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
Jacob Markstrom (VAN) (8.4k): His price is starting to increase, but in this matchup, I’m fine with it. Markstrom has been very good lately and this matchup is very good. Vancouver is allowing the 2nd FEWEST goals on this slate over their last 10 games and OTT isn’t scoring lately.
Casey DeSmith/Matt Murray (PIT) (8.2k/8.8k): Not fully sure who is going to get the start in the net for PIT tonight, but surprisingly I like both of them tonight. Both have been very good and the Rangers are allowing a ton of goals. Pittsburg’s defense has been doing well and not allowing many goals.
Ben Bishop (DAL) (8.7k): Bishop is more of a tournament play for me tonight. He’s rather expensive and if I go this high I’ll likely go right to Murray if he starts. Bishop has been good lately though and the Devils have been shooting a ton. Over his last 10 games, he has a .932% sv% while allowing just 2 GA/Game.
MacKenzie Blackwood (NJ) (7.4k): Here’s your cheapest option tonight. Blackwood has been outstanding of late. Yes, he faced VAN and CAR the last two who have not been that amazing lately, but he was able to stop 40 shots against Boston. I don’t think he will continue this all year long, but DAL isn’t scoring much of late and are still shooting, he has upside tonight.
Centers
Sidney Crosby (PIT) (8.9k): The 2nd most expensive Center on the slate tonight, and arguably in the best spot. PIT1 is the best scoring line over the last 10 games and I prefer him over Nate and McDavid tonight.
Dylan Larkin (DET) (6.7k): Larkin has been as consistent as it comes. Aside from his last game, he had 28 SOG in his last 5 games and has been consistently putting up close to 16 fanduel points.
Joe Pavelski (SJ) (7.7k): Rather expensive, but the Sharks are shooting the puck like crazy and COL is allowing goals. He’s cooled off a bit of late but the upside is there tonight.
Sean Monahan (CGY) (7.3k): The Flames have a great matchup tonight. I was always on Howard earlier this year but he’s been pretty bad of late. The Red Wings are allowing 3.7 goals/game over their last 10 and the Flames are scoring.
Bo Horvat (VAN) (5.7k): Horvat is still getting shots off, just hasn’t been able to find the net in the last few games. OTT is allowing close to 36 shots per game and almost 4 goals per game. Great value in a great spot tonight.
Alex Galchenyuk (ARI) (5.4k): Galchenyuk has actually been consistent lately. He’s cheap and has over 12 fanduel points in each of his last 5 games. EDM is allowing shots and Alex could see a few extra shots tonight.
Others to consider: Nate MacKinnon (tough matchup, elite player though), Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Wings
Johnny Gaudreau (CGY) (8.4k): Right now he’s my top winger tonight. He’s been absolutely on fire and has a great matchup tonight with DET. He’s averaging 24 fanduel points in his last 10 games has had a couple blow up games lately. DET is allowing goals too.
Phil Kessel (PIT) (8k): Usually I don’t like Kessel, but his production lately is amazing. He’s our 3rd highest projected winger right now and in a great matchup. I can’t use him in cash because his floor is very low, but you can stack him with PIT’s PP in tournaments tonight.
Leon Draisaitl (EDM) (7.1k): Rather expensive for him, but his last 3 games he’s torching the competition. He has 4 goals, 2 assists, and 10 SOG in his last 3 games and this matchup with ARI is a good one.
Chris Kreider (NYR) (6.5k): Not a huge fan of the Rangers tonight, but Kreider is on fire too. PIT is still allowing a ton of SOG and Kreider has been shooting a bunch. His last 5 games he has 17 SOG while scoring 5 goals and has 2 assists.
Gustav Nyquist (DET) (5.7k): Pair with Larkin if you’d like. He’s starting to warm back up again. I won’t use him unless I’m stacking DET though. The upside is there, but he has a low floor.
SJ3: This is Kane, Donskoi, and Hertl. I like all 3 of them tonight as a sneaky line. All have very high upsides and have shown they can go off. This 3rd line can be some teams top lines. They will be very low owned too and COL is allowing close to 4 goals per game of late. I do think Donskoi is a great value and can be used in cash games as a one-off too.
Others to consider: Andreas Athanasiou, Alexander Radulov, Patric Hornqvist, Timo Meier, Brock Boeser
Defense
Erik Karlsson/Brent Burns (SJ) (7.4k/7.2k): The Sharks have been on fire, and COL is allowing goals. Karlsson and Burns are both the hottest defensemen on this slate. You cannot go wrong using either one in your lineups tonight.
Alexander Edler (VAN) (4.6k): Edler is still way too cheap. He was priced higher when healthy. He’s still playing well right now and simply is too cheap. Pair him with one of the guys above for a solid floor tonight.
Kris Letang (PIT) (6.8k): This is a great matchup for PIT and Letang is back under 7k. I do think people are going to pay up and Letang is on the upward trend. I love him and PIT tonight.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI) (4.8k): Another cheap option at D tonight is OEL. He’s trending up and EDM has been allowing tons of shots against.
Darnell Nurse (EDM) (4.6k): One last value guy I like tonight. Nurse has picked up his play lately. I won’t be using him in cash games, but he’s a great stack with EDM1 in tournaments tonight.
Others to consider: Esa Lindell