FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: February 24
By Matt Rogers
Welcome to the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. This is the Saturday, February 24th edition. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
Last night was a great night for this article, but to be honest you basically won if you went with the chalk. Eric Staal ($7,000) was one of our favorite centers, and he had two goals and two assists, involved in all four goals during the Wild’s 4-1 win. Along with seven shots on goal, a power play goal, and a blocked shot, Staal piled up an awesome 53.3 FanDuel NHL points.
Because of the cheaper price points, we noted that William Karlsson ($7,200) and Staal were cheaper than some of the more expensive options like Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. In fact, you were able to play Staal with Karlsson, and boy did that work out well. With two goals and one assist, Karlsson added another 37.3 FanDuel NHL points. So with just two players and $14,200 of your salary, you landed 90.6 points.
The Jets were a risky play, but we expected Carter Hutton in goal. It turned out Jake Allen skated on the ice to protect the net, improving the Jets odds of staying hot away from Winnipeg. In the end, they shutout the Blues and guys like Blake Wheeler ($7,800) with 25.3 FanDuel NHL points and Kyle Connor ($5,700) with another 25.3 points were great, and affordable, plays.
On defense, two of our favorite picks were Kris Letang ($6,500) and Jared Spurgeon ($5,300). One of the reasons we like Letang again is the relative consistent double-digit points he’s producing lately, and last night he gave us another 16.5 FanDuel NHL points.
Spurgeon wasn’t involved in any scoring, but he still had three shots and two blocked shots for eight points. Finally, Devan Dubnyk ($8,800) was our favorite of four goalies last night and he had 22 saves and a win for 25.6 FanDuel NHL points. We were hoping for more shots, but it was a solid return.
Now, let’s take a look at the NHL schedule for Saturday, February 24th Main slate at night:
Bruins at Maple Leafs (7pm ET)
Lightning at Canadiens (7pm ET)
Hurricanes at Red Wings (7pm ET)
Penguins at Panthers (7pm ET)
Islanders at Devils (7pm ET)
Sabres at Capitals (7pm ET)
Blackhawks at Blue Jackets (7pm ET)
Jets at Stars (7pm ET)
Ducks at Coyotes (8pm ET)
Oilers at Kings (10pm ET)
There were two games played Saturday afternoon, but we’re going to only focus on the Main slate for Saturday night, which includes ten games. In fact, eight of the ten games on Saturday night start at 7pm ET, so there is a lot of action early this evening.
There are many more chalky but great options again tonight. The Coyotes have played better on home ice in Arizona lately, but the Ducks are playing better on offense and the Yotes still have some problems on defense. The Lightning travels to Montreal to play a struggling Habs team, and the Bolts are likely one of the chalky stacks of the night.
The Jets are in Dallas, where the Stars have played well this season. But if we’ve learned anything over the last three weeks, it’s not to fade the Jets offense right now. Meanwhile, the Caps cost a bad Sabres team, but Buffalo has a shot as some scoring against a Capitals team who’s played very poor defense and goaltending this month.
Finally, the Islanders have a great match up against the Devils in New Jersey, and the Penguins are favored over the Panthers in Florida. Oddly, if you take a step back and look at the schedule tonight, many of the favorite picks tonight are on road-ice, but that’s happened successfully a few times this season.
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: Feb 24th
Yes, stacking or playing Sidney Crosby ($8,800) and Evgeni Malkin ($9,200) is a great play again tonight. The Panthers have a tremendous offense, but their defense can not handle the offensive fire-power from the Penguins. They’ll both at least have double-digit points, and likely over 20 FanDuel NHL points tonight. But, they’re very expensive.
Frankly, we’d rather grab Steven Stamkos ($8,700) in Montreal tonight. The Bolts top-line center has been quiet over the last two games and with the other top centers on the list for the main slate tonight, it’s possible a lot of FanDuel NHL players will fade Stamkos.
That’s a mistake. He’ll likely be involved in at least two goal scores tonight, and could be a 20+ player. A cheaper, but also great, option from the Bolts second line is Brayden Point ($6,400). We’ve talked about point three to four times a week, and it won’t end anytime soon. The 21-year-old Canadian has four goals in the last three games, and a point in each of his last six games.
The Devils are playing better hockey lately, but the Islanders are scoring well in almost any environment, and have played well against better opponents on road ice lately. John Tavares ($8,300) has been playing below his FanDuel NHL average point-per-game of 16.1 in his last seven. But that likely changes tonight, with this match up.
We mentioned the Jets early and Mark Scheifele ($7,900) is in play for an obvious reason, he’s a great player on a hot streak with a hot team. Scheifele will also see around 20+ minutes on the ice tonight. But a cheaper sub-$8K play is Ryan Getzlaf ($7,300). He has a goal and two assists over the last two games, but Ryan has been mostly quiet in the last two weeks. We’re hopeful that reduces his ownership, as he has a great match up in Arizona tonight.
Much like the last two nights, you’ll notice almost all of our top center picks are expensive tonight. We have to find the value in other positions because it’s worth paying up for a center again tonight. However, if you’re looking for a value pick, and a sneaky one, consider Torrey Mitchell ($3,500). He’s supposed to lead the Kings second line tonight, and has two goals in the last three games.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Feb 24th
With the Bolts a top, but chalky, play tonight, Nikita Kucherov ($9,200) is a great pick if you can afford him, but you’re giving up too much salary, so we don’t recommend it. Two top plays at wing we like more are Taylor Hall ($8,100) and Blake Wheeler ($7,800). Hall has 10+ points in each of his last 20 straight games. That run is amazing. In fact, Hall is basically a lock to have 20+ FanDuel NHL points tonight on home ice against a terrible Islanders defense.
