NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 11th

Welcome 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 Thursday, October 11th edition.

Yesterday’s picks did well, depending on the combination you used. Alex Ovechkin stayed hot, scoring another two goals on seven shots, and he added a blocked shot for 36.8 NHL DFS FanDuel points. Ovi was one of our key plays and a great points anchor for the team.

Another move we scratched out for GPP plays was playing some Flyers, taking the risk they’d bounce back and score on the Senators often Wednesday night. Well, if you took that risk, it played out nicely. I ended up pivoting Claude Giroux into my lineup, and he rewarded me with seven shots, a power play assist, and a power play goal for 32.2 NHL points.

If you played Kuznetsov or Backstrom, you got over 20 points in your top center spot. If you grabbed a decent value play at center with one of those two, you likely had around 40 points.

On defense, John Carlson remained red-hot, adding another two power play assists along with three blocked shots for 21.8 points. Chabot was a value play from the Senators defenders, and he added another 11.2 points, even with a 4-7 loss on home ice to the Flyers.

John Gibson should’ve been a better play than he was. The Coyotes got their first win of the season with a 3-2 shootout over the Ducks. Still, Gibson made 37 saves and only gave up two goals. With a win, he would’ve had around 40 points, but I’ll take the nearly 22 points we got from Gibson, adding to a decent lineup for the night.

Thursday night’s schedule is robust for the NHL. After a three-game quiet Wednesday night, we’re back to a big 12-game night. That means we have to pick through top two or three lines across 24 teams. That also means a long list of lineup combinations could win. So, we’ll focus on just a few stacking options we like, along with some value plays in each position.

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 Thursday, October 11th 2018:

Oilers at Bruins 7pm ET TVA

Avalanche at Sabres 7pm ET

Blue Jackets at Panthers 7pm ET

Capital at Devils 7pm ET

Sharks at Rangers 7pm ET

Golden Knights at Penguins 7pm ET ESPN+

Kings at Canadiens 7:30pm ET

Maple Leafs at Red Wings 7:30pm ET

Canucks at Lightning 7:30pm ET

Flames at Blues 8pm ET

Jets at Predators 8pm ET ESPN+

Blackhawks at Wild 8pm ET 

With so many games on the schedule, it’s best to figure out which games may have the most goals, blocked shots, or saves and wins. From there narrow down your players and you have more limited lineups to pick through.

Our focus for Thursday is going to be on the Flames and Blues in St. Louis, Capitals and Devils in New Jersey, and Maple Leafs and Red Wings in Detroit. Additionally, we’ll take a look at some plays in Buffalo, where the Sabres are hosting the Avalanche.

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

Last season, the Flames offense showed some glimpses of being dynamic, but seemingly fell apart as the season continued. I don’t know if that will happen again this year, but the Flames top lines seem to be back to scoring, almost at will.

Sean Monahan ($7,200), still only 23-years-old, had 31 goals and 33 assists leading the Flames top line last season, in just 74 games. He seems to be picking up where he left off, already scoring four goals and providing one helper in just three games.

Two of Sean’s four goals were during power plays, which isn’t surprising considering how much time Monahan spends on the ice during power plays, with the Flames top talent. Monahan trickles in blocked shots as well, and often gets several shots on goal. Jake Allen and the Blues are struggling to start the season, and Monahan could continue to roll tonight on a modest salary. I’m buying it.

While Monahan is my favorite center play in all formats, we can’t ignore the Maple Leafs hot start this season. John Tavares ($8,400) and Auston Matthews ($8,200) have a combined 13 goals in just four games. That’s VERY good offensive production. Matthews also has three assists to total 16 points between the two. Given the favorable match up, either of these centers is a great play for cash games, with low risk but high ownership.

While he’s not quite a value pick, as we’re paying up for centers tonight, Devil’s top line center Nico Hischier ($6,000) is our favorite second pick Thursday. With only one game in, we don’t have much data to look at for Hischier.

However, Nico heated up last season and started this one with an assist, after 16 minutes on the ice, including two shots on goal and a blocked shot. Meanwhile, Phoenix Copley is starting in goal for the Caps, for the first time this season. Copley looked good during preseason, but he’ll best tested by a solid Devils offense tonight. We’d like to take advantage of that potential value with Nico.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Wingers

Considering how hot he is, and how successful he was last night, playing Alex Ovechkin ($8,600) is another solid move tonight. Although, Keith Kinkaid looked very good toward the end of last season and started the new season well against a tough Oilers top offensive line.

This could be the night Ovi finally gets a low point total. So I’m fading him even though that’s a risky move. Patrick Kane ($8,300) is in a similar situation.

Two better top winger plays are Brad Marchand ($8,100) and David Pastrnak ($7,700). Cam Talbot has looked solid at times last season, but he also goes on runs were he gives up large chunks of goals over several straight games, at a time.

Cam started this season giving up four to the Devils in New Jersey. The Bruins offense is clearly gaining some steam, and March and Pasta could go off on Talbot. You just need to find a way to pay up for both, which means you need to find cheaper plays at center.

For that reason, I’m more focused on two other top picks at winger, Johnny Gaudreau ($7,500) and Mitch Marner ($6,700). The Gaudreau play may seem obvious. We’re stacking Johnny with Sean, expecting a big night in St. Louis for the Flames top line.

Regardless of whether you have Matthews or Tavares in your center picks, I like Marner in all lineups in all formats. The Leafs are likely to keep the high scoring up against the Red Wings in Detroit.

Since providing a goose-egg against the Canadiens, Marner has two goals and six assists in just three games. This is a cheap way to still get a big piece of the Maple Leafs scoring, while pulling in some riskier, more diversified, bets.

