NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 6th

Welcome back to another NHL DFS Power Plays column. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day. This is the Saturday, October 6th 2018 Main slate edition.

Well, we started the season off on Wednesday with several solid plays. On Thursday, we had a big night. We cashed our in the cash and GPP NHL DFS games with FanDuel with the sample lineup, and had several other winning combinations. So, with growing confidence, we thought Friday night would be easy.

It wasn’t. I now understand why John Tortorella delayed his start of Sergei Bobrovsky. While the Hurricanes are better this season, and a sleeper team in the Eastern Conference, Bob made their win look to easy, in Columbus last night. That should not have happened.

Then, the Kings looked flat against a Sharks team who stumbled out the gate on Wednesday. Although, the Sharks outcome was less shocking. We did recommend Sebastian Aho as a sleeper GPP play, and that worked out very well.

Anze Kopitar and Toffoli were a Kings stack we recommended, and they each scored a goal for the Kings. So we did have some upside on Friday. Also, we mentioned Evander Kane could light the lamp again. Timo Meier was one of our favorite value plays on Wednesday. He didn’t pan out then, but we talked about how we’re still pegging him as a great value on Friday, and he verified with a goal.

So, we’ll keep the good, learn from the bad, and build some solid cash and GPP lineups for a BIG Saturday night Main slate of NHL DFS FanDuel.

Before we get there, a reminder to never take a NHL DFS optimal lineup as ‘bible’ for your personal lineup each day. Use the suggestions as guidance. Also, make sure you follow final lineup thoughts throughout the day on our twitter account @FantasyCPR or me @MattyMcMatt17 look for late breaking lineup news.

Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Friday, October 5th:

Rangers at Sabres 7pm ET

Senators at Maples Leafs 7pm ET

Panthers at Lightning 7pm ET

Predators at Islanders 7pm ET

Canadiens at Penguins 7pm ET

Jets at Stars 7pm ET

Blackhawks at Blues 8pm ET ESPN+

Golden Knights at Wild 8pm ET

Flyers at Avalanche 9pm ET

Ducks at Coyotes 9pm ET

Canucks at Flames 10pm ET ESPN+

There are twelve games in the NHL on Saturday. However, only eleven of those games apply to the NHL DFS FanDuel main slate, the lock starting at 7pm ET. Looking at the list of games, a few jump out immediately as stacking targets.

The Maple Leafs have a loaded offensive lineup this season, and they’re playing on home ice against a struggling Ottawa Senators organization. The Leafs should score over three goals, and the net-minder gets a win.

The Penguins are in an almost identical situation, also playing a home game against a team they can beat fairly easily. But the Habs are a tougher team than the Senators. Still, the Penguins are a great team to try to have in your lineup.

And there are players already heating up, we need to consider riding into cashing tonight. I’ve also picked up on some great value plays for Saturday night as well. So, let’s start building our NHL DFS optimal lineup by looking at the top centers for this slate…

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Centers

Similar to Thursday, we have a very long list of great center picks to choose for Saturday night. We do NOT need to find the perfect center pay. We just can’t fail by picking one of the, few, top centers who falls flat tonight.

There’s four obvious top centers tonight. While all four are chalky, it’s unlikely their ownership will be too high given the many options NHL DFS FanDuel players have at the position. So we can comfortably plug in Sidney Crosby ($8,800), Evgeni Malkin ($8,400), John Tavares ($8,200), or Auston Matthews ($7,900) in the top over all center position.

Of course, you can also grab two cheaper centers and save your salary for bigger plays at other positions, but with this four, we’re talking about the likely top scorers of the group. It’s feasible to assume most of these guys will have 30+ points tonight, given their juicy match ups.

Of the four, I favor Matthews the most, because his value is frankly greater than Sidney, Evgeni, or John. Tavares had a goal in the Maple Leafs first game, but Matthews line was dynamic while on the ice for 17 minutes, scoring two goals, one a power play goal. Auston also had three blocked shots, similar to Tavares. So it feel’s like we’re getting $300 back in salary for a similar player.

Jack Eichel ($7,700) is a solid GPP pivot away from the chalk, although he’s a popular NHL DFS player among the regular players. But his match up on home ice against a struggling Rangers team is appealing.

