FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: February 25
By Matt Rogers
Welcome back to the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column, for Sunday, February 25th. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
One of our favorite match ups yesterday turned into a stinker. The Devils beat the Islanders 2-1 on home ice. Taylor Hall ($8,100) wasn’t a terrible play landing an assist with each of the Devils goals and providing 19.2 FanDuel NHL points.
But for that salary, we needed a better return. Instead, Kyle Palmieri ($5,600) had eight shots and two goals for 36.8 FanDuel NHL points. He’s been inconsistent, but Kyle is a better play lately than we’ve seen this season. Keep him on your daily radar.
Even on home ice, we didn’t love the match up the Panthers had against the Penguins, and that turned out to be a mistake. Evgenii Dadonov ($5,600) is someone who we’ve been plugging to play often in the past two months. We missed him on an important night.
Against a very good Penguins team, Dadonov had a hat-trick on just three shots and a blocked shot for an awesome 42.4 FanDuel NHL points. In fact, if you had Dadonov and Palmieri on the same team, which was very easy to do, you likely won every cash play, easily.
But we had several good plays, like Brayden Point ($6,400) adding yet another goal and 20 FanDuel NHL points. And two of our value plays worked out well, with Sam Reinhart ($4,900) scoring the only goal against the Caps last night, and Bryan Rust ($5,100) scoring a goal alongside Sidney Crosby and the Penguins top line.
Reinhart ended the night with 20 points, and in cash games was often below 10% ownership. Rust was even better, scoring 29.6 points and sub-5% ownership. We hoped they were sneaky, and it worked out that way.
Now, let’s take a look at the NHL schedule for Sunday, February 25th Main slate at night:
Red Wings at Rangers (7:30pm ET)
Sharks at Wild (8pm ET)
Oilers at Ducks (8pm ET)
Canucks at Coyotes (9:30pm ET)
There were two afternoon games schedule for Sunday, but we’re going to fade the all day slate for the Main slate only. In the first game of the day, the Predators stomped the Blues on home ice, in Nashville. At 5pm ET, the Bruins are in Buffalo playing a Sabres team who’s looked better, at times, lately. Neither of those games are a part of the Main slate today.
The Red Wings and Rangers are two teams arguably going nowhere this season. The Red Wings still seem to have post-season hope, but the Rangers have clearly mailed-in their season. Between the two, the Rangers have looked worse lately, and even in Madison Square Garden, we think the Red Wings could be a solid value stack tonight.
The Sharks are a low-scoring offense this season, but they have great defense. They’re going to need it tonight in Minnesota. Eric Staal and the Wild are on fire right now, and even with a solid Sharks defense on the ice, the Wild are in play against for DFS NHL tonight.
The Oilers have played better hockey away from Edmonton, but have also played better hockey in general this month. They’re in Anaheim facing a Ducks team who’s won six of their last eight home games. While the Oilers are 4-8 in their last twelve road games, their 90.9 PK% on the road makes us want to fade the Ducks offense. And while the Ducks have played solid defense at home, they’re still giving up 3.125 goals per game game lately.
Finally, the Canucks are a mediocre team who has some incredible talent in the top two lines. But they’re inconsistent and have won only three of their last twelve road games. Meanwhile, the Coyotes are 6-4-3 in their last 13 home games and are only giving up 2.15 goals-per-game during that time.
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 25th
The clear top talent on the ice tonight is Connor McDavid ($9,100) which is why he’s so expensive. However, McDavid has been inconsistent lately. For example, while Connor had a hat-trick in Colorado, in L.A., Arizona, and Vegas, he only had 4.8 FanDuel NHL points with a couple shots on goal and a blocked shot.
Unfortunately, the Ducks have been stingy on defense at home, so while it feels like we should play McDavid as a lock at center, we’re likely fading him in all cash games. But, McDavid is definitely still in play for GPP.
