FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: November 20
By Matt Rogers
Welcome back for another FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. This is the Monday, November 20th edition. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
Yesterday was a fun slate, but we missed on a couple of picks and if you had Malcolm Subban in net, you were burned by the late swap to Maxime Lagace. It’s a shame, because the game played out much like we expected, low scoring for the Kings and a win. Also, John Gibson and the Ducks bounced back. Gibson provided 50 saves and a win for an awesome total of 44 FanDuel NHL points.
Gibson was in a lot of winning lineups yesterday, and while some of our calls like Aleksander Barkov paied off with over 26 FanDuel NHL points, we still missed some opportunities by stacking Panthers. The Red Wings had three goals and were worth a stack, but there was risk in playing Jimmy Howard, as the Avalanche were a hot offensive team. Howard was unable to maintain the Avs and they piled up four points, making our Tyson Barrie call at defense a solid one. So we’ll take what we learned yesterday and move on to Monday.
Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Monday, November 20th:
Blue Jackets at Sabres (7pm ET)
Coyotes at Maple Leafs (7pm ET)
Flames at Capitals (7pm ET)
Jets at Predators (8pm ET)
Devils at Wild (8pm ET)
Ducks at Sharks (10:30pm ET)
Of the twelve goalies in net tonight, at least nine of those goalies are in the top two tiers this season. That’s going to make stacking offense challenging. Also, where two solid goalies are facing each other, there’s risk in pick one for a win.
However, the struggling Coyotes are hosting a high-scoring Maple Leafs team tonight, and the Ducks have backup Reto Berra in goal tonight against the Sharks. Also, Buffalo’s Robin Lehner is likely starting tonight, and he’s have a rough year. Lehner and the Sabres are hosting a good Blue Jackets team.
As always, we’ll look to update our picks and final lineups prior to lock on our twitter account @FantasyCPR so make sure to give us a follow for all the late breaking lineup news.
Now let’s start building our lineups by looking at the top centers for this slate…
Top FanDuel NHL Centers: Nov 20th
Mark Scheifele ($8,200) is the most expensive FanDuel NHL center on the ice tonight. Scheifele has been hot lately, but he’s facing a tough Pekka Rinne in Nashville. Meanwhile, Auston Matthews ($7,900) is $300 cheaper, and is also hot heading into tonight’s game, and is facing the struggling Coyotes in Toronto, with Antti Raanta in net for the Yotes.
Between the two, Matthews is a slam-dunk top pick, and I’m not sure why anyone would pay up for Scheifele. Even better, given tonight’s match ups and a potential Leafs stack, Matthews is affordable while still plugging in many top-talent players across the lineup. So, we’re using Matthews as an anchor for all of a lineups tonight.
Given the juicy match up the Maple Leafs have tonight, it could also be reasonable to add Nazem Kadri ($6,300), who leads the Leafs second line, to have a Toronto stack at center. While Matthews has an insane nearly 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, Kadri still has a strong 13+ average, and has a goal or assist in each of his last six games. Nazem also gets about 16 to 18 minutes of ice time, providing plenty of time to stack up some points, for at least ten a game. With such a good match up tonight, they should both have a great night.
On the flip-side, Derek Stepan ($5,000) could be a great value tonight. While we expect Frederik Andersen and the Maple Leafs to win at home tonight, Andersen sees a high volume of shots each game, and has a lower save percentage compared to his peers. So Stepan’s line is likely to score a few goals tonight.
The Blue Jackets also have a great match up against the Sabres’ Robin Lehner. With Wennberg still injured, Brandon Dubinsky ($4,500) is leading the Jackets top line and has a goal or assist in four of their last six games, and is getting around 22 minuets of ice time a game. This is a bargain price to stay on the ice for most of the game against a goalie who’s giving up too many goals this season.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Nov 20th
At wing, consider completing your Maple Leafs stack. James van Riemsdyk ($6,600) may play on the Leafs third line, but he’s involved in the man advantage as well, and typically sees around 15 minutes of ice time per game, and is very productive. van Riemsdyk has four goals and one assist in the Leafs last four games.
Another solid Maple Leafs pick is former Sharks veteran Patrick Marleau ($5,500). He’s fitting in well with the Leafs this season, and has three goals and two assist in their last five games. Patrick also gives you additional exposure to the Leafs second line, along with Kadri at center.
To add on to the Matthews top-line Maple Leafs stack, William Nylander ($5,800) is also a great young talent. Nylander had a great rookie year, last season, and is beginning to re-emerge again this year. He is less consistent than Matthews, but can add goals and assists in spurts, especially with a great match up like they have tonight.