I don’t love the matchup for either Aleksander Barkov ($7,100) or Vincent Trocheck ($6,800), at least for cash games. The Panthers are in road ice, still in Florida playing the Lightening, and have a tough goalie match up tonight. But, Barkov and Trocheck are each incredibly talented offensive players, and fantastic anchors for your GPP lineups. Any time we can pay for these guys with low ownership, it’s a good deal.

For a decent value play at center, paired with any one of these top centers, I’m staying with the Maple Leafs in Toronto and grabbing Nazem Kadri ($5,800). While Kadri mans the Leafs’ second line, he’s also on the ice for about as much time as Matthews.

In their first game of the season, against the Canadiens, Kadri provided two helpers with two shots on goal and had over 19 points. This is a cheap price for a similar likely outcome.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Wingers

With the heavy focus on the Penguins offense tonight, I’m likely going to have Jake Guentzel ($6,900) in all formats. The 24-year-old burst into the NHL playing his way up to the top lines, thanks to injuries, two seasons ago. Guentzel scored an impressive 33 points in his first 40 career games.

It helps that Jake often plays with uber talented Crosby on the Penguins top line. But Guentzel earned a permanent spot on the Pengs top line, and also plays on their second power play line.

On Thursday night, Jake slipped two goals past Braden Holtby, had five shots, and one of his goals was of the power play variety for 32.5 NHL DFS FanDuel points. I don’t think he’ll be as dominate as Thursday night, but he’s going to be on the ice for another 15+ minutes and should have around 20 points.

Another winger I’d like to anchor my team with is Rickard Rakell ($7,000). With all of the key injuries to the Ducks top offensive lines already this season, Rakell has to step up for Anaheim. In San Jose, Rickard did just that, scoring a goal and providing two assists, Rakell also had a bloacked shot and piled up 32.2 NHL DFS FanDuel points. And, he is playing in Arizona tonight.

If you’re playing one or both of the Panthers centers in a GPP line, consider stacking them with Jonathan Huberdeau ($6,600). In 82 games last season, Huberdeau had a career high 69 total points, including 42 assists. Jonathan is dishing to one of these two often, either on regular ice time or in the Panthers power play.

We’re not going to be able to hit on every great play at winger tonight, there are just too many good options. Just stay focused on the best possible stack and GPP combinations. With that in mind, we’re going to look at two value plays we like at this position tonight.

We already mentioned the Maple Leafs several times, and it’s likely we’ll have the max four Leafs players on our roster Saturday night. One of the cheaper plays is the often overlooked Zach Hyman ($4,600) on Toronto’s top line.

If Hyman doesn’t play on the Leafs top line, he’s likely to at least play on their second line, being surrounded by great talent, regardless, thanks to Nylander’s contract dispute holdout.

Hyman isn’t often chosen for lineups, and is cheap, because he’s not an offensive juggernaut. But he still gets nearly 15 minutes of ice time each game, sends several shots to the goal, and provides solid defense with blocked shots as well.

I’m willing to pay under $5K for a solid bet at five to ten points, and the potential for a goal and/or a couple of assists as Hyman tends to hit the box score with points in lop-sided matchups like this.

In a similar position, is 22-year-old Philadelphia Flyers prospect Oskar Lindblom ($3,500). Lindblom’s lack of experience compared to his fellow Flyers line-mates means he’s unlikely to play on the power play lines tonight.

But, Oskar still gets on the ice ten to 15 minutes tonight, and is also surrounded by great talent on the Flyers second line. In Vegas, Lindblom started the Flyers scoring with a great goal, and he could stay hot tonight on a very cheap price.

Alright, let’s look at a few top picks on defense…

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Defenders

With the Sharks taking the day off, we don’t have the Burns/Karlsson conundrum again. But we do have two top defenders we can plug into our lineup, with similar dominating offensive skills. Victor Hedman ($6,700) arguably had a better season than Burns last year and he’s a top three to five NHL DFS defender each week. Against the Panthers on home ice, he should be a 15 point floor with around a 40 point ceiling.

Kris Letang ($6,500) is a great way to complete a Penguins stack in an ideal situation. Last year, Letang seemed to get off to a slow start, at least compared to his historical NHL DFS numbers. This season, he already has a power play goal, another regular ice time goal, and an assist along with two block shots for a jaw-dropping 40.5 FanDuel points. A

nd that was against the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals. Maybe the Capitals finally hit their hangover game from the Cup win, but the Penguins offense looked incredible, and against the Canadiens tonight, Letang should have a big night.

