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
Ben Bishop (9.4k): Three shutouts in a row?! Bishop is rolling right now. He’s getting very expensive but the matchups are not getting that much harder. Another road start here and the Wild are still pushing for a playoff spot. Dallas though needs to keep winning to stay in the mix. Ride the hot hand with Bishop here. ALL FORMATS
Andrei Vasilevskiy (9.7k): He’s pricey, but now only $300 more than Bishop and in a great matchup. The Red Wings are a dumpster fire right now. The thing that worries me about him, is the Red Wings are not shooting a ton and if he allows 1-2 in he won’t come close to value. I prefer Bishop, but Vasil is still cash safe. CASH
Matt Murray (8.7k): I love Murray here tonight and I don’t think many people will go with him. He’s on one of his hot streaks right now and that’s when you roll him. Buffalo is still without Eichel for this one and PIT’s defense has been playing a bit better. Buffalo is still shooting over 32 SOG per game so I think the upside is there for Murray here. LEAN GPP
Carey Price (8.8k): What to do with Price. He barely faced any shots last game, but still came away with 24 fanduel points. The Islanders are playing a little better lately, but so has Price. He has 2 bad starts in his last 6 games. The Canadians need Price to be great down the stretch here and I think they will continue to play hard to get into the playoffs. GPP
Darcy Kuemper (8.5k): Another game with the Ducks here who are actually heating up lately. Kuemper bounced back wonderfully last game and the Coyotes are still pushing to get into that last playoff spot in the West. Outside of his start against Chicago and last start against the Ducks he’s been very good. He will need to keep up his play for the Yotes to get into the playoffs over the last couple of weeks. GPP
Others to consider: Braden Holtby (tough matchup, but he’s playing like playoff Holtby lately)
Centers
Patrice Bergeron (8.5k): Bergeron has been one of the most consistent centers in the NHL. He will give you shots, goals, and assists. The matchup with Winnipeg is great too. He has 17 shots in his last 5 games to go along with 4 goals and 2 assists. Love the matchup and he’s good savings off Crosby.
Aleksander Barkov (8k): His price and production are both going up. He and Huberdeau have been one of the best pairs in the NHL of late. I absolutely LOVE this game here and it finally may be a late hammer game that is higher owned. Barkov has been shooting a ton, and when he doesn’t shoot, he gets assists. His 5 assist game is a bit of an outlier, but it shows his upside. His price is getting up there, but still, a great spot in a game that could shoot out.
Sidney Crosby (9.4k): Sid the Kid is ROLLING right now. He gets a great matchup with Buffalo here too. After a couple of disappointing games, he bounced back with 2 quick goals against Washington.
Sean Couturier (7.6k): Couts has been consistent for the Flyers and they get a rematch with Washington. They are still without Voracek for this one and last game he put up 8 SOG. Last game against WSH he put up 24 fanduel points and had 2 assists.
Tomas Hertl (6.5k): Like I said, I love this game. Hertl has been amazing lately and just so consistent. He has been scoring over 14.4 fanduel points in his last 6 games and this matchup is wonderful. I think he may be a little overlooked tonight in a great spot.
Nicklas Backstrom (6.8k): The guy gets two points and the price stays the same. Okay, Fanduel I’ll take it. Backstrom is still rolling and has been putting up over 11.2 fanduel points almost consistently. He scored a goal and added an assist last game against the Flyers and I love him in this spot again tonight.
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Others to consider: Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, David Krejci
Wings
Brad Marchand (9k): I didn’t think he was going to get up this high in price, but here we are. Marchand has been UBER consistent for the Bruins and has been crucial for their success. This is another great spot for someone who has 3 goals, 6 assists, and 18 SOG in his last 5 games.
Nikita Kucherov (9.2k): Love me some Kuch against the Red Wings. I actually feel really bad for Detroit tonight as they will probably get spanked. The Lightning opened up as a massive -390 favorite in this one. He’s normally always in play and could score a bunch tonight.
Jonathan Huberdeau (7.3k): His last 3 games he has been one of the hottest wings in hockey. In this 3 game stretch, he has 4 goals, 5 assists, and 12 shots. He’s doing work on the Power Play and is in another good spot today. Florida will win this game if they can score a couple of PP goals.
