Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for November 6

Welcome to the NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays post. We’re a fantasy hockey column focused on your top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Tuesday, November 6th 2018.

It’s been a few days since I wrote about Fantasy Hockey in my NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays. I took a few days off from writing to focus on a College Football post this past Saturday, and to handle some other family-related items over the past four days.

But, that doesn’t mean I didn’t continue to play lineup combinations in a few cash and GPP games. I always try to play daily, even if we’re using free or very cheap options, to stay tapped into the ebbs and flows of goalies and skaters production throughout each week.

Typical for a Tuesday, we’re back to a big mid-week NHL DFS slate, so we’re going to make a lot of big cash and GPP plays tonight. We have nine games in the Main slate schedule, so we have 18 teams to pick through. There are many great options tonight, but I’m only going to focus on the plays I like best for each lineup.

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 Tuesday, November 6th 2018:

Golden Knights at Maple Leafs 7pm ESPN+

Canadiens at Rangers 7pm

Stars at Blue Jackets 7pm ET

Devils at Senators 7:30pm ET

Canucks at Red Wings 7:30pm ET

Oilers at Lightning 7:30pm ET NBC Sports Network

Hurricanes at Blues 8pm ET

Ducks at Kings 10:30pm ET

Wild at Sharks 10:30pm ET

The Golden Knights and Maple Leafs offenses are tempting to tap. With the Leafs struggling on defense and between the pipes, we may try to sneak some value into our lineups from the Golden Knights, in Toronto.

The Stars have a favorable match up in Columbus, and the Devils and Senators are two offenses with great fantasy hockey value options. The Canucks are off to a better start this season, but we think we can get some offense from the Red Wings on home ice as well.

The most intriguing match up of the night is in Tampa, Florida where the Bolts are hosting Connor McDavid and the Oilers. Do we pay up for McDavid tonight? Against the Lightning defense and net-minding, I’m not as intrigued by that play. In fact, I’m more interested in the Blues hosting the Hurricanes tonight.

We may also tap several of our favorite value Sharks at winger for Tuesday. So, let’s start building our NHL DFS optimal lineup by looking at the top centers for this slate…

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Centers

With the right combinations, you can afford Connor McDavid ($9,400) at the center position tonight. McDavid has 12+ FanDuel points in each of his last eight straight games. He’s one of, if not the, best players in the NHL, so paying up for McDavid can be a no-brainer. However, it’s a strategy that can tank your lineup as well.

There are some decent value plays to tag along with Connor tonight. Jordan Staal ($5,000) has cooled off lately but still has a goal and assist in the last three games and is on the ice for around 20 minutes in a favorable match up against the Blues.

Chris Tierney ($4,600) and Travis Zajac ($4,600) are two more productive, but cheap for FanDuel, centers facing off against in other in Ottawa as the Senators host the Devils. But, I like several mid-salary range players at winger, and there’s a mini-stack I really want to tap in Saint Louis tonight, so I’m likely fading McDavid in most formats. At best, I may use McDavid in a random GPP play.

Before we jump into the mini-stack, the other mid-salary range player I like at center on Tuesday is Dylan Larkin ($6,600). We’ve played Larkin with some mild success earlier in the season, but over the last week Dylan has exploded. In just four games, Larkin has two goals and six assists, piled up three points and 45.2 FanDuel points against the Blue Jacks in Columbus on October 30th.

The Red Wings are on home ice Tuesday, and they’re hosting a Canucks team whose looked generally solid this season, but are vulnerable against a hot Larkin and the Red Wings offense right now. Larkin is beginning to look like the superstar the Red Wings desperate need this season.

Now, the start of my semi-expensive mini-stack. I’ve mostly faded the Blues offense this season because they’ve been spreading a couple of goals per game across the team and struggled to win out the gate.

But, a light seems to have gone on with the Blues top line. That line is lead by former Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly ($6,300). In the last seven straight games, O’Reilly has four goals and eight assists, at least a goal or assist in each of those games.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have cooled off significantly, losing four straight, and are facing a red-hot Blues offense. This seems like the perfect time to finally jump in and get some shares of the Blues top line.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

We didn’t save much salary at the center position, but we also didn’t pay up for a top play like McDavid. So we have modest salary left, and we’ll likely need to find some value with the winger position spots.

Before we get there, let’s complete our, somewhat, expensive mini-stack from the Blues top line. I talked about Vladimir Tarasenko ($7,800) often last season. The 26-year-old Russian native has been a top scoring winger on the Blues for a few years now.

For whatever reason, Tarasenko’s productivity has been mostly muted by the Blues offensive and defensive woes to start the season. But it now appears that O’Reilly and Tarasenko are gelling well together on their top line, and while Vladimir has already been consistently productive this year, Ryan’s increased production makes Tarasenko a better play now.

