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
Curtis McElhinney (CAR) (7.4k): I’ll start off with a value guy in net tonight. If he starts against Philly, he’s in a great spot. Over his last 10 starts, he’s allowed just 2 GA/Game with a .934 save %. The Flyers are only scoring 1.9 goals per game in the last 10 games, but are shooting 32 shots per game. McElhinney should see some volume and be able to get stops tonight.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB) (9.3k): Very expensive for a goaltender, which I do not like paying for. Vasil is in a very good matchup with the Kings though. I don’t think there is a ton of upside in tournaments with the Kings not shooting a ton, but Vasil is a solid and safe cash game goalie.
Braden Holtby (WSH) (9.1k): Not many people will go back to him after last game he allowed 6 goals. Before that, he had two strong games. The Blues are only scoring 2.5 goals/game in their last 10 and the Caps are allowing just 2.2 goals/game. Holtby should be low owned as most will just pay $200 more for Vasil. Love him for tournaments tonight.
Robin Lehner (NYI) (7.5k): Here’s another cheap option for y’all tonight. Lehner has been outstanding of late, allowing the lowest goals against in his last 10 games. He has a .935% save percentage while allowing just 1.9 goals/game. The Islanders are allowing fewer than 2 goals per game in their last 10 games and are playing great defense right now. I’m weary on using a goalie against the Hawks, but the Islanders D should prevail tonight.
Linus Ullmark (BUF) (8.1k): People don’t like playing a goalie against the Panthers. Over their last 10 road games, they are allowing 4 goals, giving BUF a better chance at a win. Ullmark has been great this season and on fire lately. His last 3 games have been very good scoring over 20 fanduel points in all three. The last time he faced the Panthers, he scored 20 fanduel points getting 40 saves and allowed 3 goals. There is upside with Ullmark tonight.
Jonathan Quick (LAK) (8.6k): LARGE-FIELD GPP ONLY!!! Hear me out with this one. Quick has been very good lately and he will see a TON of volume tonight against the Lightning. This is a way to go against the chalk in tournaments. Quick has scored at least 21.6 fanduel points in 4 of his last 5 starts and has allowed more than 2 goals just one time in the last 5. We have seen the upside with Quick and the Lightning have an average of 36.4 SOG/game in their last 10 games.
Centers
Brayden Point (TB) (7.9k): I prefer Point on TB tonight over Stamkos. Point has been more consistent lately too. He’s averaging 28.3 FD points in his last 5 games and that’s 6 more than his last 10. He’s been scoring, shooting, and getting assists for TB2.
Patrice Bergeron (BOS) (8.3k): Expensive, yes. He has 26 SOG in his last 5 games and those shots will begin to turn into more goals. The matchup with the Flames is not the best, but they are on a B2B and Boston is at home.
Mathew Barzal (NYI) (6.6k): Apart of the 2nd hottest line on the slate tonight, Barzal has been playing great hockey lately. The matchup with the Hawks is pretty good as they are allowing close to 37 SOG per game and over 3 goals.
Phillip Danault (MON) (5.6k): Danault has been on fire lately. His SOG are up, he’s scoring goals and getting a ton of assists. VAN is coming off a rB2b and could be a little slow tonight.
Bo Horvat (VAN) (5.6k): Still too cheap. Horvat had a decent game last night and should be able to do the same tonight. He’s been shooting the puck and these will start to turn into goals. Price can be leaky and Horvat could hit the back of the net tonight.
Elias Pettersson (VAN) (6.3k): Likely will garner ownership after his hat trick last night. I’m not chasing that though. Pettersson has been shooting more and the Habs are allowing 3.4 goals/game in the last 10. VAN is on a b2b so I will keep him in tournaments to my VAN stacks, but there is upside here.
Others to consider: Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos, Sean Monahan
Wings
Nikita Kucherov (TB) (9.1k): WOW, his game logs are insane! Arguably the best wing in the league right now. TB is scoring 5 goals per game in their last 5 and Kuch has been consistently over 20 fanduel points. Pair him with Point for nearly all the Lightning scoring.
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) (8.7k): Usually I’m not on Ove as he’s normally too expensive. BUT tonight is an exception. With all the value on D and mid-priced centers, Ove will be in my cash lineups tonight. The Blues are allowing 3.5 goals/game of late and Ove is a stud.
Patrick Kane (CHI) (8.4k): Kane is showing why he’s an All-Star again. This matchup is hard against the Islanders, but Kane is a shooting machine and has been finding the back of the net too.
Brock Boeser (VAN) (6.4k): Man why can’t this guy be more consistent. He has a 0 sandwiched between two games over 27 FD points. On either side of that 0, he has 15 SOG. When he’s shooting, he brings a solid floor, but some games he plays ghost. More of a tournament play for me tonight.
Anthony Beauvillier (NYI) (5.1k): Solid value here. Beauvillier has been playing well recently and has a good matchup with CHI. The Islanders are playing great hockey right now and he has been increasing his SOG lately.
Jake DeBrusk (BOS) (5.1k): We need some lower priced guys. Not as easy as last night with Donskoi, but DeBrusk has been increasing his SOG too. CGY isn’t the easiest matchup but if he’s going to continue to shoot, he’s a decent value.
Others to consider: CGY1 (they are on fire, but BOS has been playing better D of late. I don’t want to feel like chasing their amazing last 2 games. That being said, I still like everyone from that line tonight), David Pastrnak, Mike Hoffman, Tomas Tatar, Alex DeBrincat, Brendan Gallagher
Defense
Alexander Edler (VAN) (4.7k): Fanduel is really bad with pricing. Edler just puts up an amazing game and goes up $100. The Habs are allowing 31 SOG per game and 3.4 goals/game. Edler brings a solid floor to the table and is very cheap.
Victor Hedman (TB) (6.7k): I’m not usually a Hedman supporter, but he’s on fire right now. His FD average is going up over his last 5 games too. He has 46 SOGBS in his last 10 games and 24 in his last 5 games.
Erik Gustafsson (CHI) (4.7k): Gustafsson has been playing well for the Blackhawks right now. Over his last 5, he’s averaged 20.5 fanduel points with 18 SOGBS. He’s cheap, getting ice time and blocking a ton of shots. He also gets PP time and has assists too.
Ryan Pulock (NYI) (4.5k): We used to always have Pulock as a solid value, he faded off, and now is starting to warm up again. His last 2 games have been great and he’s been scoring points too. His FD points are on a slight uptick of late too.
Jeff Petry (MON) (4.9k): I’m saving at D tonight as I don’t see the need to pay up. The guys under 5k are in good spots and have solid floors. Petry has been getting after it on the offensive end lately. Averaging 14.7 FD pts in his last 5 games with 23 SOGBS, 1 goal and 4 assists in his last 5 games.
Others to consider: Shea Weber