FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: November 29
By Matt Rogers
Welcome to the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column for Wednesday, November 29th. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
Boy did we get burned yesterday! Big slates are always tough in FanDuel NHL, but yesterday was our worst of the season. While Malcolm Subban did start for the Golden Knights, they were shut out by the Stars on home ice, and Subban recorded his first loss. That was a surprise.
Additionally, Steven Stamkos, who had a pricey $8,700 salary, only provided a measly 3.2 FanDuel NHL points with two blocked shots. Steven leads the NHL in points, so the fact that we didn’t even see a shot on goal against one of the worst teams in the NHL was shocking. And while Kucherov recorded an assist, he only added 14.4 points, for a total of 17.5 FanDuel NHL points on $17,500 of our salary. That’s a very poor return from the NHL’s most offensive tandem this season.
Only Roman Josi was really worth the pick. Roman recorded a power play goal and had two shots on goal for 15.7 with $6,100 of our salary yielded. Our value picks didn’t pan out, and Provorov and the Flyers had a disappointing night in a great scenario. So, we learn what we can from a rough night, and get back to chasing out with a smaller slate on Wednesday.
Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Wednesday, November 29th:
Lightening at Bruins (7:30pm ET NBC SN)
Senators at Canadiens (7:30pm ET)
Ducks at Blues (9pm ET)
Jets at Avalanche (9:30pm ET)
Of all four games tonight, the Lightening and Bruins game is the hardest to predict. Tuukka Rask is in goal for the Bruins tonight. Historically Rask has been a tremendous goaltender, but he’s struggling significantly this season. Tuukka is giving up over three goals per game over the last three weeks. But, as we saw last night, the Bolts offense seems cold right now. In general, we’re fading this match up.
The two teams we’re focusing on the most are the Blues and Jets. The Ducks are visiting the Blues in St. Louis and have been struggling all season. A lot of that has to due with poor offensive support for John Gibson, who’s also giving up too many goals. The Jets and Avalanche are two of the top ten offensive teams in the NHL this season, and that game should present some fireworks. Between those two teams, the Jets have the better netminder.
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 NHL DFS optimal lineup by looking at the top centers for this slate…
Top FanDuel NHL Centers: Nov 29th
Steven Stamkos ($8,600) is unlikely to have to bad offensive games in a row. And with Rask playing so poorly lately, Stamkos is worth a healthy consideration tonight. But between Steven and Mark Scheifele ($7,900), we like Scheifele more tonight.
The Bolts have the NHL’s best offense overall, but the Jets offense has been emerging over the last month. A large part of that is due to Mark’s top-line production. Against Minnesota on Monday, Scheifele had a power-play goal and two assists for a total of 33.8 FanDuel NHL points.
Tonight, the Jets face Semyon Varlamov, who’s having a solid season. But Varly is mostly benefiting form the Avs offense. Semyon is giving up 3.23 goals-per-game, opening the door for Mark and the Jets to pile up goals tonight.
Another top pick, who’s in a better match up situation, is Brayden Schenn ($7,300). Since being traded by the Flyers during the off-season, Schenn has blossomed into a superstar in St. Louis. Leading the Blues top line, Schenn has ten goals and 20 assists, for a total of 30 points, sixth in the NHL. While Brayden has been quiet over the last two games, he’s had monster offensive games in the last month, including two 40+ FanDuel NHL point games in the last week.
For value, we like Brayden Point ($5,300) and Bryan Little ($5,000). Both Point and Little are leading the Bolts and Jets second lines and are being overshadowed by intense scoring from their team’s top lines. But Brayden and Bryan are nearly as effective on the second line and have great match ups tonight. Between the two, Point has a better match up, but Little gives you affordable exposure to 15+ minutes of the Jets offense tonight.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Nov 29th
Once again, in theory the Lightening should have a great match up tonight, so Nikita Kucherov ($8,700) is worth the pick regardless of the price. However, while Kucherov was somewhat productive last night, he was still disappointing. But do not let ‘down’ nights prevent you from picking top players.
Equally as dominate is Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,500). Vlad is benefiting from the great play from Schenn this season, and is a great stack if you can afford both. Over the last six games, Tarasenko has two two-goal games, and four assists. Against the Oilers last Wednesday, Vladimir piled up an incredible 53.3 FanDuel NHL points. Tonight, Tarasenko has a similar match up, but don’t expect as many points. If you can’t afford Tarasenko, grab Jaden Schwartz ($7,000) instead.
