Welcome back to NHL DFS Power Plays. We’re a fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day. This is the Wednesday, October 10th edition.
We had a great offensive day in NHL DFS FanDuel yesterday. But, we whiffed in a major area, goalie. Ben Bishop was one of our top plays at the position, and he gave up six goals in a blowout win of the Maple Leafs over the Stars.
That outcome certainly wasn’t expected, with the Stars playing great defense and Bishop being so solid to start the season in goal. But, the Maple Leafs do have a formidable offense, and we should considered the risk, more. The Leafs carried their hot scoring in to Dallas without any issues, whatsoever.
The top play at goalie was a surprising, with Mike Smith shutting out the Predators, in Nashville, for a 3-0 Flames win. While I think Smith is an underrated goalie in the NHL, and consistently a solid value, I didn’t anticipate Mike doing so well against a very good Predators team on their home ice.
Although, the Preds weren’t the only team struggling with their home opener. We faded the Sharks given their lack of scoring and search for early season identity. Well, they found it in Philly last night. You could argue the Sharks were more #Gritty (eh hem) than the Flyers, piling on eight goals for an 8-2 victory.
Stacking the Sharks would’ve been a great idea, fortunately hardly anyone thought of it so you could still win without that play. So what did we get right? Well, the Hurricanes did stay hot on their home ice, scoring five total goals.
We loved Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal, and they gave us a combined 40 NHL DFS FanDuel points on reasonable salaries. The veteran Micheal Ferland added an assist for another 12 points, and rookie Warren Foegele stays hot with another goal on seven shots adding 23.2 points. So, the Canes stack gave us a total of 75 points. With a better goalie play, we would’ve done quite well.
The Wednesday night slate is typical for the NHL. There are only three games on the schedule, making for a limited number of selections at each position. But this also presents ample opportunity, as long as you peg the right lineup picks.
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 Wednesday, October 9th 2018:
Flyers at Senators 7:30pm ET TSN
Golden Knights at Capitals 8pm ET NBC Sports Network
Coyotes at Ducks 10pm ET ESPN+
The Flyers may bounce back against the Senators in, in Ottawa, but their defense looks horrendous right now. Meanwhile, the Sens offense has looked solid so we may need to grab a few of their players for value.
The most appealing game of the night is the repeat of the Stanley Cup. The Capitals are hosting the Golden Knights again, and that game should provide dynamic results. We will certainly get a piece of it.
Finally, the Ducks are struggling with injuries, but seem to be finding an efficient way to respond. The Coyotes are young and look horrendous, so we should probably grab some Ducks for our lineups. 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
The Capitals offense is firing, and they’re going to want to defend the Cup in a big way in front of their home crowd, in Washington, D.C., against the runner-up Vegas Golden Knights on NBC Sports Network Wednesday night.
Both Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,300) and Nicklas Backstrom ($6,700) are already averaging around 20 NHL DFS FanDuel points-per-game, after two games. But they’re doing so in different ways. Kutznetsov, who typically leads the Caps top line, is scoring more with two goals against the Bruins to start the season.
Backstrom is dishing the puck more with four assists compared to Evgeny’s one so far this season. You will likely get 15+ points from either play, with higher upside from Kuznetsov. So I’m going with Backstrom’s value, and using my salary for bigger goal-plays in other parts of my lineup.
I’ve considered playing a mid-salary range center like the Senators top line leader Matt Duchene ($5,600) against the Flyers. But, Duchene has only been on the ice around 16 minutes per game and has two assists in three shots over a three game period. That isn’t the type of solid consistency I’m looking for in my second center pick.
With the Ducks putting Ryan Kesler on IR and Ryan Getzlaf day-to-day, it’s likely former Devil’s center Adam Henrique ($5,200) will lead Anaheim’s top line again tonight. Henrique is also only averaging about a shot per game, but he has a goal and two assists in the first three games.
Also, Adam’s shot-blocking ability, five already this season, improves his likely point outcome tonight. And with the Ducks hosting a struggling Yotes team tonight, Henrique’s goal possibility increases, making him a double-digit play on a reasonable salary. Adam is my favorite second pick at center tonight.
Finally, at some point the Flyers scoring will come back, and that may be tonight. They will likely be low-owned given their outcomes over the last two games, so Sean Couturier ($6,900) and Nolan Patrick ($4,800) are great GPP plays at goalie. For cash, you could at least use Patrick to differentiate your lineup from the other players.
NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Wingers
We have some big play options at the winger position. In fact, the wings are likely to pile up more points per lineup spot than the centers tonight. That’s because we have big play-making scorers like Alex Ovechkin ($8,800) and Jonathan Marchessault ($7,300) on the ice.
Between these two, Ovechkin is the safer play likely continuing to provide points at home against a team he’s very familiar with right now. Ovi already has three points in just two games, scoring a goal against the Bruins and Penguins, and adding an assist at home against Boston. We are saving money with other picks tonight, so Ovi is affordable.
Marchessault is a better GPP play as a top winger, but he could also be part of your cash lineup, even with Caps players in other spots. Jonathan has at least one point in every game this season, including a goal against the Flyers and Sabres, and an assist against the Wild and Sabres. Marchessault is also a slam dunk for around five shots per game.
For GPP lineups, Claude Giroux ($7,500) and Jakub Voracek ($6,900) could be sneaky plays if the Flyers offense bounces back well tonight. But I can’t depend on them for my cash lineups.
One play I love, though, is Rickard Rakell ($7,000). Similar to Henrique, but in a bigger way, Rakell has always been a big part of the Ducks production each game. But with their current in juries, Rickard catapults to the top of their offense and should have a great night against the Yotes on home ice. For now, I’m ignoring his weak 6.4 points in Arizona.
