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!
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All Stats are over the Last 10 games unless noticed otherwise! Let’s dive in!
Goalies
Matt Murray (PIT) (8.8k FD) (8.1k DK): Murray is in a decent spot here tonight. He is the most expensive goalie on the slate and goes into a tricky Arizona team. He has scuffled a little in his last two starts, but before that he was unstoppable. 7 of his last 9 games he has allowed 2 or fewer goals too. He only has 3 career games against Arizona, but he is 3-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .959%. Pittsburg is also playing great on the road in their last 10 games too. I think he will be chalky tonight in cash games though. ALL FORMATS
Braden Holtby (WSH) (8.6k FD) (7.9k DK): Holtby is coming back tonight and he says his eye is 100%. This matchup is pretty good against the Islanders and he has done well against them in his career too. He’s seen them 22 times and is 15-4-3 against them with a 2.39 GAA and .922%. Holtby had over 30 fanduel points against them in his last start vs NYI too. I do like how he was playing before he got hurt and he should keep it rolling tonight at home. ALL FORMATS
Carey Price (MTL) (8.6k FD) (7.6k DK): Price is a weird goalie to roster and it’s hard to always get a read on him. He’s playing very well of late and he has a good history against the Blue Jackets. I think the Habs are going to be overlooked here tonight and they shouldn’t be. In his career, Price is 7-3-1 with a 2.07 GAA and .929% against CBJ. The upside is there as he should see a good amount of shots. More of a tournament play with high upside and a low floor tonight on the road. GPP
Jacob Markstrom (VAN) (8.1k FD) (7.9k DK): Markstrom comes into this game rolling over his last 10. He only has 2 starts in his last 10 where he has allowed less than 3 goals. The matchup with Buffalo is pretty good. Buffalo did just beat the red-hot Calgary team but are averaging just 2.6 goals per game in their last 10 games. Vancouver is playing very good defense of late allowing just 2.6 goals against per game and 28 shots per game. Markstrom has high upside in this matchup tonight where Buffalo averages 33 SOG per game. Lean GPP
Garret Sparks (TOR) (7.3k FD) (8k DK): BETTER PLAY ON FD. I think Sparks is going to be rather chalky tonight. The Leafs come into Florida rolling and getting a big win last night against Tampa Bay. They don’t have a too long travel to get here so I’m not worried about them being too tired. Sparks is coming back off concussions so could be rusty and we aren’t sure who is going to start right now. Florida is playing rather bad of late though and will give Sparks upside. They are shooting (33 SOG/game last 10), but are not scoring (just 2.3 G/Game). Sparks is cheap and has upside tonight. ALL FORMATS
Other option: Anders Nilsson (GPP)
Centers
Matt Duchene (OTT) (7.1k FD) (6.6k DK): His narrative street worked last game, and although there is no more narratives for him, he’s still in a wonderful spot. I love OTT tonight and Vegas isn’t giving them any credit. Duchene has been on fire of late and should be able to keep it going.
Sean Monahan (CGY) (7.8k FD) (7k DK): He and his linemates are always in play when they are on a slate. They also get a wonderful matchup with DET, especially if Howard starts. High floor normally and immense upside. He also saw a $300 price drop on DK tonight.
Dylan Larkin (DET) (6.9k FD) (6.3k DK): Larkin will be very low owned tonight. People do not like using him and don’t like using people against the Flames. Well, the Flames are still allowing goals and if Smith starts I love Larkin even more. He has a solid floor and 25+ point upside. I can see him scoring tonight.
John Tavares (TOR) (8.1k FD) (7.4k DK): I like Tavares a bit more than Matthews tonight for cheaper on fanduel. Tavares burned us with a 0 two games ago, but this matchup against the Panthers is a great one for them. I think Tavares finds the hole a couple times tonight.
Pierre-Luc Dubois (CBJ) (6.1k FD) (6.3k DK): The Blue Jackets are projected very high tonight and Dubois is normally in the middle of the scoring or assisting for them. He has assists in his last 4 games and Price can tend to be leaky. The Habs are playing well but still, allow 35.5 SOG/Game.
Bo Horvat (VAN) (5.5k FD) (5.7k DK): Another hammer game where I like Horvat. He did have cramping last game, but I think he’ll be fine tonight. If Hutton starts for Buffalo, I love the sport more. They are allowing 3.5 goals/game and VAN is always lower owned in good spots.