With the Predators playing the Islanders, who gave up the most goals last season, Roman Josi ($6,300) and P.K. Subban ($6,100) are a must-play pair of defenders in all formats tonight. With all of the great picks I have at other positions, I likely can’t pay for both of them. However, I’m going to at least grab one fo them, and Subban is the cheaper, and best value, between the two.

Yes, the Islanders goaltending looked fantastic in their first game, but I’m willing to bet that won’t last long…at least right now.

For a value pick, I love the top pick of this year’s draft Buffalo Sabres Rasmus Dahlin ($4,800). He may only be 18-years-old with literally only one game of NHL experience, but Dahlin has turned some heads this preseason.

The game against Boston was likely the Bruins team reeling after getting blown out by the Capitals, so I’m not counting Rasmus’ zero point outcome as an indication of low NHL DFS points just yet. Against the Rangers on home ice, I expect the Sabres to project greater offense on Saturday night, and Dahlin will likely be involved.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Goalies

I hinted at some of the top goaltending talent earlier, Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,200) is a reason we’re cautious picking the Panthers on offense. But for the same reason I like the Pathers top offensive players as great sleeper/GPP plays, I also don’t love playing Vas in my goalie spot tonight.

Ben Bishop ($8,800) was our top pick when the Stars hosted the Coyotes in Dallas for their first game of the season. Bishop blanked the Yotes for 30 saves and 44 NHL DFS FanDuel points. But the Jets are in town tonight, and that’s one of the last teams I’m picking a goaltender against, regardless of the goalie talent.

But I do love Juuse Saros ($7,800) on the road against the Islanders, for several reasons. One, the Islanders may struggle to stop pucks, but they shoot and score at a high volume. So we know Saros is likely to see a high volume of shots, increasing his total saves and points. Secondly, a shutout is difficult to get from this play, but a win is likely and we should get around 30 points from the play, on a very cheap salary.

The more likely shutout play could come from Frederik Andersen ($8,400). If you follow this column often, you’re probably sick of me talking about Andersen’s NHL DFS value, but this is another opportunity to get a high volume of saves, with the win, and a unique shot at a shutout from Frederik. I consider Andersen an anchor goalie pick in all formats.

Finally, my favorite value play, and a great option for GPP, is Carter Hutton ($7,500). The veteran former Blues net-minder has demonstrated the ability to go on long winning streaks and stone-wall offenses. Hutton has an opportunity to start one tonight against the Rangers in a favorable match up.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 6th 2018 Summary

Our two favorite teams to stack tonight are the Maple Leafs and Penguins. Crosby and Malkin are great plays at center, but paying up for either, and especially both, is difficult without grabbing a lot of value. That being said, I’m still plugging Jake Guentzel into a winger spot regardless of who else I play from the Pengs, to get solid action from their offense tonight.

I like the idea of playing Tavares again, but Matthews is a better value. Speaking of value, Kadri is surprisingly cheap tonight, yet very offensively productive. And I’m going to take a chance on Hyman as a value play, with so much talent surrounding him on the top or second lines.

The Ducks are reeling with injury issues, but Rakell is stepping up nicely in Anaheim, so he’s another anchor play at wing for all formats. The Flyers rookie Lindblom started their season off with a goal Thursday night, and could start a scoring streak with tremendous NHL DFS value, while on the Flyers second line tonight.

Finally, I love Andersen as a top NHL DFS FanDuel goalie tonight, and I’ll use a Dahlin rookie value play on defense to afford either Josi or Subban from the Predators dominating top two defensive lines.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel on Friday, October 6th 2018:

C       Auston Matthews ($7,900)

C       Nazem Kadri ($5,800)

W     Rickard Rakell ($7,000)

W     Jake Guentzel ($6,900)

W     Zach Hyman ($4,600)

W     Oskar Lindblom ($3,500)

D      P.K. Subban ($6,100)

D      Rasmus Dahlin ($4,800)

G      Frederik Andersen ($8,400)

Remaining Salary: $0

Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for the slate. You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building NHL DFS FanDuel lineups.  We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.

Best of luck in your NHL DFS FanDuel contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across College Football, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, EPL, PGA, and NASCAR this fall!