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!
First, here are some of our recent big wins! Remember to sign up with code, MDELL to get 20% off!
No time to listen to the pod? Have no fear, check out this quick read article that quickly goes over the picks from the podcast today! If you’d like to listen to the pod, click here!
Goalies
David Rittich (CGY) (8k FD) (8.1k DK): Best option on the board tonight. Will likely be chalky in cash games, but he’s the safest and has been the best. Great chance at getting a win tonight.
Jacob Markstrom (VAN) (8.1k FD) (7.8k DK): GPP play for me that will be low owned. Mark has played two great games against EDM this season scoring over 20 FD points both times. He likely won’t see a ton of shots, but if he allows just 1 or 2 goals could have another 20 point game.
Darcy Kuemper (ARI) (7.5k FD) (7.2k DK): NO ONE is going to touch him. Kuemper is facing a very hot SJ team who shoots a lot. This makes him large field, MME type only tonight. The upside is there and I like using ARI offense tonight against Dell too.
Other GPP Only Options: Jaroslav Halak (BOS) and Carter Hart (PHI)
Centers
Matt Duchene (OTT) (7k FD) (5.9k DK): NARRATIVE STREET. As mentioned on the pod, I love Duchene tonight. His wife just had a baby and he gets to face his former team. They did not split ways nicely and Duchene will look to revenge them.
Sean Monahan (CGY) (7.8k FD) (7.3k DK): If I can, I am pairing Monahan with Duchene at center. If not, it’s one or the other. Good matchup at home and CGY1 is the hottest line in the NHL right now scoring 14 goals in their last 10 games.
Bo Horvat (VAN) (5.4k FD) (4.6k DK): I think Koskinen got lucky last game and I love Van tonight. They will likely be lower owned, especially being the hammer game. Horvat has been playing very well lately and has 48 SOGBS in his last 10 games.
Chris Tierney (OTT) (4.8k FD) (4.2k DK): If you cannot get up to Duchene, I love Tierney tonight. He is averaging 15 FD points per game over his last 5 games and gives you a piece of the game I think will be very high scoring.
Tomas Hertl (SJS) (6.3k FD) (5.6k DK): Likely will be chalky after last game scoring 3 goals. If you aren’t using Kuemper tonight, I don’t mind using Hertl.
Sean Couturier (PHI) (6.4k FD) (5.1k DK): Rather cheap on DK and Halak has been quite leaky of late. Couturier has picked up his game of late with 15 SOG in his last 5 games. I love using him with Duchene in cash games tonight too.
Others to consider: Carl Soderberg (likely chalk after last game), David Krejci, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid (GPP), Leon Draisitl
Wings
Gabriel Landeskog (COL) (7.4k FD) (7.3k DK): He popped off to me from the research station and he’s going to be a staple in my cash games tonight.
Johnny Gaudreau (CGY) (8.8k FD) (7.6k DK): If you can pay up for both tonight, do it. We have the value where it is possible. Johnny G has been on fire of late as mentioned in the pod too. Stack him with Monahan in your lineups tonight.
Matthew Tkachuk (CGY) (6.9k FD) (6k DK): Lower priced part of Calgary. I love using him if you cannot get to Johnny G. 21.6 average in his last 10 games and has 5 goals and 3 assists in his last 5 games.
Evander Kane (SJ) (6.7k FD) (6.1k DK): Love him and his SOG upside. The matchup is decent against ARI too and he should be able to get a goal or assist, if not have 5+ SOG.
James van Riemsdyk (PHI) (6.1k FD) (4.5k DK): Great price on DK for what he has been doing lately. JVR is on fire and PHI is in a sneaky good spot against Boston tonight. Pair him with Couturier.
Conor Garland (ARI) (3.9k FD) (3.8k DK): Here’s my top value play on wing tonight. Garland will be in my cash lineups so I can get the higher priced guys. Over his last 5 games, he has 6 goals, 18 SOG, and is averaging 28 FD points. On fire in a great matchup against SJ3 or SJ1 who has allowed two of the most goals in the league of late.
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.
Ryan Dzingel (OTT) (6.3k FD) (4.9k DK): Great price on DK especially. Dzingel makes for a great stack with Duchene on OTT1 tonight. COL can be leaky and Dzingel has been great lately with a floor of 8 points.
Others to consider: Mark Stone, Alex Galchenyuk (GPP), Bobby Ryan (pair with OTT1), Timo Meier, Sven Baertschi (GPP, value), Michael Frolik (great value, gives you access to CGY).
Defense
Alexander Edler (VAN) (4.2k FD) (5.5k DK): Fanduel is really bad with pricing. Edler is a FREE SQUARE tonight on fanduel. Great matchup tonight against Koskinen where he could score and get an assist tonight.
Thomas Chabot (OTT) (5.5k FD) (5k DK): Amazing pair with Edler if you are not paying up for Giordano. Chabot is coming back and was playing very well before he got hurt. Great matchup in a wonderful game.
Mark Giordano (CGY) (6.9k FD) (6.3k DK): The highest I will be paying on D tonight. Gio will see time with CGY1 and CGY2 and he is on fire. He has a great floor and high upside.
Erik Johnson (COL) (4.5k FD) (4.2k DK): Solid floor of late and gets you exposure to COL1 at times. He has 47 SOGBS in his last 10 games and 24 in just his last 5 alone. Amazing value on D paired with Edler tonight.
Cody Ceci (OTT) (4.2k FD) (3.6k DK): If you cannot get up to Chabot, use his linemate Ceci tonight. Solid floor and very cheap. If he doesn’t shoot, he’s blocking shots.
Others to consider: Darnell Nurse, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, TJ Brodie (VALUE), Jakob Chychrun