Welcome back to the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. The Monday, March 13th addition. We will continue to focus on top plays for Monday night, and find several value picks for affordability. Salaries we discuss in this article are set by FanDuel for Monday.
Monday nights are typically quiet for the NHL. But tonight, the schedule is loaded with great match ups. We have eight games to choose from, giving us plenty of top scoring and value options at each position. Finding the right goalie may be difficult, because many of these games will be close. Let’s take a look at the schedule of games we’ll focus on for our lineup, only:
Lightening at Rangers (7pm ET)
Blue Jackets at Flyers (7pm ET)
Hurricanes at Islanders (7:30pm ET)
Jets at Predators (8pm ET)
Penguins at Flames (9pm ET)
Bruins at Canucks (10pm ET)
Avalanche at Coyotes (10pm ET)
The Lightening have some hot lines lately and will be in a good match up against the Rangers, in New York. We’ll probably continue to roll with a few Bolts players. Also, in New York, a struggling Hurricanes are visiting the Islanders. We’ll look to see if we can stack any Isles.
The Flyers have played better lately as they’re desperation trying to get into a playoff position, but the Blue Jackets should be too much for the young Fly Guys to handle.
The Jets and Bruins have juicy match ups, and the Flames welcome a tough Penguins team to Calgary, in a likely shoot-out. Finally, two of the worst teams in the NHL, the Avalanche and Coyotes, will be on the same ice tonight. We’ll pluck at least one player from that match up.
We’ll start with our top play at center, and a mid-salary range pick to afford him:
Next: Top Centers
Top Centers
Evgeni Malkin ($8,900) was quiet, and disappointing, when we played him in our lineup on Saturday night. Evgeni only had 11.2 FanDuel NHL points in a great match up against the Canucks. But that’s not terrible considering he had no involvement in any goals, just five shots on goal and two blocked shots.
Tonight, Malkin should bounce back in Calgary. Over the last five games, Malkin had 23+ FanDuel NHL points in four games. Also, Evgeni typically doesn’t go quiet on the ice for consecutive games. We’re expecting 20+ points from Malkin tonight.
Centering the Islanders 2nd line, Brock Nelson ($5,000) has been on fire lately. Brock has three goals and an assist in the last five games. The only scoreless game Nelson was involved in during that time was an 11.2 FanDuel NHL point game in Calgary. Brock still had seven shots on goal against the Flames. If Nelson stays hot tonight, we should see at least 10-15 points from this play for only $5K. I’ll take that every time!
Next: Top Wings
Top Wings
We’ll start off our wing picks with an Islanders stack. Anders Lee ($5,000) isn’t on Brock’s line, but Lee does give us exposure to the Isle’s team line, and Tavares, without having to pay too much for it. Anders has two goals and an assist in the last three games, and often performs well in favorable match ups for the Islanders, like tonight in New York against the Canes.
For those of you following along with this articles daily, you’re probably sick of us adding Nikita Kucherov ($8,200) to our lineup. But Kucherov has been consistently dominate. Finding someone who consistently provides top scoring in FanDuel NHL is hard to find. When it’s identified, you roll with it until it dies. Also, Lundqvist is out for the Rangers, meaning Hellberg is between the pipes. This presents a better opportunity for the Bolts tonight.
Our lineup is pricey so far, and we still want to spend big at Defense and Goalie, so with our next two picks we’re looking for value from Rene Bourque ($3,600) and Drew Stafford ($3,900).
Bourgue is a 35-year-old veteran manning the Avalanche’s top line. I RARELY visit avalanche offensive players for my lineup, but tonight the Avs’ have a more favorable match up in Arizona against a bad Coyotes team. This match up is a more level playing field for each team. Last Thursday, Rene has a goal against the Devils in a similar type of match up. That’s possible again tonight and would be a tremendous ROI play.
Stafford quietly scored two goals and has three assists in the Bruins last five games. So we’re getting a hot wing from the Bruins 2nd line in Vancouver against a back Canucks defense and struggling goal tending. For under $4K, this feels like a steal!
Next: Top Defense
Top Defense
We love Kucherov’s match up against the Rangers tonight, and at defense we’re going to grab another top scoring option from the Bolts 1st line, Victor Hedman ($6,600). Victor has seven FanDuel NHL double-digit results in Tampa’s last eight games. Hedman has four assists and three goals in the last six Lightening games. He’s on fire and should stay hot tonight.
Completing our defense picks, we’ll swing over to Nashville and get Ryan Ellis ($4,800) on home ice against the Jets tonight. Ellis was quiet in San Jose on Saturday, but has three goals in the last five games. Ryan is getting around three shots on goal per game lately, and is involved in at least two blocked shots. With another goal or assist tonight, he should get us around 15 FanDuel NHL points.
Next: Top Goalie
Top Goalie
Sergei Bobrovsky ($8,900) is returning to Philadelphia tonight, where his career started and took off, before moving to Columbus. Although the Flyers biggest problem is at their defense position, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind have ‘Bob’ back in net.
In March, Sergei is now 4-0, averaging 30 saves per game, and has three shutouts in the last four Blue Jackets starts. That’s an incredible run. Tonight, Bobrovsky should see another 30+ shots on goal from a Flyers team who shots often, but scores at one of the lowest percentage of shots in the NHL. It’s also likely Bob gets the win. This should be a 25-35 FanDuel NHL point play tonight.
Always check NHL lineups throughout the day when playing FanDuel NHL. The NHL isn’t overly forthcoming with injury news, and players are often scratched at the last-minute with little information. Also, goaltenders are never a sure-thing. Follow us on twitter, @fantasycpr, for updates as we get closer to lineup lock time. Good Luck today FanDuelers!