NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 20th

Welcome back to the NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays column. We’re a fantasy hockey column focused on the top FanDuel NHL players for your lineups each day. This is the Saturday Main slate edition for October 20th 2018.

Yesterday’s lineup picks were partially solid. The Caps surprisingly lost to the Panthers on home ice, but we didn’t like Braden Holtby in net anyway, so that didn’t bother us. And fortunately, the Caps still piled on five goals, making guys like Kuznetsov still worth the pick.

John Carlson continued his tear as he started the scoring for the Caps, but T.J. Oshie was disappointing. Still, Brett Connolly continues to be a very solid value play at the winger position. Any line Connolly is on seems to be productive this season.

The rest of the slate was fairly disappointing. We talked about how I was on the fence with the Wild and Stars, and decided to side with the home team. Well, that was a mistake. Devan Dubnyk was absolutely on fire and the goalie to own last night. Pekka Rinne was not.

The Stars scored a disappointing one goal last night, and Pekka gave up three goals and only had 15 saves before he got yanked for concuission related concerns. Keep that in mind for tonight, as the Preds are back on the ice in Edmonton.

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 the Main slate on Saturday, October 20th 2018:

Blues at Maple Leafs 7pm ET (NHL Network)

Canadiens at Senators 7pm ET

Red Wings at Panthers 7pm ET

Blackhawks at Blue Jackets 7pm ET (ESPN+)

Lightning at Wild 8pm ET

Predators at Oilers 10pm ET (CBC)

Bruins at Canucks 10pm ET

Ducks at Golden Knights 10pm ET

Islanders at Sharks 10:30pm ET

That’s right, it’s a huge nine-game schedule for the Main FanDuel NHL DFS slate tonight. That’s even after we have a four-game Early Only slate to start the day. But, we’re only focused on the main slate in this column.

Looking at the schedule, I immediately like the Maple Leafs to bounce back tonight on home ice against a struggling Blue team. The Senators have been strong on home ice this season too, and the Blackhawks are better than people expected before this season started.

The Lightning and Wild are engaged in a tough match up in Minnesota, a game I may decide to avoid. Meanwhile, the Preds are back on the ice in Edmonton, and Rinne is not starting tonight. That is a game I may decide to pounce on.

The Boston Bruins should have a solid outcome in Vancouver, and I like the Sharks hosting the Isles in San Jose. 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

On Thursday night I played two expensive centers and while they performed well, their value plays didn’t do so great. Last night, I did more of a somewhat expensive play and affordable value play and that worked out well. But, some of the big plays and value plays didn’t work out well.

So, it’s safe to say if we go either with a two-headed expensive monster at the center position, or an affordable value play with good pick at center, as long as we get good points from these two picks, the bigger move will be to nail down the correct wingers.

On Saturday night, there are plenty of awesome plays at this position. In fact, it’s very much like what we saw on Thursday night. Connor McDavid ($9,100) is on home ice again and should get another one or two points for a decent 20 to 30 NHL DFS FanDuel point outcome. I’m strongly consider playing McDavid even though Saros is a VERY good back up fro the Predators.

But I need to see if I can afford Connor first. By the way, you should always try to afford McDavid when he plays. He’s similar to a strong lock from a great pitcher in MLB DFS.

Auston Matthews ($8,500) and John Tavares ($8,300) are likely to bounce back and have a great night against the Blues in Toronto. One interesting adjustment over the last week is that Matthews is now more expensive. That tells you how much value we were getting out of him before.

But a play I like more than Matthews and Tavares is Boston Bruins top line leader Patrice Bergeron ($8,000). Bergeron is one of those rare NHL DFS options who gives you 20 to 30 points almost every night and for some reason he often flies under the radar, even in games the B’s are highly favored.

Flipping through the rest of the center list for a cheaper option, I don’t like what I’m seeing. Dylan Larkin ($6,300) is a solid low-owned ten to 20 point play against a terrible Panthers defense in Florida, but I’m likely in a better position if I pay up for two expensive centers.

Another decent value bet is Chris Tierney ($4,600) on home ice against the Habs. But I’m likely paying up for two expensive center picks and moving to the winger spot to see if I can get better solid value tonight.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Wingers

At the winger spot, with the Bruins in a great match up tonight, I’m strongly considering stacking Bergeron with top-line mates Brad Marchand ($8,300) or David Pastrnak ($8,100). This line is one of the best lines in the NHL, and that means they’re one of the best NHL DFS line options you have to stack each time they’re on the ice.

Don’t be fooled by Marchand’s lower point-per-game average compared to Pastrnak. Pasta is a great winger, but Brad is one of the best int he business. If you pay more for Marchand, it’s still a good bet. However, I need to get some value, so if I’m not stacking all three one-line B’s, I’m at least going with Bergeron and Pasta.

If you’re fading the B’s top line, another option is to consider playing Mitch Marner ($6,800) and Alex DeBrincat ($6,400). Marner is a great play if you believe in the Leafs bounce-back in Toronto tonight. And DeBrincat is absolutely on fire this season, looks very confident, and is playing with Toews who’s also off to a good year.

For some even cheaper mid-salary range picks, I also like Tomas Hertl ($5,500) getting around 17 to 20 minutes of ice time on home ice in San Jose against the Islanders. The Isles have looked solid at times to start this season, but I think that’s likely the match ups. This isn’t a favorable one for the Islanders tonight.