Wheeler is absolutely on fire right now, with a red-hot Jets offense. In the last seven games, Blake has scored between 17 and 44 FanDuel NHL points. Given his consistent dominance over the last two weeks, Wheeler is likely chalky again tonight, but he’s one of the few ‘must plays’ right no.
Mitchell Marner ($6,600) has a bad match up against the Boston Bruins on home ice tonight. But, as you know, if you’ve been following along, Marner is incredible on home ice, likely scoring another goal even against a good B’s team. He’s also a low-ownership play as most FanDuel NHL plays should fade the Maple Leafs tonight.
With Getzlaf an option at center, Rickard Rakell ($6,500) is a great stack with Getzlaf. Like Ryan, Rickard hasn’t produced a lot of fantasy NHL points lately, but he had two assists against a good Golden Knights team in Vegas two games ago.
Two great mid-salary range value plays with the same FanDuel NHL salary are Kyle Connor ($5,700) and Jake Guentzel ($5,700). In the last four games, Connor has four goals and one assist. Over the last seven games, Kyle has four of seven games with 18+ FanDuel NHL points. Guentzel has an incredible two goals and four assists over his last two games, three points in each game. The Penguins also recently made a move to boost their third line, likely further emboldening Jake.
Very much like Guentzel, Bryan Rust ($5,100) is a much cheaper way to get involved in the Penguins game, but in this case on their top line. Also, Rust has two goals and five assist in the last six games, with four games above 12 FanDuel NHL points.
Finally, our two favorite value picks at winger are Sam Reinhart ($4,900) and Mathieu Perreault ($4,600). Both these plays have some perceived risk. Perreault doesn’t have a goal or assist in the last two games, however, he totaled 17.6 FanDuel NHL points in those games because of shots on goal and blocked shots. Also, he had a goal and two assists against the Panthers recently.
And Reinhart is playing on the Sabres top line without their star Jack Eichel in the game. However, Reinhart has two goals and two assists in the last five games. Like Mathieu, Sam has provided points with several shots on goal and blocked shots, so he’s valuable even if he’s not involved in scoring.
Top FanDuel NHL Defense: Feb 24th
Well the top two picks on defense are the most expensive. If possible, pay up for either Victor Hedman ($7,100) or Kris Letang ($6,500). Victor has been more involved in scoring lately and is a standard ice-beast eating up minutes with shots on goal and blocked shots. With a goal or assist, Hedman is a lock for more than 20 FanDuel NHL points. We mentioned Letang yesterday, and recapped him earlier, and he should continue to provide consistent double-digit points.
Since returning from an injury earlier in the season, Dustin Byfuglien ($5,700) has been more concentrated on offense. Prior to this injury, Dustin was providing great defense but wasn’t involved much in the offense. Over the last six games, Byfuglien has a goal and seven assists. He should stay hot in Dallas as long as the Jets keep firing.
Rasmus Ristolainen ($5,400) has quietly re-emerged in February and is beginning to look like the dominate defender as he did his rookie season. Ristolainen is also getting more involved in scoring lately, with three goals and three assists in the last seven games. In Washington, if the Sabres continue to expose the Caps poor defense, Rasmus is a sneaky low-owned play on defense.
Dion Phaneuf ($4,900) has been on fire since his trade to L.A. and we expect Phaneuf to stay hot on his new home ice against a badly defended Oilers team. But for top value, we’re going risky with Sebastian Aho ($3,600). Playing on the second line, Aho has an assist in each of his last two games. If he can keep his point scoring streak going with 15+ minutes of ice time in New Jersey tonight, he’s a fantastic value.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Feb 24th
Tuukka Rask ($9,100) has been on fire lately, but fade him tonight. The Maple Leafs are playing great hockey and Rask is dealing with a very good net-minder across the ice, Frederik Andersen ($8,700). In fact, fade both of them. If you can spend that much money on a goal tonight, Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,200) is your better play with a favorable match up against the Canadiens in Montreal tonight.
Jonathan Quick ($8,800) only gave up one goal to the Stars on Thursday, but still lost. However, he had 26 saves for 16.8 FanDuel NHL points. Quick was very close to 28+ points on Thursday night. In his last seven games, Jonathan has only given up more than two goals in one start. He’s hot. Connor McDavid is a problem, but the Oilers shots on goal only improves Quick’s save return, and with this type of focus, right now, he should get the win and over 30 FanDuel NHL points.
Antti Raanta ($7,300) had been on fire lately and was our favorite value goalie for two weeks. However, against the Flames, who have a great road-ice offense, Raanta gave up five goals on 38 shots in Arizona. We think Raanta could struggle again tonight playing the Ducks on home ice.
That bodes well for Ryan Miller ($8,200) who should be in goal for the Ducks. Miller hasn’t given up a goal in his last 61 shots. He has struggled and been inconsistent over the last month, but this match up and his currently hot streak in goal spell great value tonight.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Saturday, February 24th:
C Getzlaf (AHN $7,300)
C Point (TB $6,400)
W Wheeler (WPG $7,800)
W Guentzel (PIT $5,700)
W Reinhart (BUF $4,900)
W Perreault (WPG $4,600)
D Letang (PIT $6,500)
D Aho (NYI $3,600)
G Miller (ANH $8,200)
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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