Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for November 26

Welcome to NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays. We’re a fantasy hockey column focused on top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Monday, November 26th 2018.

A few of our fantasy hockey recommendations on Saturday fell short. But Patrik Laine still made it quite easy to get about a 3X return on our investments. For some reason, Laine’s ownership was around 5% to 6% in both Cash and GPP plays. That was surprising, considering the match up and his current hot streak.

Fortunately, Laine rewarded us with 70.1 FanDuel NHL points, for the investment. In total, Patrik had fives shots and all five shots hit the net for a goal. One of those goals was during a power play, and he added another 1.6 point with a blocked shot.

Andrew Shaw provided a power play helper and added another 13.3 points with a cheap $3,800 salary. Shaw continues to be a solid value play on the 2nd line of the Canadiens offense. Cam Atkinson, who we may discuss later for Monday night, added yet another goal on six shots and 23.2 points to our lineup.

Meanwhile, Crosby had two assists and a shot on goal for 17.6 points and we ultimately got word that Greiss was starting in net for the Islander. Greiss had 26 saves against the Hurricanes and got the 12 points for the 4-1 over the Canes on home ice. The additional 28.8 points locked us in for cash in Cash games.

But, while we had no goose-eggs, we did have four picks give us an underwhelming 3.2 points. Hopefully we can avoid that for the Main slate on Monday night.

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 Monday, November 26th 2018:

Bruins at Maple Leafs 7pm ET ESPN+

Devils at Panthers 7pm ET

Capitals at Islanders 7pm ET

Senators at Rangers 7pm ET

Blue Jackets at Red Wings 7:30pm ET

While the Bruins and Maple Leafs have offensive, and defensive, players we continue to target for NHL DFS optimal lineups, neither is on our radar for Monday. There are better match ups. But, if you’re wondering which to attack because you want to get a piece of the game, I’d lean toward the Leafs.

The Panthers are on home ice in Florida and their offense often has great value options. The Capitals and Islanders could be a fairly high-scoring game, so we want to get in on that action, and we continue to see great value from the young Senators lineup.

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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

When you look at the list of centers, by salary, one of the first things you’ll notice is three of the top six options are all either listed as ‘out’ for Monday or are currently on the IR. That narrows top plays down to John Tavares ($8,500), Nicklas Backstrom ($7,500), and Mike Zibanejad ($7,200).

Of that group, I like Backstrom the most, but I’d prefer to get better value from a hot Matt Duchene ($6,600). In the last five games, Matt has at least two points in four of those five games. In total he has four goals and six assists, getting as much as two goals and one assist in two of the five games.

Another option I like at this price is Mathew Barzal ($6,100). Like Duchene, Barzal is consistently providing goals or assists for double-digit points. The difference is that Duchene is giving us more per game, and has a higher ceiling. But I like Barzal’s odds of scoring or provided an assist or two agaginst the Capitals on Monday.

Because I’m likely going to spend big with a couple of winger picks, most of my defense, and the goalie position, I’m looking for value with my second center pick.

Of the value group, there are a few of peak my interest, like Travis Zajac ($4,900), Boone Jenner ($4,800), and Colin White ($3,700). Of that group, Jenner is most likely to get us additional double-digit points. White might be a better value, but Boone is more of a lock for more points.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

On Saturday, while Patrik Laine took the spot light, Cam Atkinson ($7,200) just kept doing what he keeps doing lately…scoring. Heading into the Saturday game, Cam had at least one goal in six straight games and eight total.

Well, Atkinson scored again against the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Tonight, he likely continues his streak in Detroit and I’m going to have him in my lineup again. If you’re concerned about Cam eventually hitting a wall, Evegnii Dadonov ($6,900) and Mark Stone ($6,800) are decent plays at a similar salary point.

Although, I’d rather have Mike Hoffman ($6,200) in my lineup than Dadonov. In fact, I’ll probably play Hoffman with either Atkinson or Dadonov. Why? Well, the former Senators winger has been red-hot since the start of the season and the Panthers have continued to play him on the top line.

Considering he has a goal or assist in 18 of the last 19 games, that seems like a solid management decision of the Panthers.

We’ve spent decent money with the first two winger picks, one of our centers was fairly expensive, and I’m going to spend pretty big at the defensive spot. I also likely will spend more at the goalie position.