Johnny Gaudreau ($8,000) is expensive, but he’s absolutely on fire right now. Johnny has a point in every game played since October 25th, nine games. Over that period, Gaudreau has seven goals and ten assists, an incredible offensive run. The Flames have to travel to D.C. to play a tough Capitals team, but Holtby has struggled in goal most of this season, and Johnny streak could continue tonight.
We talked about how the Coyotes could be a sneaky good offensive play tonight, and 19-year-old Clayton Keller ($5,600) is probably the most talented on the ice for the Yotes tonight. He’s averaging nearly 15 FanDuel NHL points-per-game and is already being allowed nearly 20 minutes of ice time, including the man advantage.
One of my favorite plays from last week, Nino Niederreiter ($5,200) is smoking hot right now. Niederreiter has three goals and two assists over the last five games, providing one of either in each game. Two of those goals, over the last two games, were power play goals as well. The Wild have a tough Devils team in Minnesota tonight, but the Devils have struggled lately.
Finally, digging for value. The Capitals face a rock-solid Mike Smith tonight. But like Andersen, Smith is getting so many shots on goal, his save percentage is suffering, and the Caps are likely to score several goals tonight. Chandler Stephenson ($3,200) will be on the Caps top line tonight, playing alongside Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. This is a great opportunity to snag some high value, and afford some of the more expensive top players.
Top FanDuel NHL Defenders: Nov 20th
While I typically love Brent Burns ($6,800), he hasn’t been as dominate this season, and the Sharks are facing a touch John Gibson in goal tonight. Fortunately, there’s another rock-solid option on defense Monday night.
Roman Josi ($5,900) is one of those rare consistently scoring defenders. Over the last three games, Roman has a goal and three assists, several shots on goal, and five blocked shots. Josi is averaging almost 16 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, and is currently hot.
The Predators are hosting a tough Winnepeg Jets team, who will have Connor Hellebuyck in goal. Hellebuyck has been solid, so this play is risky, but he’s let up to five goals through in a couple of games recently, and Josi is so active and on the ice for around 25 minutes a game, he’s still bound go get double-digit points without any assists or goals.
Another fairly dominate offensive defender over the last two weeks has been Jared Spurgeon ($4,800). For only $4.8K, we’re getting a guy who’s averaging over 13 FanDuel NHL points-per-game and has double digit points in four of his last five games. Even when not on a scoring line, Spurgeon gets enough blocked shots and shots on goal to pile up six to eight points, as a floor.
As we mentioned before, we like the Blue Jackets match up tonight, and Zach Werenski ($5,200) and Seth Jones ($5,000) lead the defense on the Jackets top line. Both Zach and Seth are incredible young talents who consistently score around ten to 15 points most games. Stacking Zach and Seth on defense is a pretty sure bet, or picking one to complete a four-player Blue Jackets stack is ideal.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Nov 20th
As we mentioned earlier, nine of the twelve goalies in net tonight are some of the best in the NHL. Braden Holtby ($9,100) is the most expensive, but he’s struggled lately. On November 14th, Braden gave up six goals in Nashville. Last season, Holtby was rock solid most of the season. This year, he’s been hot and cold. Tonight, the Caps are hosting a red-hot (pun intended) Flames offense. Especially if you have Johnny Gaudreau in your line, fade Holtby tonight.
Dubnyk and Martin Jones each have very difficult match ups, along with Rinne and Hellebuyck. Of the remaining top goalies, we like the match ups Sergei Bobrovsky ($8,800) and Frederik Andersen ($8,400) have tonight.
The Maple Leafs defense continue to struggle, and allow many shots on goal. But for NHL DFS, Andersen’s situation is perfect. Frederik sees so many shots on goal, and manages to at least save just over 91% of those shots, that he’s piled up 550 saves, the most in the NHL. So even on a bad night, Andersen likely gets you around 15 to 20 FanDuel NHL points.
Bobrovsky is arguably the best goalie on the ice, and his match up against the Coyotes at home in Columbus is ideal. With plenty of value options throughout the lineup, Sergei is the best goalie option tonight, especially if you’re looking for a high probability of 12 FanDuel NHL points for the win.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Nov 20th FanDuel NHL:
C Matthews (TOR $7,900)
C Kadri (TOR $6,300)
W van Riemsdyk (TOR $6,600)
W Nylander (TOR $5,800)
W Niederreiter (MIN $5,200)
W Stephenson (WAS $3,200)
D Josi (NSH $5,900)
D Werenski ($5,200)
G Bobrovsky (CLS $8,800)
Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for the week. You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building FanDuel NHL lineups. We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.
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