NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 15th

Welcome back to the NHL DFS Power Plays column. We’re a fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL players for your lineups each day. This is the Monday, October 15th 2018 edition.

Our NHL DFS FanDuel column on Saturday had many suggested plays which did well for the Main slate. If you followed us on twitter, as well, know knew to pivot Connolly out of the lineup, given the shift change with Stephenson.

Our value plays worked out well, but we struggled, again with the goalie picks. Knowing the risk and expecting low ownership, I was very high on John Gibson to keep rolling. Unfortunately, while Gibson had an awesome 40 saves, he let four picks in goal for the loss, only getting us 16 points. I expected a better 30 to 40 point outcome.

We didn’t write a column for Sunday’s smaller slate, but I still played GPP and cash, and won money in each. Like tonight, we had more limited options. Because many of the games were low-scoring, you didn’t need a high NHL DFS FanDuel point score to win money. Over 120 points was good enough.

Grabbing Ryan Miller for the Ducks win in St. Louis helped me on Sunday, even though he only had a modest 27.2 FanDuel points due to a lower 29 total saves. Still, I’d like to replicate last night’s outcome, for Monday, and hopefully the lower-scoring trend helps us find a better goalie option tonight.

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 Monday, October 15th 2018:

Kings at Maple Leafs 7:30pm ET ESPN+

Red Wings at Canadiens 7:30pm ET

Stars at Senators 7:30pm ET

Wild at Predators 8pm ET

The Kings are struggling to start this season and with Jonathan Quick on the IR, and the lack of a goalie stepping up for L.A. early this season, the Maple Leafs will likely continue to scoring surge on home ice. Stacking the Leafs will be popular, but I’m not sure I want to avoid the chalk there.

The Red Wings and Canadiens offer some value plays. As do the Stars and Senators. The Sens are hard to figure out in the early going. They’re a young team many expected to be a dumpster fire, but they look like a difficult team to beat at times, while struggling to put together solid defense in other games.

The Wild and Predators are two teams playing better defense and goaltending then most of the NHL. While that game could be a low-scoring affair, and it’s tough to pick the winner, we may want to grab our goalie in Nashville.

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

We already mentioned the potential to stack the Maple Leafs. So, let’s jump right into that conversation. John Tavares ($8,500) and Auston Matthews ($8,300) continue to be top plays each time they’re on the ice. The Leafs have an obvious advantage in this game, in Toronto, so they’ll be chalky for NHL DFS play. Still, it’s probably smart to eat the chalk and build around it in all formats.

Matthews has still, yet, to play in a goal without scoring a goal. That’s six straight games, and he now has ten goals and four assists, for 14 total points. At some point, Auston will play a game were he doesn’t score. It just has to happen. It’s unlikely it’ll be tonight, but that risk is looming. Still, between the two centers, Matthews is the better play.

If you don’t want to pick between the two, there are enough value options Monday night that allow you to stack the center position with Matthews and Tavares. Talk about eating chalk! That’s the biggest way to do it.

I prefer to go two other routes to diversity my lineup. The way you go with these two picks, changes the outcomes you can drive with your value plays. Dylan Larkin ($6,500) is considerably cheaper than Tyler Seguin ($7,900).

But Seguin’s ceiling in Ottawa, especially if Craig Anderson struggles in net again Monday night, is considerably higher than Larkin’s as well. Still, Dylan is a solid play at center, with a goal or assist in four of the Red Wings first five games.

Even when he didn’t score, he still provided 9.6 NHL DFS points with five shots on goal and a blocked shot against a tough Ducks team right now. I’m probably going to play two lineups, one with Seguin and Matthews, and one with Larkin and Matthews.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Wingers

Going back to the Leafs stack, I’m likely going to grab two wingers from Toronto’s top two lines. Given I prefer to have Matthews, over Tavares, as my Leafs top center pick, I can still get exposure to Tavares’ productivity but plugging Mitch Marner ($6,900) and Kasperi Kapanen ($3,800) into two winger spots.

Marner is the more obvious play, getting time on the ice during the power play as well and totaling around 20 minutes of ice time each game. Also, Mitch has three goals and an incredible seven assists in just six games. However, Mitch also has two goose-eggs this season. Marner isn’t as consistent. But, it’s unlikely he’ll do that two games in a row.

Kapanen is more likely to play with Matthews tonight, and while he’s not seeing much time on the power play he’s still playing around 15 to 17 minutes on the ice each game this season. Kasperi has four assists and two goals in the last four games, a great consistent offensive return using a very cheap NHL DFS FanDuel salary.

If I’m playing Seguin, I likely won’t take this route at winger, but if I’m not playing Seguin at my center position, I should have plenty of money left over to still get a big piece of the Stars offense in Ottawa by grabbing Alexander Radulov ($6,400).

Since early last season, we’ve seen Jamie Benn ($8,300), Seguin, and Radulov play incredibly well with each other on the ice. Between these three, Alexander continues to be easily the cheapest NHL DFS FanDuel play, yet his productivity is still outstanding. In just four games, Radulov already has four goals and fives assists, averaging well over 25 points-per-game.

