FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: March 6
By Matt Rogers
Welcome back to the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. This is the Tuesday, March 6th 2018 edition. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
Yesterday we had some great hits, and some misses. Tyler Seguin ($8,200) was one of our big plays of the night and he had the Stars only two goals on home ice, with six shots and a total of 35.7 FanDuel NHL points.
However, one of our favorite value plays with Seguin was Derick Brassard ($5,400) who only had one shot on goal for a pathetic 1.6 points. If you were able to pair Seguin with Evgeni Malkin ($9,100), other option we presented, you paid up for an additional 29.6 FanDuel NHL points, but affording that combination was difficult.
While the Stars didn’t score many goals last night, Alexander Radulov ($6,500) still added a power play assist, four shots on goal, and two blocked shots for a solid 18.1 FanDuel NHL points. Patrik Hornqvist ($6,000) and Matthew Tkachuk ($6,600) had modest 9.6 and eight point returns, but neither was worth the pick last night.
One of our best value picks was Sam Reinhart ($5,100) who we’ve been riding for weeks now. Expect Reinhart’s salary to begin climbing as his consistent production is becoming very impressive. With a goal and assist, the goal being during the man advantage, and three shots on goal, Reinhart provided an awesome 25.3 FanDuel NHL points on a fairly cheap salary.
The most expensive defensive picks ended up being some of the best plays, but as we mentioned last night, it was difficult to afford them. Our focus was on Morgan Rielly ($4,700) and Kris Russell ($3,900) who provided a total of 19.7 FanDuel NHL points. That’s actually a solid return considering the salary, but we hoped for more.
One of the bigger disappointments was the Stars 2-3 loss to the Senators on home ice, in Dallas. Ben Bishop ($8,600) should’ve been a 12-point win lock, but he gave up three goals, took the loss, and had only 12 saves for a disappointing 9.6 points. Our example lineup would’ve had a better result, had Bishop gotten the win.
We won some and lost some last night, but we’ll take what we learned and move forward to a big night of hockey on Tuesday. Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Tuesday, March 6th:
Red Wings at Bruins (7pm ET NBC SN)
Canadiens at Devils (7pm ET)
Jets at Rangers (7pm ET)
Golden Knights at Blue Jackets (7pm ET)
Panthers at Lightning (7:30pm ET)
Stars at Predators (8pm ET)
Hurricanes at Wild (8pm ET)
Avalanche at Blackhawks (8:30pm ET)
Capitals at Ducks (10pm ET NBC SN)
The Bruins, Red Wings, Caps, and Ducks are all on NBC Sports Network tonight. Of the four, the Bruins have the best match up, and stacking the B’s could make for a fun early evening of NHL TV. The Caps have struggled in Anaheim of late, so that match up could be a tight one, but there are still plenty of DFS NHL options to add to your lineup in that one.
The Habs travel to New Jersey to play an emerging Devils offense, and the Jets won’t be too far away, in Madison Square Garden to face a struggling Rangers lineup. In fact, the Jets could be another great stacking offense tonight.
The Golden Knights get a crack at the Blue Jackets who have struggled in Columbus, but are holding onto playoff hopes. The Panthers and Lightning have two of the more fun DFS NHL offenses to watch right now, so that match up is exciting in Florida.
The Predators are rolling right now, and they host a beatable Stars team in Nashville. Meanwhile, the Wild should get another win hosting a Hurricanes team who’s played well at home but struggles on the road. And finally the Blackhawks likely struggle, again, against a very good Avs offense in Chicago.
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: Mar 6th
While Steven Stamkos ($8,700) exploded on Saturday afternoon hosting the Flyers, with two goals three assists and 61.3 FanDuel NHL points, we don’t expect Stamkos to have another 40+ night. Steven has a solid match up, but there are better high-ceiling top options on the table for tonight’s lineups.
The first one who comes to mind is Nathan MacKinnon ($8,600) leading a red-hot Avalanche team in Chicago. Yes, MacKinnon had a similar result recently, with two goals and three assists against the Wild, totaling 58.1 points. But Nathan has also demonstrated greater offensive consistency since coming back onto the ice from an injury.
In his last five games, MacKinnon has six goals and six assists. He’s scored over 30 FanDuel NHL points in three of his last four games, and four of the last seven games. Before Nathan’s injury, the Avs top line was on fire, and since returning to the ice, MacKinnon seems to have not lost a beat. This is one of the most exciting lines in hockey to watch, and we’re paying for a piece of it tonight.
A cheaper top-pick fade from MacKinnon may be obvious, and likely is chalky. Mark Scheifele ($7,700) has cooled off over the last two games, but his Jets top line has demonstrated MacKinnon-like dominance at times. The Rangers have shown some surprising resilience since making several veteran trades for younger talent at the NHL trade deadline. But they are no match for this Jets offense.
The Lightning are a hard team to beat in Tampa Bay. But as we saw on Saturday, the Bolts can win while still giving up as many as six goals to a good Flyers offense. The Panthers do not have the depth the Flyers offense is currently demonstrating, but their top two lines are putting up eye-popping numbers this season, and Aleksander Barkov ($7,600) and Vincent Trocheck ($6,900) are each great plays tonight. Between the two, we like Barkov the most, even though he’s more expensive.
If you’re looking for mid-salary range or cheap value plays at center, the two picks we like are Preds second line leader Kyle Turris ($5,200) and Panthers third line leader Jared McCann ($3,600).
McCann has quietly developed incredible value with 11 to 15 minutes of ice time over the last two weeks, and a goal and three assists in the last five games. Turris gets more time on the ice, and has three goals and two assist in the last seven games, including a power play goal against the Avs in Colorado on Sunday.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Mar 6th
At wing, we have two options. We could grab two top expensive picks at center and find two mid-to-upper salary range guys at winger, along with one to two value picks. Or, we can grab one of the top expensive guys at center with a cheaper value pick, and pick an expensive winger along with several mid-to-upper salary range guys. We’re leaning toward the expensive centers for cash, and the value pick at center for GPP.