Looking back at the Flames top line, Elias Lindholm ($5,600) is off to a fantastic start this season. In just three games, Elias has three goals and one assist. Lindholm is another 23-year-old on that Flames top line, but is emerging as another key component to the Flames overall offense this season.

We’ve mentioned Lindholm in the past week, but his salary is beginning to climb, considering his output over the last two games. I’ve also picked Elias up for my season-long teams. And I’m adding Elias to my set of wingers for tonight’s NHL DFS FanDuel plays in all formats.

Finally, there’s a great value play on the board Thursday night, we must play in all formats as well. For some reason, Capitals top liner Brett Connolly ($3,700) is still very cheap for NHL DFS FanDuel.

Connolly is playing with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ovechkin on the Caps top regular line. We’ve also seen Brett on the Caps second power play unit. In the last two games, Connolly has averaged over 15 minutes of ice time per game, and he’s provided three helpers along with fives hots on goal and a blocked shot. So we’re likely getting at least ten points with this play, with a high ceiling given his line-mates and ice time.

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

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Defenders

There is an incredible amount of talent in the list of defenders on Thursday night. This doesn’t happen every Thursday. So, picking the right combination is quiet honestly difficult. My favorite pick in all formats is John Carlson ($6,400).

As we mentioned earlier, we played Carlson again last night and he gave us over 20 points. With the Caps scoring so much lately, and John getting so many blocked shots with nearly 25+ minutes of ice time each game, he’s a lock for at least that many points each night.

The problem with playing Carlson tonight is that he could limit your options at the defense position, and I’d prefer to get two studs. Sticking with a theme and likely completing a stack, I love Flames veteran defender Mark Giordano ($5,500).

Giordano can get quiet sometimes, just getting you five to ten points from shots and blocked shots. But when the Flames are on a hot scoring streak, he comes alive with goals and assists playing with their top offensive players each game. We think Allen and the Blues struggling tonight on defense, making Giordano a better play tonight.

Another defensive play I like tonight is coming from a team we haven’t touched on yet. Also, I expect the Sabres to fly under the radar tonight, making Rasmus Ristolainen ($5,300) ownership very low.

The once young stud has faded in the headlines over the last year, especially with Rasmus Dahlin ($4,500) now also playing on the Sabres top lines. But Ristolainen has been consistently solid since the start of this season, providing two assists, eight shots, and four blocked shots in just three games. This is another double-digit point play on a modest salary.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Goalies

Again, with 24 teams on the ice tonight, picking just one goalie can be overwhelming. We know at least 12 of these teams will win, making at least 12 goalies attractive enough to play with the additional NHL DFS FanDuel points for the win.

We also have a few top goalies taking the night off given a lot of recent action already this season. So there may be some value plays there. But the obvious best net-minder tonight is Andrei Vasilevskiy ($8,700).

The 24-year-old Russian net minder was dominate last season, one of the top three NHL DFS goalies for most of the year, and a big reason the Lightning had such a good season. In his first and only start this year, Vas continued to demonstrate his importance to the Bolts, stopping 42 of 43 shots and getting a win. Against the Canucks, on home ice again, Andrei should be a 30 to 40 point play on an expensive, but still reasonable salary.

The problem with playing Vas is the salary though. I like some expensive picks in the other positions and wasn’t willing to dig for enough value to get an expensive goalie. So for most of my lineups I’m likely going with a cheaper play at this position.

Connor Hellebuyck and Pekka Rinne effectively cancel each other out. Although, that’s fine because they’re both almost or more expensive than Vas. Tuukka Rask ($8,500) is a solid play on home ice against the Oilers, but we’re still not saving enough salary.

Frederik Andersen ($8,200) will get you more salary, but while the Maple Leafs are winning lately, Andersen is also giving up nearly four goals per game. Also, Frederik’s save totals have been lower than we’ve seen in the past. So I don’t love the value we’re getting with this pick.

Instead of Andersen, at this price, I’d rather go with Carey Price ($8,100). The veteran net minder has looked very solid to start this season, giving up only four goals in two games against the Penguins and Leafs, two great offenses.

But my favorite pick at the goalie spot is a risky one. Carter Hutton ($7,500) went on an awesome run for the Blues last season. Hutton was an incredible value, and then became too expensive to consistently play later on.

Now with the Sabres, Hutton seems to be heating up again. In his first three games, Carter is 2-1, giving up a total of only six goals or two per game. Additionally, Hutton has over 35 saves in two of his three starts. It’s risky to play Hutton against the Avs, who looked great on home ice in their first two games. But we also don’t know how the Avs will fair on road ice. And we know the Sabres are playing well at home. I’ll take the value for that risk.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 11th 2018 Summary

Looking at the likely top scoring options tonight, the Capitals and Maple Leafs top lines seem like the best plays. Although, the Caps have a tougher match up in net on road ice. So I’d lean toward stacking the Leafs over the Caps.

However, the Flames offer the best stacking value, a route we’re most likely to take tonight. We also like some of the top plays from the Devils against the Caps backup net-minder, like the one-line leader Hischier.

On defense, there are plenty of great picks again tonight, and we may go with Carlson once again. But I’d rather take a shot at getting two 20+ points from mid-salary range picks like Giordano and Ristolainen. And in goal, there are plenty of great picks, but we’re taking the risky bet on Hutton Thursday night.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel on Thursday, October 11th 2018:

C       Sean Monahan ($7,200)

C       Nico Hischier ($6,000)

W     Johnny Gaudreau ($7,500)

W     Mitch Marner ($6,700)

W     Elias Lindholm ($5,600)

W     Brett Connolly ($3,700)

D      Mark Giordano ($5,500)

D      Rasmus Ristolainen ($5,300)

G      Carter Hutton ($7,500)

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!