We already mentioned our affection for the Jets tonight with the Scheifele pick. If affordable, Blake Wheeler ($7,600) is a great stack with Mark. Even when not scoring, Wheeler is a workhorse who will get you several shots on goal and jump in front of an opposing shot for a block. On Monday, Blake piled up a goal and two assists for 30.6 FanDuel NHL points, and has a similar match up tonight.
The Jets second line is also very productive and could have a great night. 19-year-old Patrik Laine ($7,200) is the sexier name on the line, but Nikolaj Ehlers ($5,600) has been equally as productive and is $1,600 cheaper. Also, over the last six games, Nikolaj has been more productive, with two goals and four assists.
Two picks flying under the radar in a potential Blues and Jets stack are Alexander Steen ($5,600) and Kyle Connor ($4,400). With Schenn and Tarasenko stealing most of the headlines, Steen has quietly provided four goals and two assists in the Blues last six games, and is averaging over 11 FanDuel NHL points-per-game. Alexander’s average has climbed over the last two weeks and his salary is a great value with this hot streak.
Connor’s salary is grossly undervalued. Kyle is yielding about as many FanDuel NHL points as Steen, and is playing on the Jets top line, one of the hottest in the NHL. Connor has three goals and four assists in the Jets last six games, and is firing off at least two shots per game. Kyle is the best value pick on the board tonight.
Top FanDuel NHL Defenders: Nov 29th
While Erik Karlsson ($6,700) and Victor Hedman ($6,000) are the headlines on defense tonight, Alex Pietrangelo ($5,900) is the best pick. Karlsson is generally a monster on the ice, but has a rough match up against Price tonight. Hedman has a great match up, but the Bolts were cold last night. Meanwhile, Pietrangelo has a 15.84 FanDuel NHL point-per-game average, the highest among all defensive options, and arguably the best match up tonight. We’re going with Alex to complete a Blues stack.
Veteran Dustin Byfuglien ($5,100) or young Jacob Trouba ($4,800) are each an affordable way to complete a Jets stack. Buf typically seems more time on the ice, around 25 minutes per game, and is arond the puck often for a lock of six FanDuel NHL points each game. Trouba isn’t quite as consistent and sees less ice time, but he’s more likely to score a goal, providing greater upside.
While we like the Jets goaltending tonight, the Avalanche have two monster defenders to consider, regardless of the Avs scoring tonight. Tyson Barrie ($4,800) may list on the Avs third line, but Tyson sees around 22 minutes of ice time per game, and is on the Avs top power-play line. Barrie is your best offensive option among the Avs defenders.
29-year-old veteran Erik Johnson ($4,400) is an absolutely monster on the ice and is undervalued tonight. Johnson is seeing 25 to 30 minutes of ice time each game for the AVs, and is firing off three to five shots per game along with several blocked shots. While Erik is only averaging 11.34 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, he’s a lock for six to eight points each game, and with a goal or two in the mix, could climb as high as 30 points tonight.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Nov 29th
Carey Price ($8,700) had a great win on Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Price stopped 37 saves, only let one goal in, and grabbed the win for a total of 37.6 FanDuel NHL points. That was Carey’s second great win in a row.
However, over the course of the season, Price has been performing poorly with tough mach ups and isn’t getting a lot of offensive help. So while Carey appears to be a great start against the Senators on home ice, there’s too much risk with this pick, for the price.
Instead, we like Jake Allen ($8,300) and Connor Hellebuyck ($8,000) the most among the eight starting goalies tonight. Allen is 13-5-1 giving us a decent chance for 12 FanDuel NHL points. Also, the Blues are hosting a Ducks team struggling this season. Additionally, John Gibson ($8,300) is in net for the Ducks, and has demonstrated some injury issues on the ice. While Gibson is piling up saves, he’s only won seven of his 19 starts and is letting three goals per game through the crease.
Hellebuyck and the Jets are hot this season. Connor is 13-2-2, but has a tough match up against the Avalanche tonight. Still, while the Avs are a hot offensive team this season, so are the Jets. So Hellebuyck has just as good of an offense to support him tonight. Also, Connor has 524 saves, 14th best in the NHL and one of the best among high win percentage goalies. That bodes well for FanDuel NHL points, and is the reason Hellebuyck has a 21.64 FanDuel NHL point average, the best of all goalies on the ice tonight.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Wednesday, November 29th:
C Schenn (STL $7,300)
C Point (TB $5,300)
W Tarasenko (STL $8,500)
W Steen (STL $5,600)
W Ehlers ($5,600)
W Connor (WPG $4,400)
D Pietrangelo (STL $5,900)
D Johnson (COL $4,400)
G Hellebuyck (WPG $8,000)
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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