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!
All Stats are over the Last 10 games unless noticed otherwise!
Today sets up to be a great MME day. I will be playing in the quarter games and will have exposure to most players today!
Goalies
Braden Holtby: Fighting for that top spot in the Metropolitan Division, Holtby and the Caps will continue to come out firing. The Islanders are starting to fall and PIT is starting to heat up again, so Washington needs to win games like this. Holtby has been rather consistent of late too. Against a struggling Devils team who are not shooting or scoring much, Holtby should have a great chance at the win here tonight.
CAR Goalie: It’s the front end of a b2b for Carolina, and I’m not sure at the moment who is going to be the starter. McElhinney is projected right now, but that could always change. Either way, I love the way these goalies are playing. The Jets are struggling right now, barely scoring 2 goals/game in their last 10. The Canes have allowed just 1.58 ga/game in the last 10 and have the best PK% in the league in the L10. Both of these goalies have been outstanding when starting, so whoever starts, I like them.
Carey Price: The Ducks can’t win 3 in a row can they? I like some pieces of the Ducks team, but man it’s hard to find a great goalie tonight. Tonight, most of these teams are playing very good defense and scoring is middle of the pack. Over his last 10 games, he has the lowest GA/G at 2.3 and has the highest Sv% on the slate at .925%. I am having a hard time trusting him, but with such a small slate and the games he can have, Price needs to be in your player pool.
Centers
Sebastian Aho: Ugh, he hates me, but I can’t ignore the spot he’s in tonight. He consistently gives you fantasy points and has a point in 4 straight games. The Jets are allowing the most SOG/Game on this slate and their PK% is the worst in the league right now.
Aleksander Barkov: I’m not too high on just FLA1 today, but I do love their PP. Their PP is the best on this slate and the WIld have the 2nd worst PK% on the slate. He really needs to get a point to hit value though. I won’t have a ton of him, but he will be in my FLA PP stacks.
Nicklas Backstrom: I prefer him over Kuz tonight. He’s been playing much better than Kuz and them on the PP is amazing. I love WSH tonight but if I had to choose a center its Backstrom.
Vincent Trocheck: I love that Florida has paired Tro with Hoffman on the second line. This boosts both of them. Before last game against Boston, Trocheck was consistently shooting 4 SOG per game. This is a little better matchup with MIN after they played a hard game against the Lightning last night. He’s still priced okay and has upside tonight.
Jordan Staal: He’s still too cheap for what he brings to the table. Carolina has one of the better matchups on this slate with Brossoit starting for the Jets. Carolina’s second line has been playing great of late and Staal is still cheap.
Joel Eriksson Ek: Minnesota played a tough game last night, and Ek had 7 SOG. He’s cheap, but plays 15+ min a game and has been shooting. In his last 5 games, he has 21 SOG. If a goal comes out of one of those, he crushes value at just 3.9k on FD.
Others to consider: Eric Staal, Mark Scheifele, Lars Eller, Adam Henrique, Max Domi
Wings
Alex Ovechkin: Just play him. Will be my highest owned player tonight.
TJ Oshie: Going back to the well with Oshie. He didn’t do much last game, but this matchup is a good one too. WSH is going to be chalky, but their 2nd line is one of the hottest lines in the NHL right now with 8 goals in their last 10 games.
Jason Zucker/Ryan Donato: I LOVE pairing these two together. This is a great 2-man stack and you can add in Eric Staal for a full line stack. Both of these guys are still really cheap and playing amazing. Zucker had a hatty last night, but before that he was consistently putting up 15 or more FD points and against Florida and a rookie goaltender, I still love it. Donato is dirt cheap and gets top line and top PP line. He’s been on fire since being traded and won’t kill your lineups at all. Likely my highest owned value winger tonight.
Nino Niederreiter: Love me some Carolina tonight. Pair him with his linemates in this great matchup. He’s got 4 assists in his last 3 games and is starting to heat back up again.
Justin Williams: Same as Nino. Paired with Aho, this is most of the Carolina goals.
Mike Hoffman: Paired with Trocheck I think this is good for him. They didn’t do anything against Boston last night, but against a tired Wild team, I think they will tonight. This slate is tough, but you should have some exposure to most if not all teams tonight.
Teuvo Teravainen: Love him with CAR2 tonight. The Jets are horrible allowing goals lately and Teravainen has been pretty good. When he doesn’t get a point, he can shoot a ton.
MONTREAL: It’s hard to score against the Ducks at home, but Gibson has been shaky lately. I’m not sure I’ll have much of them, but Brendan Gallagher: Has been the hottest guy for the Habs lately.
Others to consider: Jonathan Huberdeau (stacked with PP1), WPG1 (only line really producing for WPG lately), Jakob Silfverberg (love how he’s been playing)
Defensemen
Keith Yandle: Plays a ton of minutes and gets PP time. He’s on the expensive end, but Defense is tough today.
Dougie Hamilton: Great matchup with the Jets. Hamilton has flashed upside but can never seem to keep it going. That being said, he should have a bunch of shots here tonight.
Jared Spurgeon: Still gets blocks more than anyone. He should see a bunch of shots his way, raising his block shot floor tonight.
Shea Weber: We know he shoots a ton, but this is a tough matchup for the Habs. I will have some of him, but not a while lot. Still has 31 SOGBS in his last 5 games.
Cam Fowler: Finally playing great again. He has three straight good games and still is cheap. He’s playing around 22 minutes a game and has points in 3 straight. Good late hammer exposure.
Andy Greene: I think he has upside for blocks against the Capitals here tonight. I don’t see the Devils doing much offensively, but if he can block 3-4 and get a few shots he will hit value.
Others to Consider: Jeff Petry, Michal Kempny, Jacob Trouba, Justin Faulk
Favorite Stacks
WSH1, WSH2, WSH PP1
MIN1/ MIN PP1
FLA PP1
CAR1, CAR PP1
ANH2 (very sneaky, no one will really play them)