NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: October 24th

Welcome back to the NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays column. We’re a fantasy hockey post focused on the top FanDuel NHL players for your lineups each day. For this edition, we’re focused on the Main slate for Wednesday, October 24th 2018.

For the Tuesday night NHL DFS FanDuel main slate, we got some things right and we got some things wrong. Our Juuse Saros play at goalie looked OK until the Sharks, who were down 2-4 heading into the final period of the game, suddenly woke up and exploded on the ice with three goals for the win.

The turnaround for the Sharks pummeled our goalie points down to 1.6 for the night, if you played Saros. I still like that play, but the unexpected outcome killed many of my lineup outcomes on Tuesday night.

That aside, we had some other plays which worked out well. Yes, the Panthers only scored two goals against a struggling goaltender between the pipes for the Rangers Tuesday night. But, the Panthers stack of Huberdeau, Dadonov, and Hoffman still gave us over 50 points on fairly cheap salaries. Hoffman was specifically a bargain score a goal with seven shots and over 23 points, considering his mild $5,400 salary.

While the Sharks came alive in the third period, that still didn’t help our Chris Tierney ($4,600) value play at center. Tierney ended the night with only 6.4 points. I ended up taking a shot with Tyler Seguin in several lineups, who didn’t do quite as well as Bergeron did in our sample lineup. And for defensive man, John Klingberg continues to be a fantastic NHL DFD Defense pick.

We only have a four-game slate on Wednesday night, which as we’ve said before can be a boon or bust kind of slate. There are typically a limited number of lineups which win in both GPP and Cash, and you’re more likely for those lineups to be the top plays in both formats.

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 Wednesday, October 24th 2018:

Panthers at Islanders 7pm ET

Maple Leafs at Jets 7pm ET NBC Sports Network

Lightning at Avalanche 9:30pm ET NBC Sports Network

Canucks at Golden Knights 10pm ET ESPN+

While the Panthers had a mild offensive outcome in New York last night, I’m still intrigued by their offensive potential against the Islanders tonight. The Maple Leafs could see more of an offensive challenge against the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets are actually in a better position to pile up NHL DFS points for us tonight.

One of the harder outcomes to pinpoint is the Lightning vising the Avalanche in Colorado. Both team’s have hot goaltenders, but they also each have very good offensive teams right now. I may grab some players from that game if there’s value offered, but I’m likely avoiding the big-money plays.

And finally,  we’ll see if the Golden Knights can continue to pick up the pace this season against a surprisingly good Canucks team, in Vegas. 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

I’ve been on a ‘play Nathan MacKinnon ($8,800) at all costs’ streak since the start of the season but I’m likely hitting the pause button on that play tonight. MacKinnon has at least one point in all nine games for the Avs, and is consistently giving NHL DFS players double-digit points each time he hits the ice.

But, at some point Nathan has to cool off, and he was surprisingly quiet against the Flyers in Philly recently. That could be the start of a cooling off period, as the Avs now also have a tough match up against likely Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Bolts on home ice tonight.

The Leafs two-headed center monsters in the top two lines, John Tavares ($8,300) and Auston Matthews ($8,500) are back on the ice tonight. Again, these are two guys, especially Matthews, you typically always want to play. But I don’t like the match up against Hellebuyck and the Jets in Winnipeg tonight.

I do, however, think the Jets can pile up some goals against Andersen and the Leafs on home ice tonight. Frederik is a solid net-minder, but he sees too many shots on goal to lower his goals-against average this season.

And I love the fact that Mark Scheifele ($7,700) is now playing on the Jets top line with Wheeler and Laine. This is the kind of combination that reminds me of the Bruins current top line. Mark also has two goals and three assists in the last two home games, so I’m paying up for a reasonable top pick at center, who likely also is low-owned.

For my second center pick, I’m not going to look for value because there are too many top center plays tonight, especially considering how small the slate is for Wednesday.

My favorite two picks are reasonably priced around the same amount, Vincent Trocheck ($6,600) and Brayden Point ($6,400). If you’ve followed this column over the last two seasons, each of these names should be familiar.

Vinny continues to lead the Panthers second line, with Aleksander Barkov ($7,300) leading the top line, and they play together on the power play. Trocheck had a power play goal last night, and has three goals and four assists in the last five games. Vinny often goes on runs where he piles up several points in just on game, making him a consistently attractive NHL DFS player.

Point has emerged as the top-line center for a very good Bolts offense in Tampa. I’m leaning toward Trocheck between the two road-ice picks, because Brayden has a tougher goalie match up in Colorado, likely facing Varly for the Avs. But, Point has five goals and three assists in the last xis games and consistently plays with some of the best hockey players in the NHL.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Wingers

Before we get into the top three winger plays on Wednesday night, a public service announcement. I couldn’t believe this when I saw it last night, so I wanted until Wednesday morning to really let it sink in, in case it changed overnight. But, Andrew Ladd ($3,100) is dirt-cheap for some reason.

This is one of those head-scratching salary values you feel like is either a trick, or clearly an intended move by FanDuel. Ladd plays with the Isles top offensive young talent Barzal on their second regular line.

He recently came back from an injury, but already has two goals and two assists in just four games. He’s also averaging over 15 minutes of ice time now, in the last two games. Plug Andrew’s value into every lineup combination you have tonight, and adjust other picks from there. It’s a fun play, gives you tons of salary back for points, and ignore the chalk of this pick.

OK, with that obvious slam-dunk value play out of the way, I love three wingers who give us three mini-stacking opportunities with centers, or at least give you some exposure to one of the centers we like but we’re not able to afford.