Others to consider: Chris Tierney, Auston Matthews, Sidney Crosby, Nazem Kadri (gets PP1 time)
Wings
Johnny Gaudreau (CGY) (8.9k FD) (7.7k DK): Johnny G is just a stud right now and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. The matchup with DET is beautiful and he has a floor of about 15 points lately.
Mitch Marner (TOR) (8.3k FD) (7.2k DK): Marner is playing great alongside Tavares. He has at least 16 fanduel points in his last 4 games and the matchup against Florida and Luongo is great where he can score or assist again. He has points in each of his last 4 games too. I’ll use him in my TOR stacks tonight and probably not in cash.
Jake Guentzel (PIT) (7.7k FD) (6.5k DK): Guentzel has been unstoppable on the top line for PIT. He’s had a solid floor aside from last game and has really thrived on the top PP line with Hornqvist out.
Matthew Tkachuk (CGY) (6.9k FD) (6.4k DK): Lower priced part of Calgary. I love using him if you cannot get to Johnny G. He’s been on fire and I love him in cash and tournaments tonight.
Conor Garland (ARI) (3.9k FD) (4.3k DK): He’s still under 4k and still has been playing with a solid floor. This matchup isn’t as good as last time, but he’s still averaging 5 SOG per game in his last 5 games.
Andreas Johnsson (TOR) (4.1k FD) (4.9k DK): If you don’t use Garland, use Johnsson as your value winger tonight. The matchup with Florida is great and he is paired with Tavares and Marner on the top line. He gets PP2 time too and he has been playing great in his last 3 games.
Brock Boeser (VAN) (6.4k FD) (5.8k DK): Pair him up with Horvat on VAN1 tonight in a great matchup He’s projected 15.4 points from our research station which is a great value even for his price. I know he didn’t do much last time out, but he still has the upside for 4+ SOG and has a goal chance against BUF tonight.
Ryan Dzingel (OTT) (6.4k FD) (5.2k DK): I love stacking him with Duchene where possible tonight in a good matchup. This OTT line is playing well together lately and Dzingel has upside.
Others to consider: Gustav Nyquist (Stack with DET1), Bobby Ryan (Pair with OTT2), Michael Frolik, Josh Anderson (solid floor lately for his price), CBJ1 (GPP only for me), Anthony Mantha
Defense
Alexander Edler (VAN) (4.2k FD) (5.6k DK): He didn’t do that well last game, but here he is, still the same price on fanduel in another decent matchup. Buffalo is allowing 3.5 goals/game in their last 10 and if Hutton starts, he has been brutal lately. Edler has upside still and is basically free on fanduel. BETTER FANDUEL PLAY
Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) (4.8k FD) (4.7k DK): Dahlin has simply been outstanding of late. I don’t love this matchup for him, but his floor has been rather high lately. His last 5 games he has 22 SOGBS, 1 goal, and 5 assists. He’s still cheap too.
Thomas Chabot (OTT) (5.5k FD) (6.1k DK): Amazing pair with Edler if you are not paying up for Giordano or Letang. He did well last game and has another solid matchup tonight. OTT is sneaky good tonight and I don’t think they will be too high owned. He got a $1,100 price jump on DK too which is a little concerning, but we cannot argue with his floor.
Mark Giordano (CGY) (6.6k FD) (6.6k DK): Will Jimmy Howard scare me? NOPE. Howard has HORRIBLE history against the Flames. He allows almost 3 goals per game and has under a.900% against them. Gio is still playing very well and brings a solid floor to the table.
Kris Letang (PIT) (6.8k FD) (6.5k DK): Letang is in another good spot as PIT is rolling on the road. His floor sits at around 12 fanduel points and he should be apart of the scoring tonight. His TOI is steady around 26-28 minutes per game and he gets PP time too. He has a high upside too.
Jeff Petry (MTL) (5.1k FD) (5.4k DK): Petry is still priced right tonight and this matchup with the Blue Jackets may be overlooked. Bob has been very leaky of late allowing 3 or more goals in each of his last 6 starts. Petry has cooled off a little of late, but he has upside.
Ben Hutton (VAN) (3.8k FD) (3.8k DK): Hutton doesn’t have much of a floor, but he sees about 20 min on ice per game and gets PP time. His last 3 games he has 3 points and is blocking shots. He can be used in a VAN stack for tournaments and is very cheap.
Others to consider: Mike Green, Cody Ceci, Jordie Benn (large gpp only)
Sneaky Stacks
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