5 game stats. NHL is a game of hot and cold streaks, and when someone is trending up, you play them. Lee has 21 SOGBS, which ranks near the highest on the slate. I wish he did a little more on the PP side, but decent matchup.
Thomas Hertl (SJ) (5.3k): WAY too cheap here for his production lately. Over his last 3 games, he’s on absolute fire. He has 10 blocks over his last 54 games which shows he’s not afraid to get in front of the puck. Hertl also has 1 PPG, 1 ESG, and 1 assist. LOVE this value tonight
Jesper Bratt (NJD) (3.7k): Not playing on the top line anymore, but when he’s healthy he’s producing with the Devils. 14 FD point average in his last 5 games is just fine for his price tonight.
Others to Consider: Evander Kane (SJ), Dustin Brown (LAK), Andreas Athanasiou (DET), Jake Guentzel (PIT)
Defense
Kris Letang (PIT) (7.2k): I HATE paying up this high for a defenseman, but he’s been on fire in his last 10 games. He’s cooling off a bit in his last 5, but still averaging over 15 FD points. Letang is a key cog in the PIT offense and shoots a ton. If you can pay up for him, he’s a great play tonight.
Erik Karlsson (SJ) (7.1k): Yes, I know another high priced defenseman, but he’s been on fire too. Having 27 shots over his last 5 games, and he’s actually on the rise compared to Letang. Both are tough in cash games because they are expensive, but both are wonderful plays if you can play.
Sami Vatanen (NJ) (4.7k): Here’s a cheaper guy for Y’all. Vatanen has been good over his last two games and slowly improving his FD stats. He has an impressive 18 SOGBS in his last 5 games which is just fine at his price point. He’s getting minutes and will begin to produce with them now that he is healthy. The matchup with Jones tonight too.
Ryan McDonagh (TB) (4.9k): Defense is pretty scarce tonight and not many safe options we are used to. McDonagh has been involved int he offense for TB though and I love the spot for him. He’s been colling off lately and alternating good/bad games, but this could be a good one for him.
Ryan Pulock (NYI) (4.4k): A guy who is finally starting to heat up. Still racking up ice time and he’s beginning to get more points. He’s trending upwards and this matchup can be leaky with the Pens. Cheap and has the potential to block a ton of shots too.
Others to consider: Brent Burns (SJ), Mike Green (DET),