I considered the Bolts second line center Brayden Point ($6,800) tonight. The 22-year-old is leading the Lightning in goals, assists, and points (8, 9, and 17 respectively). But I need to get some value out of that line instead, so I’m going to Yanni Gourde ($5,600) instead.

The 26-year-old Bolts winger isn’t scoring as much as Point, but he’s getting some of the advantages of playing with Point, like his three assist night against the Devils last week. And Yanni has a goal in each of the last two games.

I’ve been on Timo Meier ($5,600) as a sleeper for Fantasy Hockey all season, and the fact that his salary is still well below $6K for FanDuel is mind-boggling to me. Meier is averaging nearly 19 FanDuel points-per-game, and is leading the Sharks with 11 goals and 16 points. The Sharks are a team stacked with offensive talent, so that’s impressive. I will play him each time he’s on the ice and this cheap.

Finally, our top value pick at the winger spot. This is one of the reasons I’m not paying up much at the center position. I usually like to get at least one sub-$4K guy, but I can’t pass up on Alex Tuch ($4,800) and I love each of the other four winger picks.

Tuch didn’t joining the 2018-2019 season until October 24th, so he’s gradually emerging onto the fantasy hockey radar for most players. Alex has three goals and two assists in his last five games and has an opportunity to pile up more points in Toronto with around 18 minutes of ice time tonight.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

This is another position where I struggled to grab the top plays at a position. I’ve been playing Brent Burns ($7,100) more often as he’s emerging back into his dominating self, although more muted than prior seasons.

Burnsy is still a solid play on home ice tonight, but I don’t love the match up against the Wild, so it seems like a waist of money to pay so much for a result we could potentially get with other picks. The only other more expensive defensive pick I’d consider is Morgan Rielly ($5,900), who’s still very undervalued in DFS NHL.

I still may go with Rielly in some lineups, but my favorite two picks at defense, especially when considering value, are Thomas Chabot ($4,600) and Sami Vatanen ($4,600).

If you’ve been following this column, you’re probably a little tired of hearing me talk about Chabot. But, believe it or not, Chabot is leading the Senators with 14 assists and 17 points and Maxime Lajoie ($4,300) leads the team with five goals. Yes, that’s right…the Sens top scorers are each on defensive lines. Keep playing that value for DFS NHL!

I’ve mentioned Sami a few times, but road his recent scoring streak over the last week without being able to post enough columns about him. Unfortunately, Vantanen has cooled off a little bit, getting only five shots on goal in the last two games.

But last night in Pittsburgh, Sami still had 9.6 FanDuel points thanks to an additional four blocked shots, a stat he also piles up from time to time. I’m not expecting more than a low double-digit DFS NHL point play here from Vantanen, but for this price I’ll take that.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

If you can ever afford him, always pay up for Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,400) when he’s available and fits into your lineup. I like Vas tonight on home ice against the Lightning, but I don’t like how much he limits the rest of my picks.

Instead, I’m going to pay down for another likely shot at 20+ FanDuel points with either Ben Bishop ($8,800) or John Gibson ($8,600). Frankly, Gibson seems like a lock. Yes, the Ducks have struggled at times this season and are on the road. But you can’t ignore how horrendous the Kings have been this season.

So, Gibson is probably the best odds of getting the 12 points for a win and additional points for a potential shutout. However, my big concern about playing John is the low volume of shots I’m expecting from the Kings, muting his point potential due to the lack of saves.

That’s why I’d rather take a chance with Bishop on road ice against the Blue Jackets in Columbus, OH. The Blue Jackets have scored more than two goals in only two of their last four games and have lost three of their last four. I expect more shots on goal from the Blue Jackets tonight and it helps that Bobrovsky is struggling right now.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays November 6th 2018 Summary

We may pay up for some top picks at center like McDavid, but I’m more likely to use higher mid-salary range picks like Larkin with O’Reilly at the position. The Ryan pick at center is a great opportunity to stack most of the Blues points with Tarasenko also in my lineup at winger.

My lineup is already getting pricey, so I’m going to get some mid-salary range value from the Bolts second line winger Gourde, along with the continuously underrated Meier for the Sharks. And the Golden Knights Tuch continues to fly under the radar for many DFS NHL players, so far, this season.

On defense, I’m playing the Sens leading scorer Chabot with a reasonable salary, and adding a steady near double-digit points from the Devils Vatanen as well. Finally, at goalie I’m playing either Gibson or Bishop, but Ben tilts the scales with a likely higher save total.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Tuesday, November 6th 2018:

C       Dylan Larkin ($6,600)

C       Ryan O’Reilly ($6,300)

W     Vladimir Tarasenko ($7,800)

W     Yanni Gourde ($5,600)

W     Timo Meier ($5,600)

W     Alex Tuch ($4,800)

D      Thomas Chabot ($4,600)

D      Sami Vatanen ($4,600)

G      Ben Bishop ($8,800)

Remaining Salary: $300

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!