But, while I like Hertl, I frankly think Timo Meier ($4,800) is a better play for more points. So considering that, he’s obviously a better value play in my eyes as well. Meier was one of the biggest fantasy hockey sleepers heading into this season, is getting around the same amount of ice time as Tomas, and has a goal or assist in five of the last six games. He stays hot tonight.

Finally, there are two more value plays I like with Meier, one we’ve talked about constantly and one new one. First, Kasperi Kapanen ($4,100) is back on the ice playing with great Leafs offensive talent again in Toronto. Again, we like the Leafs tonight and when we’ve been high on Toronto Kapanen has had solid scoring games. This could be another one of those 20 point plays on a very cheap salary.

My final favorite value play at the winger position is Tomas Tatar ($4,600). The Canadiens have played well lately, and a big part of that is first-ling winger Tatar’s production. The former Red Wing has three goals and four assists in the last three games, along with 13 shots on goal. It’s very possible we’re grabbing a cheap Tomas while he’s beginning to start a long scoring run on a quietly good Habs team.

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

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Defenders

Brent Burns ($7,100) and Erik Karlsson ($6,800) are back on the ice tonight for the Sharks and while I’ve mostly avoided the dynamic duo, I’m considering playing one or both tonight. But, if I do that, I likely can’t stack the centers with the expensive top plays I want tonight. So for the example lineup it’s a pass, but consider playing them in your lineups tonight.

If you need a better top play but have to get that salary back for the big plays at center and winger, you can also play Morgan Rielly ($5,600). Some NHL DFS players may be getting bored with Rielly, especially after has only provided 9.6 and 6.4 points in his last two outings. For tonight, I think that’s a mistake…he’s a great play again.

We also have mentioned the Bruins offense several times tonight. Charlie McAvoy ($4,700) often benefits from the great top-line production and is still very cheap for NHL DFS. I’d actually prefer McAvoy over Rielly, even though we know Rielly could have a big night tonight. There’s just too much great value to consider here.

Speaking of value, Anaheim Ducks second line defender Hampus Lindholm ($4,500) and Senators third line starting rookie defender Maxime Lajoie ($4,000) are better plays than they appear.

First of all, Lindholm gets a ton of time on the power play and has at least one goal or assist in each of the last five Ducks games. In fact, in that time, Lindholm has two goals and five assists, not to mention he constantly gets several blocked shots.

Meanwhile, we keep talking about how great rookie Lajoie looks on the ice, he keeps providing goals and assists, and yet he’s still dirt-cheap. In the first six games this season, Max has four goals and three assists. He’s also getting several shots on goal and is adding more points with blocked shots while on the ice for around 20 minutes a game.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Goalies

For the goalie position, if you have enough salary left over, Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,200) is a great play tonight. Even in Minnesota against a good Wild team, Vas is probably going to give us the most points at the net-minder position tonight. We know the Wild will get plenty of shots on goal, and Vas likely gets the win with Alex Stalock ($7,400) giving Dubnyk the night off.

So far this season, John Gibson ($8,700) is leading all goalies in practically every metric. Gibby has an awesome .948 save percentage (2nd in the NHL), is only giving up 1.89 goals per game (5th in the NHL), and is now 4-1-1 on the season. Gibson also has seen the second most shots on goal, 20 less than Dubnyk.

So while Vas is the best play, if you can’t afford him, Gibson is your next best option. That being said, I need to get more value out of the goalie position tonight, and fortunately I have three options I like.

First, we like the Maple Leafs in Toronto tonight, and Frederik Andersen ($8,200) should be back in goal. With a high volume of shots on goal, again, and consistent wins, Andersen is rapidly becoming one of the top DFS NHL picks at the net-minder position this season.

The tougher pick is between Juuse Saros ($7,800) and Cam Talbot ($7,700). This feels like a trap similar to last night, that I may willingly fall into. I liked Bishop last night when I should’ve liked Dubnyk.

But Saros and Talbot aren’t the same type of goalies. Saros is a great play, but still risky with McDavid and some solid offense on the ice in Edmonton. I’d rather go with Talbot, who I think sees a high volume of shots on goal and pulls off a win tonight. That’s a great value for this price.

FanDuel Power Plays: October 20th 2018 Summary

One of my favorite stacks tonight is the Boston Bruins top line. I may try to pay up for all three of Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Marchand. If I can’t afford that or want to find a way to afford McDavid in my lineup, I’m going to drop Marchand of the three. Still, Marchand is a great play tonight.

For big value plays, I’m looking at the winger position. Tatar, Meier, Hertl, and Kapanen all give us a solid shot at ten to 20 points, with a higher ceiling, and we’re getting plenty of salary back to go big at the center position and have papable defensive and goalie players.

Speaking of those positions, there are plenty of expensive plays, but Lindholm and Lojoie offer are two of my favorite plays at the defense position because of their value. Meanwhile, Andersen, Saros, or Talbot each offer a great value play at the goalie position on Saturday night.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Saturday, October 20th 2018:

C       Connor McDavid ($9,100)

C       Patrice Bergeron ($8,000)

W     David Pastrnak ($8,100)

W     Timo Meier ($4,800)

W     Tomas Tatar ($4,600)

W     Kasperi Kapanen ($4,100)

D      Hampus Lindholm ($4,500)

D      Maxime Lajoie ($4,000)

G      Cam Talbot ($7,700)

Remaining Salary: $100

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!