As mentioned earlier, Patrik Laine ($7,600) is now playing on the Jets top line. Laine has a modest three goals and two assists in the first nine games. That is a very low bar for Patrik, who went on a scoring tear in the second half of the season later year. This move should ignite a fire on that line, and Laine is the kind of winger who can give you a hat-trick on any given night.

Evgeni Dadonov ($6,500) may have only given us 10.1 NHL DFS FanDuel points last night, with one shot on goal and one assist, but I’m expecting more from Dadonov against the Isles tonight. Evgenii is priced just about right for FanDuel, and we should around 20 points from this play, getting a piece of the Panthers top line while also potentially playing Trocheck.

Finally, and regardless of whether I have other Bolts in my lineup tonight, like top line center Brayden Point, I’m grabbing great value from top-line Bolts winger Yanni Gourde ($5,400). He has at least one point in the last six straight games, including four goals and four assists. Again, there’s risk with this play because of the match up, but at worst we’ll likely see eight to ten points still.

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

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Defenders

If you’re on your way to stacking the Lightning in your lineup, Victor Hedman ($6,000) is the top defensive play tonight taking that route, and you can afford him. However, I’m likely fading Hedman and will grab one of three better top defenders with more value.

Morgan Rielly ($5,600), Alexander Edler ($5,400), and Keith Yandle ($5,300) have been consistent plays of ours for this position in the first three weeks of the season. Edler and Yandle are almost consistently providing 15+ points each night, and Rielly has been a monster, averaging well over 20 points per game.

But, Some of Rielly’s monster points have come in just a few games, and he’s gradually cooled off a bit over the last three games. Still, Morgan is playing a great hockey and should be a top-three consideration on Wednesday.

And while Edler was off to a tremendously consistent start, he’s also cooled off lately, giving us a lower point average in the three three games. That lower average is due to a huge development in Alexander’s blocked shot total each night. After averaging around five or more per game, Edler only has four blocked shots in the last three games. I also don’t love the Canucks match-up tonight.

That leaves me with Yandle, who I like the most at this position. Keith also happens to be the cheapest of our top four options. Last night against the Rangers, Yandle only had three shots on goal and two blocked shots, but eight points is still a decent return for the salary. And we know Yandle can pile up helpers, giving us a decent shot at 20 points tonight.

And for value, I like one of two options. I’ve swapped my second defense pick between Erik Johnson ($4,600) and Josh Morrissey ($4,200) a few times this morning. Before an injury last season, Johnson was a must-play NHL DFS pick for the first part of the season. He’s beginning to emerge as that type of play again this year. But with a heavy interest in the Jets top line, I have to think Morrissey is a great value from Winnipeg’s first line.

NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays: Top Goalies

One of the themes for the Wednesday night slate has been tough goaltender match ups. For that reason we have a good problem at this position. There are multiple great goal tenders in tonight’s four game, eight team, slate.

But, of the top five goaltenders, four are facing each other. So if you pick from this group, you need to figure out not only who will have the most saves, but also who gives up the less goals and is most likely to win, considering the match up.

While I always like Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,100) when tending the net, I can’t help but think he’s over-priced tonight. Maybe that helps for ownership, and makes him a great GPP play, but Vas is in Colorado tonight, against a hot team, and Semyon Varlamov ($8,500) who’s now 4-0-2. Varly continues to see well over 30 saves a game, and has been even a decent 20 point play with a loss.

Between the top two net-minders, I’d go with Varly.

Connor Hellebuyck ($8,200) has a very tough match-up against one of the NHL’s top offensives, the Maple Leafs. But, Frederik Andersen ($8,000) gives up lots of goals in spurts and has a lower save percentage. Although, Hellebuyck has a similar issue in the last two weeks. My net thought is to fade both of these goalies, and consider playing the opposing offense instead.

I don’t like James Reimer ($7,500) against solid young offensive talent on road ice. I also don’t like Jacob Markstrom ($7,600) in Vegas. That leads me to either Robin Lehner ($7,700) or Marc-Andre Fleury ($8,100).

We know Reimer is struggling and the Panthers can’t seem to win games to start this season, which makes Lehner appealing. But I also like the Panthers chances of scoring three or more goals tonight.

So, the obvious play between the two is Fleury, whose heating up right now. In his first four starts, Fluery gave up four or more goals in three outings. For that reason I started to fade him in NHL DFS play. But, the real Marc-Andre is emerging, going 3-0-0 in his last three starts, giving up a total of only two goals with over 20 saves per game and a shut out against the Flyers in Philly. He’s our man tonight!

FanDuel Power Plays: October 24th 2018 Summary

There are several top centers I want to play tonight, but I’m likely going with Scheifele over Matthews or MacKinnon, and hoping for lower ownership with that play as well. But with my second center pick, I’m still spending a decent amount of my salary on either the Panthers’ Trocheck or Bolts’ Point.

At the winger spot, I’m using a two-man mini stack with my center picks or getting exposure to at least three of my favorite center picks by grabbing Laine, Dadonov, and Gourde. And we absolutely have to snag the value from the dirt-cheap Ladd play on FanDuel tonight.

We could pay up for Hedman, Rielly, or Edler on defense, but my favorite top D-man pick is actually the Panthers’ Yandle. I’m going to get value in my second defense pick, with either the Avs’ Johnson or Jets’ Morrissey. And by far the best goaltender tonight appears to be Fleury, unless you’re willing to take a chance on Varly over Vas.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Wednesday, October 24th 2018:

C       Mark Scheifele ($7,700)

C       Vincent Trocheck ($6,600)

W     Patrik Laine ($7,600)

W     Evgeni Dadonov ($6,500)

W     Yanni Gourde ($5,400)

W     Andrew Ladd ($3,100)

D      Keith Yandle ($5,300)

D      Josh Morrissey ($4,200)

G      Marc-Andre Fleury ($8,100)

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!