Don’t expect Eric Staal ($7,200) to drop 50+ FanDuel NHL points into your lineup each time he’s on the ice. But, Staal has been hot this month and we do expect Eric to continue adding his name to the points list tonight against a tough Sharks defense in Minnesota. He’s likely more of a 15-25 FanDuel NHL point candidate, but we certainly know his ceiling potential (53.3 FanDuel NHL points last night).
The Canucks are giving up nearly four goals per game on the road in the last month. That is terrible, but great for Yotes number one line leader Derek Stepan ($6,000). He’s been hot and suddenly more expensive, but with a point in four of his last seven games, it’s likely Stepan gets at least a goal or assist again tonight.
Dylan Larkin ($6,000) has struggled for the majority of this season, after a great one last year. It may be related to the Red Wings currently overall downward spiral while ignoring the outcome as an organization. But, Larkin has an assist in each of the last three games, and practically every team playing the Rangers in New York City are tearing apart the Rangers defense.
For a second center pick, or much cheaper top option, we like either Bo Horvat ($5,800) or Henrik Zetterberg ($5,800). Horvat has played nicely in the last two weeks, yielding around double-digit points even when not scoring a goal or providing an assist. In theory, the Canucks offense should do well against the Coyotes in Arizona, but the Yotes have stepped up their play this month, and there’s some risk with the Horvat play.
Instead, we’re more included to go with Henrik Zetterberg leading the Red Wings top line. While Larkin is leading the Wings second line, he has been more offensively productive this season. But, Henrik has two goals and one assist in the last four games, and at least 11+ points in three of his last four games. With this match up, Zetterberg should stay hot, on low FanDuel NHL ownership.
We’re hard-pressed to find much more value at the center position tonight. Only due to the match up, playing Christian Dvorak ($4,500) is a risky but high-reward play. The Canucks are giving up boat-loads of goals on the road, and Christian has two goals in the last five home-ice games. He’s definitely worth a shot in GPP, best with McDavid.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Feb 25th
For the same reason we love Staal tonight, it’s likely Mikael Granlund ($7,300) is the chalk at winger. Mikael has two goals and two assists last night, and debate-ably should’ve had a hot-trick. But with 54.9 FanDuel NHL points, he was one of the best plays of the night. That problem with Granlund is inconsistency all season. While he had a great game last night, in his six prior games, he only had two assist and includes a zero point result against a terrible Blackhawks team right now. For this reason, we’re contrarian on Granlund tonight and will be fading him.
Instead of Granlund, and while fading the chalk, we like Jason Zucker ($6,500) to gab the scoring baton tonight. Zucker isn’t putting up Granlund like points lately, but he’s been more consistent with several shots on goal and blocked shots each game, and three goals and one assist in the last four games. And you’re saving $800 of salary for relatively the same type of play.
Instead, if you’re going to spend $7K on a winger, we like Leon Draisaitl ($7,000) more. In his last eight games, Leon has six games with 15+ FanDuel NHL points. Sure, there’s risk he’ll have one of those low-single digit games against a tough home-ice Ducks defense, but of all the wings on the ice tonight, he’s one of the hottest and most consistent right now.
If you’re planning to play Zetterberg at center, a great stacking option is Gustav Nyquist ($6,300) and Anthony Mantha ($5,500). Mantha was fairly quiet over the last three games, but was hot during the middle of February and scored a goal recently against the Maple Leafs. Nyquist has been a little more consistent and is most likely to get over ten FanDuel NHL points without scoring a goal or providing an assist. But with this match up, their value rises.
For a cheaper winger play and taking advantage of the poor great defensive exposure the Coyotes have tonight, we’re playing budding Yotes star Clayton Keller ($5,400) from their top line tonight. Keller has been a popular NHL DFS optimal lineup pick over the last couple of months because he’s capable of providing more than one point in a game, and is still dirt-cheap.