So for my next two picks at winger, I want to find some value. I realize a lot of hockey fans aren’t a fan of Tom Wilson‘s ($5,000) play, but from a DFS NHL perspective, the guy has been money lately. In the last five games, Wilson has at least one point, with three goals and five assists. In fact, he’s nearly providing two points per game.

Wilson may not seem like a value play, but $5K for a very likely 15+ point play is a decent return. For a better return, I like Anthony Beauvillier ($3,900) in the same game. On November 15th, Anthony had a hat trick against the Rangers.

Since then, he’s added an additional two goals and assist. Now, Beauvillier is likely playing on the Isles top line and getting close to 20 minutes per game. For this price, that is a steal! Alright, let’s look at a few top picks on defense…

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

I’ve already dropped a few hints that I’m spending a lot of Fantasy Hockey FanDuel money at the defense position on Monday. Well, with John Carlson ($6,900) and Morgan Rielly ($6,600) on the ice tonight, I have to play at least one of them. In order to play both, I’d likely have to drop my second winger pick down a few pegs.

So the other option is to play one and find a better value with the second pick. Before we get there, who’s the better pick between Carlson and Rielly, right?

Well, I’m comfortable playing Rielly pretty much any night, so picking Morgan is always a decent play. But Rielly has been quieter lately. Meanwhile, John is coming off a three assist night against the Rangers, and has six assists in the last five games. So, I’d rather pay up for Carlson.

With that solved, who’s are second pick at defense? Well, you could go with Kieth Yandle ($5,500). He’s getting shots on goal, blocking shots and is heavily involved in the offense, also adding assists and goals.

But, again, I can’t ignore Thomas Chabot ($5,300). The young defensive-man continue to be one of the top scorers in the NHL, with another goal and four assists in the last four games. He’s spending over 25 of each game time on the ice, and is adding shots and blocked shots for more points. I mean, we’re getting a 17+ FanDuel NHL point average for under $5.5K, still.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Sometimes finding a goalie with a smaller slate like Monday night can be difficult. However, I didn’t find it very hard for this slate. Frederik Andersen ($8,900) and Jaroslav Halak ($8,700) are typically great options when starting. But, they’re facing each other and the outcome is foggy, so I’m not touching either.

Braden Holtby ($8,600) isn’t a bad play against the Islanders, but he’s been consistent this season and the Islanders are an overall good hockey team right now. Still, Holtby has been fairly hot in the last two weeks. Although, there are better options.

As I said on Saturday, I like Thomas Greiss ($8,100) lately but…he’s playing against Holtby and the outcome is, again, murky. Noticing a trend yet?

In my mind, Henrik Lundqvist ($8,000) and Craig Anderson ($7,800) cancel each other out as well. And I don’t love how Keith Kinkaid ($7,800) and James Reimer ($7,300) have looked lately. In fact, if you think about our picks so far, we shouldn’t really target any of these goalies.

That leaves us with Sergei Bobrovsky ($8,800) versus Jimmy Howard ($8,500). I don’t love the match up Howard has, even on home ice, with guys like Cam Atkinson red-hot on the ice. I do love the match up ‘Bob’ has against the Red Wings.

Sergei just beat a very good, and very hot, Maple Leafs offense three days ago, after taking a tough three goal loss in Toronto earlier. I think that’s a pretty good outcome against a good team back-to-back. Before that, Bobrovsky had only given up more than one goal in a game, once in six games. This is a goalie you want to own in Fantasy Hockey right now.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays November 26th 2018 Summary

We finally narrowed our goaltender options down to Bobrovsky, although there are some other solid options assuming you think they have a winning advantage. But Bob should give us the least amount of risk and a solid point return.

From there, I’m surrounding Bobrovsky with two great defensive picks. I’m grabbing either Carlson or Rielly as the top D-man pick, and I’m adding a super cheap Chabot tot he lineup as well. I love Atkinson again at the winger spot, and I’m adding Hoffman, Wilson, and Beauvillier for great value and solid return.

There aren’t many top center pick options, but Matt Duchene has been on fire all season and I want a piece of that on Monday night. Fortunately, the Blue Jackets give me a decent value pick by adding Jenner to the second center slot.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Monday, November 26th 2018:

C       Matt Duchene ($6,600)

C       Boone Jenner ($4,800)

W     Cam Atkinson ($7,200)

W     Mike Hoffman ($6,200)

W     Tom Wilson ($5,000)

W     Anthony Beauvillier ($3,900)

D      John Carlson ($6,900)

D      Thomas Chabot ($5,300)

G      Sergei Bobrovsky ($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!