With that in mind, we’ll start our winger picks off with the most expensive target tonight, Patrik Laine ($7,800) skating in Madison Square Garden for the Jets. Don’t be fooled by the 3rd line tag, Patrik is very active on the ice for the Jets, skating 13 to 18 minutes most nights, and has been incredibly productive lately.
In his last seven games, Laine has an incredible nine goals and five assists. He’s averaging around 30 FanDuel NHL points in the last seven games as well. If you’re playing GPP tonight, this is a great start with a few value picks at winger to anchor the lineup.
From there, we love several sub-$7K guys like Viktor Arvidsson ($6,700), Reilly Smith ($6,400), Nikolaj Ehlers ($6,400) and Evgenii Dadonov ($6,300). With the Stars struggling last night on home ice and traveling to Nashville to play one of the hottest teams in hockey, the Predators are in play for DFS NHL tonight.
We didn’t focus on any Preds top-line plays at center, but we did like Kyle Turris on the second line to bring value into your center picks. Arvidsson is your best option to get points from the Preds top line. In his last seven games, Viktor piled up four goals and six assists, and is averaging in the mid 20 point range.
We’ve already mentioned the Jets and Panthers a few times, and if you’re playing either Scheifele, Barkov, or Trocheck at center, Ehlers is a great compliment to Scheifele, and Dadonov is a great pick with Barkov or Trocheck. Nikolaj has been a tremendous goal-scorer for the Jets, and often shows up a few times on big scoring nights. Evgenii has been red-hot for the Panthers, and his salary hasn’t caught up with his production lately.
For mid-salary range and cheap value, we like sharp-shooting Kevin Fiala ($5,300) and top-line Stars bargain Brett Ritchie ($3,200). Fiala is heating up on the Preds second line, and is a great stack with Turris. Kevin has three goals and one assist in the last six games.
Ritchie is also in Nashville tonight and likely not on many FanDuel NHL DFS players pick lists. With low ownership and a cheap salary, Ritchie has logged around ten to 15 minutes of ice time lately, is getting two to five shots on goal per game, and has a goal and assist in the last four games.
Top FanDuel NHL Defense: Mar 6th
There are plenty of big-spending great defensive picks ont he ice tonight, but we’re fading the top-salaried players again, and focusing on value. If you have enough salary left over for a big play at defense, grab either Victor Hedman ($6,800) from the Bolts top line or Torey Krug ($5,800) from the Bruins second line. Krug is the better value, but Hedman has a tremendous FanDuel NHL points ceiling.
From there, we like Seth Jones ($5,700), defending for the Blue Jackets in Columbus against the Golden Knights tonight, and the dynamic Avs top-line defender Tyson Barrie ($5,600). Jones is likely to get four to six shots on goal and could block several shots tonight making Seth a double-digit point play, even without offense. But Jones has also been heavily active on the offensive side of the game for the Jackets lately.
With Erik Johnson on the IR, Tyson Barrie moves into a role similar to what he was playing for the Avs earlier in the year. Barrie was an ice beast in the first third of the NHL season for the Avalanche, but took a back seat to Erik Johnson after an injury. Now spending nearly 25 to 30 minutes on the ice again, Barrie’s fantasy value has sky-rocketed again, and he’s a cheap play for only $5.6K.
For value, we wanted Bruins rookie Charlie McAvoy ($4,400) again, but he’s suffering from an apparent ankle injury and likely won’t be on the ice tonight. However, keep an eye on his status. If he’s playing with late notice tonight, McAvoy could be a low-owned value steal.
With that in mind, we like Avs second line defender Patrik Nemeth ($3,600) or Sami Vantanen ($5,100) as second picks on defense. Obviously Vantanen is more expensive, but with a goal and four assists in the last six games, he’s a solid lock for double-digit points on a modest salary. Meanwhile, Nemeth is logging 20 to 25 minutes of ice time lately, and is averaging around double-digit points, and just had two assists against the Wild late last week.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Mar 6th
If you’re looking for a slam-dunk goalie win tonight, you might struggle to find one. But we like Pekka Rinne‘s ($9,100) odds on home ice tonight. Rinne has won six straight. We also think Semyon Varlamov ($7,900) logs the win for the Avs, even though he’s struggled at times over the last couple of weeks.
The great thing about the Varly play, he’s a cheaper goalie facing one of the worst teams in the NHL right now. It may be a road-ice game in Chicago, but the Avs offense will back up Semyon’s play, as long as he’s only letting a couple of goals in tonight.
Two other high-likelihood wings tonight should come from Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck ($8,300) and Bruin’s backup net-minder Anton Khudobin ($7,800). Hellebuyck seems risky on the road, but the Rangers are struggling to win games even in New York. Khudobin is on home ice, and feels like a steal as he’s been hot lately and faces a Red Wings team who’s struggling to score at a high volume this season. Of the top options, we like Khudobin the most, Hellebuyck as a close second, and Varly and Rinne if you’re not convinced by the first two.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Tuesday, March 6th:
C MacKinnon (COL $8,600)
C Barkov (FLA $7,600)
W R Smith (VGK $6,400)
W Ehlers (WPG $6,400)
W Fiala (NSH $5,300)
W Ritchie (DAL $3,200)
D Barrie (COL $5,600)
D Nemeth (COL $3,600)
G Hellebuyck (WPG $8,300)
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.
Best of luck in your FanDuel NHL contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across NHL, NBA, EPL, and NFL this fall!