But if you want to go the other way, assuming the Coyotes continue to struggle on defense, a new event, Sven Baertschi ($4,600) is a sneaky play from the Canucks. Listed as a fourth-liner, Baertschi actually plays 15-20 minutes on the ice and is on the Canucks second power play line. In the last seven games, Sven has three goals and four assists.
Top FanDuel NHL Defense: Feb 25th
Sticking with the Canucks and Coyotes in Arizona on defense, our top-two favorite plays are Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($5,400) and Alexander Edler ($5,300). Edler only has three assists in the last seven games, but he’s one of those rare ice-beasts who piled up several shots on goal and blocked shots. With a 12.4 FanDuel NHL point-per-game average, Alexander is actually supporting that figure mostly through defense and point shots. With a goal or assist tonight, he could exceed 20 points for the first time in weeks.
Ekman-Larsson is a 26-year-old from Sweden and part of the future of the Yotes. In just four games, Oliver has five assists, a few shots on goal and some blocked shots. While his FanDuel NHL point-per-game average is currently 9.95, his current play suggests he’ll climb into the double digits soon. And as we already mentioned several times, the Yotes have a great match up tonight.
We were high on Jared Spurgeon ($5,200) last night and he only posted a decent eight FanDuel NHL points. But that’s the second time in four games Spurgeon wasn’t involved in offense and still found a way to pile up nearly ten points. We think he can do that again tonight, with the potential for a goal or assist on time.
For value, we like two plays. Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($4,400) continues to provide consistent 10+ FanDuel NHL points on a very cheap salary. Even with a difficult match-up tonight, Vlasic is valuable because of his several shots on goal and high blocked shot number potential. Vlasic may yield eleven points.
The other top value play is Alex Goligoski ($4,300), a favorite of ours over the last three weeks. In the last nine games, Goligoski has three goals and four assists. But we’ve seen Alex score 14.4 FanDuel NHL points against the Canadiens with only one shot on goal and eight blocked shots. In fact, Goligoski has 16 blocked shots in the last four games. Alex is one of those consistent ice-beasts, but for some reason remains cheaply price. Take advantage while you can!
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Feb 25th
Considering the terrible play from the Rangers lately, we don’t know why Henrik Lundqvist ($8,400) is so expensive tonight. He’s still a great goalie, but the Rangers are a broken team playing horrendous defense lately. In the past two games, Lundqvist has given up 12 goals. Even against the Red Wings on home ice, we’re not taking the risk for that price.
In fact, many of the goalie plays tonight come with a decent amount of risk. While Jacob Markstrom ($7,700) has looked solid, at times, this season, he and the Canucks have played terrible hockey on the road lately. Al Montoya ($7,500) has only won one in five games since the start of the calendar ear. Facing a solid Ducks team in Anaheim doesn’t give us confidence he’ll bounce back.
On the other hand, Ryan Miller ($8,200) had a great game last night against the Coyotes, in Arizona, giving up only one goal in 37 shots. Given the match up against Montoya, he’s a decent play. Darcy Kuemper ($7,900) is getting his first start for the Yotes after getting traded by the Kings, but he’s having a fantastic year. Kuemper has a 10-1-3 record, 2.10 GAA, and .932 save percentage heading into this game. He could be a great value pick.
The Sharks have a hot Martin Jones ($8,200) in net tonight, facing a hot Devan Dubnyk ($8,800). This match up is a tough call, Jones hasn’t given up more than two goals in his last six games. However, during that time, Martin didn’t see the type of offense the Wild are bringing to Xcel Energy Center tonight. And with Dubnyk playing similar great goaltending against a more inferior offense, we think Devan is a sneaky top play tonight.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for the Main slate on Sunday, February 25th:
C Staal (MIN $7,200)
C Zetterberg (DET $5,800)
W Draisaitl (EDM $7,000)
W Zucker (MIN $6,500)
W Mantha (DET $5,500)
W Baertschi (VAN ($4,600)
D Edler (VAN ($5,300)
D Goligoski (ARI $4,300)
G Dubnyk (MIN $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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