Timo Meier (5.7k): A late assist helped Meier salvage a decent fanduel score last game and this matchup with Florida is too good to pass up. He’s been so consistent for the Sharks and has tons of upside, especially in this matchup. I love him for his price today and he should score 14+ on Fanduel tonight.
Jared McCann (5.2k): If you don’t want to pay up for Crosby, go with Jared McCann. He will likely be in my cash lineup tonight and has been playing amazing for PIT. A late empty-netter helped him a lot last game, but his matchup is great here. Aside from his game against the Blue Jackets, he hasn’t scored under 14.4 fanduel points in 6 of his last 8 games. Still not too high in price for this matchup.
Gustav Nyquist (5.3k): He’s filling in just fine for Kane on the 2nd line right now. When Kane comes back, I think they will keep Nyquist with him on that 2nd line. He did have 2 goals last game, but what I love more is his 6 shots. He’s usually good for 3+ shots and has goal upside, especially in this matchup.
Brady Tkachuk (5k): WHAT an Ottawa player? Look, Ottawa is Brady’s team right now and he’s the best offense they have. The Blues have been good on defense, but Tkachuk has been the lone bright spot for OTT. He had 5 SOG last game and was able to score a goal against Boston. It’s a tough matchup, but I don’t mind having shares of Tkachuk tonight.
Oskar Lindblom (4.7k): He got a lucky goal last game and I really don’t like him as a DFS player, but it’s hard to argue with a consistent 3-4 SOG in this matchup. He’s still cheap and was able to score 16 fanduel points last time against Washington.
Frank Vatrano (4.5k): Vatrano had 8 SOG last game! EIGHT! This game is likely going to be fast and furious and Vatrano should be able to get a bunch of shots again. FLA2 could be a sneaky line tonight as most people will go to their top line.
Others to Consider: Alex Ovechkin, Blake Wheeler, Jake Guentzel (pair with Crosby), Claude Giroux, Brendan Gallagher
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Defensemen
Charlie McAvoy (4.7k): Love McAvoy here tonight. He’s moving to the top D pairing with Krug missing this game. He’s cheap and I love pairing him with either Bergeron or Marchand. This matchup with the Jets is great and he’s been playing better lately.
Ryan McDonagh (4.7k): Love me some TB tonight. McDonagh is going to be low owned but has been great. He’s cheap exposure to one of the best offenses on this slate. Detroit is a dumpster fire right now and I can see TB scoring 6 tonight. He added 2 assists last game and has been averaging 4 SOGBS per game of late.
Shea Weber (5.7k): I don’t love him as much as I did last game, but he’s still producing for the Habs. He’s been shooting a TON (13 SOG in his last 2 games) and has been getting assists too. The Islanders have been scuffling of late and Weber has a rocket shot.
Roman Josi (7.3k): He’s passed out Burns in price on fanduel, but man he’s been so consistent. I’m saving on defense tonight, but in lineups that I end up paying up, you bet Josi will be in play. He’s been so consistent and this matchup with LA is wonderful. Nashville hasn’t been playing all that great, but Josi has been producing.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (4.3k): PICKLES is back! He’s picking up his game lately and I love to see it. This matchup with Florida is great and he’s been blocking shots like crazy and getting into the point column. He’s still very cheap too.
Jacob Trouba (5.3k): Still is showing a good floor of about 5 SOGBS per game. This is a tougher matchup with Boston, but a game that can still shootout.
Colton Parayko (4.7k): I like Pietrangelo tonight too, but I won’t pay the price for him. Parayko has a great matchup with OTT and has been getting shots and blocks lately. He has a rocket for a shot and needs to start using it more. This is a game where he could break out. I won’t use him in cash, but in tournaments, he is a high upside play.
Ryan Pulock (4.4k): A tougher matchup with Montreal, but his floor is slowly rising again. He’s blocking more shots (3 in each of his last 3 games) and has at least 3 SOG in his last 3 too. We know the floor he usually brings is around 4-5 SOGBS and he could see some blocks and get a few shots tonight.
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Others to Consider: Alex Pietrangelo, John Klingberg, Victor Hedman, Keith Yandle
Favorite Stacks
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