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!
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 3 weeks (8-11 games) unless noticed otherwise!
Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy: WOW, he’s expensive. It’s very hard not to just plug him in lately. Over his last 10 games, he’s 8-0-2 with a .953% and 1.44 GAA. One of the best in the game is showing it right now. The Rangers don’t really scare me that much either and the Lightning have been on fire on the offensive and defensive end of the ice. ALL FORMATS
Semyon Varlamov: Uh oh, watch out folks, the Avs are coming back into form and this is a decent matchup too. The Canucks rank 29th in the last 3 weeks in goals scored and have the league’s worst power play in that span. Varly has been pretty good lately except in his last start. In the last 3 weeks, he’s 4-3-4 with a .918% and 2.83 GAA. These are a little high, but Vancouver is averaging 32 SOG per game in their last 3 weeks and Colorado is 17-11-9 this season as favorites. GPP
Cam Ward: This time he shouldn’t hurt us as much. He’s been very bad of late, but the Ducks have been even worse. The Hawks are getting Corey Crawford back, so Ward is going to need to prove that he can be the #1 when Crawford is back. The Ducks are scoring the lowest in the last 3 weeks and Ward should be able to get a win here tonight. GPP
I do have one other play who I think is a great GPP option tonight, but you’ll have to sign up for a VIP membership to see who it is!
Centers
Auston Matthews: Love this matchup for the Leafs tonight at home against EDM. EDM has been pretty middle of the pack in scoring goals allowed of late, but their PK% is in the bottom 11. Matthews has 3 goals, 2 assists, and 26 SOGBS in his last 5 games and has been bringing a lovely floor of late.
Jonathan Toews: Toews has been amazing of late just like the whole CHI team. He’s been shooting a ton and scoring too. Top PP time also helps. The Ducks do have one of the best PK’s in the league right now, but Boyle doesn’t scare me here.
Brayden Point: I love all of TB here against Georgiev. Point has been amazing for the Bolts all season and this matchup is just as good as any. The Rangers have been in the bottom half of goals allowed and Georgiev has not been that good.
Carl Soderberg: He’s been amazing in a low key role for COL lately. Now he gets to center Landeskog in this one. Since COL has changed up their lines, they have been playing a lot better too. Soderberg is still very cheap and in his last 5 games he’s been amazing. 3 goals, 4 assists, and 26 SOGBS. For his cheap price, he’s an amazing value here tonight against Vancouver.
Others to consider: Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Dylan Strome (keep in CHI2 stacks), Connor McDavid
Wings
Patrick Kane: Just going to keep rolling Kane until he slows down. Boyle has had 1 good game since coming on for the Ducks and it’s not going to get any easier. Look for Kane to continue his point streak here tonight.
Nikita Kucherov: It’s always so difficult when both of these guys are on the slate. It’s hard to get them both in, but not impossible. Kuch gets an amazing matchup too and I’m going to try my best to use both. Georgiev has shown to get blown up and Kuch will be involved if that happens.
Leon Draisaitl: With McDavid back, Draisaitl will hopefully keep up his amazing play. He has points in his last 7 games and has scored more than 20 FD points in 5 of his last 7. Andersen has been giving up goals lately, and Draisaitl has been as hot as anyone.
Alex DeBrincat: DeBrincat has been a little slower aside from his big hat trick game against OTT. that was the only time he’s hit over 20 FD points in his last 7 games. What a perfect time to go back though against Boyle.
Gabriel Landeskog: He’s still the Winger with the best floor of the two of him and Rantanen. I prefer Skog to give you 3-4 SOG and has been playing well with Soderberg too.
Kasperi Kapanen: I love pairing him up with Matthews on TOR2 because they have been one of the hottest lines in the NHL lately. His SOG are sporadic but when he’s on he can push his ceiling. He’s still good value in a good matchup.
Others to consider: Pavel Buchnevich, Matthew Tkachuk (HE’S SO CHEAP), JT Compher, Brandon Saad, Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat
Defensemen
Erik Gustafsson: He has seen a massive price jump because of his recent play, but he’s playing great and has 7 assists in just his last 3 games! The Ducks are a bit better defensively of late, but Gustafsson has been on fire.
Tyson Barrie: He, along with the whole Colorado team is heating up. He has been involved in everything and has been getting a lot of power play time. He has 4 assists in his last 5 games and has been shooting more in the L5 too.
Morgan Rielly: The Oilers are not very good and Rielly has been warming up. His price is up there, so I don’t know if I’ll be paying up for him in cash, but he makes for a great tournament stack with Matthews or Tavares.
Oscar Klefbom: Has been bad of late, but McDavid is coming back from his suspension and it should boost Klef’s energy and production. Klef is too cheap, especially on Fanduel for what he brings to the table.
Travis Hamonic: Hamonic has been playing pretty well lately and the matchup with the Devils is pretty good. The Devils are allowing the most goals in the NHL right now, and Hamonic has 2 goals and 11 SOG in his last 5 games. He’s dirt cheap and should return value.
Andy Greene: I think I have a soft spot for Greene. He’s normally great value and always cheap. The Flames are shooting 34.3 SOG/Game and Greene should block a few here tonight.
Alex Biega: I love COL tonight, but if Biega is going to keep bringing this floor to the table at min price, I like it. He finally added a goal last game and has been shooting more lately. He has 18 SOGBS with a goal and 2 assists in his last 5 games. He’s been playing very good lately.
Mikhail Sergachev: PLEASE KEEP AN EYE IF HE’S PLAYING TONIGHT!!! If he does, he’s a great value. He was healthy scratched last game because TB has so many D-man, so that could happen again. I’m not sure why coaches do this to young guys who are playing well tho. In his last 5 games, he put up 2 goals, 12 SOG and 5 blocks.
Others to Consider: Connor Carrick
Favorite Stacks
My favorite stacks will be posted in our chat for DFS Army VIP members only. I can’t give out all the goodies for free! So this is the PERFECT time to sign up! Use my promo code “MDELL” to save yourself 20% on every month of your subscription!