Finally, one more value play we can’t ignore. With the Senators back on the ice, the offense staying hot lately, rookie Brady Tkachuk ($3,900) still has a very cheap salary considering his production lately.

In just three games, Brady now has two goals and three assists. Against the Flyers, in a loss on home ice, Tkachuk scored his first career goal followed by his second. One of the goals was during the power play, and he added an assist for 42.6 NHL DFS FanDuel points.

Brady’s salary will remain cheap, unless he can prove to do this on a more consistent basis. I’m willing to be the 19-year-old has it in him, given this cheap price. Alright, let’s look at a few top picks on defense…

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Defenders

Speaking of top NHL DFS FanDuel value plays coming from young Senators players, Maxime Lajoie ($3,900) is another great pick at defense. The 20-year-old scored his first career goal against the Blackhawks on home ice, October 4th. Since then, Lajoie scored two more times, also against the Flyers, and now has three goals and three assists in just five games.

While Maxime is playing mostly on the third regular line for the sens, he’s been getting time on the second power play unit as well. That helps inflate Lajoie’s ice time more toward the 20 minute mark. Given his offensive production so far, that improves his NHL DFS value.

Also, Lajoie has been averaging around three shots on goal per game, and has 12 blocked shots, or about 2.5 per game, meaning we have a defense pick under $4k who’s likely to get at least around eight to ten points without scoring a goal or offering a helper. With points, this is a slam dunk double-digit play.

If you didn’t stack Tavares and Matthews with two Maple Leafs wingers, you haven’t completed the Leafs stack yet. And the best way to do that on defense is by adding Morgan Rielly ($5,800). You may remember how high I was on Morgan this past weekend. SiriusXM NHL host tweeted shortly after my article posted, indicating he also thought Rielly was on a tear this season. Classic.

Rielly’s NHL DFS FanDuel outcome on Saturday was mild, but still solid. After 21 minutes on home ice against a good Washington Capitals team, the current Stanley Cup champions, Morgan blocked a shot, slapped four shots on goal, and provided a helper for 16 points. For under $6K per night, this is always a rock-solid pick and a cornerstone for a Leafs stack.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Goalies

OK, this is were we often trip up for each NHL DFS FanDuel slate. We’ve hit some home runs on a few suggestions, but we’ve also struck out more times than we’ve done well. So I’m treading lightly.

Jonathan Quick is on the IR and the Kings back up goalies Jack Campbell ($8,300) and Peter Budaj ($7,400) are struggling in limited action so far. Campbell has looked solid at times, but I like neither against the Maple Leafs tonight.

There was some speculation about which goaltender will start against the Kings in Toronto on Monday night. However, we finally have confirmation it’s Garret Sparks ($7,100). This is worth a GPP play, as Sparks has a great offense behind him and a good match up. But there’s plenty of risk, given Garret has already giving up six goals this season, in just one game.

We also know Craig Anderson ($7,300) is the confirmed starter for the Senators, hosting the Dallas Stars in Ottawa. But Anderson isn’t a great play against a top line like the Stars on the ice. I prefer to go with a safer bet, and fortunately there is one today.

It appears that instead of Devan Dubnyk ($8,300) starting in goal for the Wild against the Predators in Nashville, we’ll see Alex Stalock ($7,400) starting his first game between the pipes this season.

That makes me even more comfortable paying up for Pekka Rinne ($9,000) for the win on home ice. In three starts so far this season, Rinne has only given up five total goals, he shut out the Jets on home ice, and has around 30 saves per game. I don’t know if we can get a shutout against at tough offense like the Wild tonight, but Rinne is a solid bet for around 30 NHL DFS FanDuel points.

DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 15th 2018 Summary

With only four games on the NHL schedule Monday night, we’re down to only eight teams to pick through for our lineups. There are some obvious stacks, like Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Rielly and other Maple Leafs. But the Leafs will be chalky, although they may also be unavoidable to win Monday night.

You can diversify the center position by paying up for Seguin, or dipping down to Larkin for some value. If you grab Larkin, consider also plugging Radulov into a winger sport to still get exposure to that dynamic Stars offensive line.

To afford these plays, we’re paying down for value picks from two Senators rookies, Lajoie and Tkachuk. The’re both off to hot starts this season, and to their careers. But these could be risky plays. I think they stay hot and are worth the risk.

At the goalie spot, it may be worth taking on more risk if you haven’t completed a Leafs stack yet, and want incredible value at the goalie position. But, I think it’s a better all-around play, in all NHL DFS formats, to play Rinne against the Wild and their backup goalie tonight.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel on Monday, October 15th 2018:

C       Auston Matthews ($8,300)

C       Dylan Larkin ($6,500)

W     Mitch Marner ($6,900)

W     Alexander Radulov ($6,400)

W     Brady Tkachuk ($3,900)

W     Kasperi Kapanen ($3,800)

D      Morgan Rielly ($5,800)

D      Maxime Lajoie ($3,900)

G      Pekka Rinne ($9,000)

Remaining Salary: $500

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!