We mentioned earlier we would like to take advantage of the Senators hot start against the Flyers current weak-looking defense. Also, many of the Sens top two lines offer incredible NHL DFS value plays.
Two guys I love for Wednesday night are likely second-line mates Ryan Dzingel ($4,800) and Zack Smith ($3,300). Frankly, after scoring a goal against the Blackhawks and providing a least one assist against the Maple Leafs and Bruins, Smith’s salary is bizarre. He’s consistently providing around 15 points per night, and we’re only paying $3.3K to have him in our lineup tonight. Sold!
Dzingel is the more well-established player in the lineup, so I understand why he’s more expensive, but Ryan is still considerably cheap. He also has a point in all three games this year, including two goals against the Bruins in Boston. Dzingel spends more time on the ice, piling up shots and could even get another blocked shot tonight. This is a great value mini-stack at the winger position on Wednesday night.
Alright, let’s look at a few top picks on defense…
NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Defenders
When I first looked at the defense position, I immediately wanted to stack the position with Senators. Thomas Chabot ($4,300) and Dylan DeMelo ($4,100) each spend around 20 minutes of time on the ice for the Sens, each on the top regular line, with Chabot getting slightly more minutes due to power plays.
They’re both off to incredible starts. Dylan has a goal, against the Maple Leafs, and two assists against the Bruins. Meanwhile, Thomas had two goals against the Leafs and at least one helper in all three games. Add on the several shots on goal and blocked shots and it’s now surprise these guys are averaging 13 to 20 points per game.
But, with so much salary left over after finding value plays in the winger position, and potentially using a mid-salary range center, I realized we could upgrade one of the defensive spots to a more expensive, and dominate, defenseman.
Between the two, I’m more included to keep the higher productivity from Chabot. So I’m locking him into my lineup in all formats. There are some good upgrade possibilities, but you likely can’t go wrong with a John Carlson ($6,400) in your lineup.
The Caps top NHL DFS option on defense, playing on all of the Capitals top lines, has four points this season in just two games. Against the Bruins and Penguins, Carlson had a goal and assist in each game.
Then, he added more points with three shots per game, and another five blocked shots. Carlson is doing everything, and averaging nearly 30 points per game. Maybe we don’t get 30 points from John tonight, but we’ll land somewhere close to that on a reasonable salary.
NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Goalies
Braden Holtby ($9,100) and Marc-Andre Fleury ($8,700) will be popular picks tonight. Holtby had a tremendous shutout against the Bruins to start the season, the fell flat giving up seven goals to the Penguins in an overtime loss.
So Braden’s average point-per-game is a little skewed. Holtby likely bounces back tonight, but he doesn’t have the greatest of match ups. While Fleury had a solid win against the Wild in Minnesota, he’s been otherwise awful to start this season. That is another play I don’t love. I’m fading both.
But, be careful with these other options. John Gibson ($8,300) and Ryan Miller ($7,800) are the starting and back up goalies for the Ducks. They both have great match ups, but Gibson is absolutely rolling so far this year.
If the Ducks stick with Gibson in goal, he’s an absolutely must play at this position. However, I haven’t seen confirmation, yet, if he’s starting. And, if he Ducks play Miller, it’ll be his first game on the ice this season, which makes his play more risky. Still, either Ducks goalie is a great play tonight, even adding some value to the lineup.
For a solid GPP, fade Ducks approach, Antti Raanta ($7,700) actually hasn’t been horrible to start this season. In two games, Raanta has only giving up four goals, or two goals per game. With a solid offense in front of him, he would likely have two wins. But that’s why Antti is a risky play, the Yotes offense has been utterly terrible so far this year.
If the Flyers offense stays flat, Craig Anderson ($7,400) will be an awesome value tonight. I’d prefer to stick with the Ducks net-minders, but even for cash games you could slid Craig into the goalie spot.
If you’re looking for the Flyers goalie, stop. They’re likely giving Elliott the night off and throwing newly acquired Calvin Pickard on the ice. Unfortunately, FanDuel doesn’t have Pickard in your list of lineup options, so you can’t benefit from a great GPP play there.
NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 10th 2018 Summary
At the center position tonight, we like either of the Caps top two line leaders, along with a value play from Ducks Henrique. The Ducks are dealing with a lot of injuries to start this season, and Adam’s NHL DFS value is rapidly rising. Get him while he’s still cheap.
At the winger position, we’re likely sticking with the Capitals and paying up for a big play from Ovi. The Russian NHL veteran is already off to a hot start, and worth the salary defending the Cup against new Golden Knights rivals.
Meanwhile, Rakell continues to rack up minutes on the ice, also because of the Ducks injuries, and is quickly becoming on of their top NHL DFS options each night. All of these expensive players are easy to afford, given the value we’re getting form second-line mates Dzingel and Smith.
For defense, we love the Senators top line mates Chabot and DeMelo. But we can afford to pay up for a big game from Carlson, while keeping Chabot, over DeMelo, in our lineup. And at goalie, our top plays are either Gibson or Miller depending on who starts. For a GPP goalie play, grab Anderson or Raanta.
With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel on Wednesday, October 10th 2018:
C Nicklas Backstrom ($6,700)
C Adam Henrique ($5,200)
W Alex Ovechkin ($8,800)
W Rickard Rakell ($7,000)
W Ryan Dzingel ($4,800)
W Zack Smith ($3,300)
D John Carlson ($6,400)
D Thomas Chabot ($4,300)
G John Gibson ($8,300)
Remaining Salary: $200
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!