Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for December 15

Welcome back to the NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays column. This is a fantasy hockey column focused on top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Saturday, December 15th 2018.

I didn’t have a fantasy hockey article posted for Friday night’s DFS NHL FanDuel Main slate. There wasn’t enough time for me to get it posted, but I did play the slate. Hopefully you didn’t play the slate, as it was a frustrating one!

The lineup I played just barely missed to payout in cash and GPP, but only a point or less in many cases. Probably the biggest mistake made was playing Brossoit again against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Yes, Brossoit and the Jets got the win, and yes, 27.2 FanDuel NHL points on a $7,700 salary is a solid return. However, there were better goalie plays on Friday, and a slightly better result would’ve had a better cash yield.

Also, while Pastrnak and Landeskog gave me a solid 33+ point return, I was expecting at least 40+ points given the $15,200 total salary I had to give up to get there. But, there were some great plays from picks like Dylan Larkin, Svechnikov as a value winger, and Thomas Chabot and Nurse at defense.

For the Saturday night Main slate, my goal is to land several of the same picks I used last night, but with greater upside returned from the big salary plays. I’m also digging around for a big return at goalie, hopefully a sneaky one.

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, December 15th 2018:

Senators at Canadiens 7pm ET

Maple Leafs at Panthers 7pm ET

Red Wings at Islanders 7pm ET

Kings at Penguins 7pm ET NHL Network

Sabres at Capitals 7pm ET ESPN+

Ducks at Blue Jackets 7pm ET

Devils at Predators 8pm ET

Stars at Avalanche 9pm ET

Flyers at Canucks 10pm ET ESPN+

The Flyers are on the tail-end of a long Canadian road trip. So playing some Canucks offense is likely a good value play on Saturday night. The Flyers have played inconsistent during this road trip and continue to struggle in goal.

The Penguins have a great home match up against the Kings, in Pittsburgh, and the Caps offense is also at home. The Caps are appealing, as their offense is heating up again and they are starting to look like real defending Stanley Cup champions. We’ll have to consider some plays there as well.

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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

At the start of the lineup build, I was targeting clearing aside enough salary to play someone like Nathan MacKinnon ($8,800) or Auston Matthews ($8,400). Both MacKinnon and Matthews have the type of match up on Saturday that could set them up for a solid 30 to 40 FanDuel NHL point night.

But, there are a few other center options that could yield around the same return and are significantly cheaper. And once we get to the winger and defense positions, you realize saving the money for additional big plays there could be worth it.

One of those cheaper big plays is Jack Eichel ($7,800), but I don’t love the match up in Washington, D.C. against a hot Capitals team. Speaking of that game, Nicklas Backstrom ($7,600) and Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,400) are solid plays as well.

But, my favorite play is one I used last night, Dylan Larkin ($6,700) against the Islanders in New York. We’ve talked about Larkin several times over the last week, and his play continues to be outstanding.

Not only does Larkin have four goals and five assists in the last six games, but he’s slapping six to eight shots on goal per game, and has even piled up five blocked shot during that time. So Dylan has established a 20 FanDuel NHL point floor with a higher 30+ ceiling. We’re going to continue to ride the hot Larkin streak.

For the second center pick, you could go one of two ways from the same team. As we mentioned earlier, the Flyers are vulnerable on the tail-end of a long Canadian road trip. Tonight, they’re in Vancouver, and either Bo Horvat ($5,500) manning the Canucks top line or Elias Pettersson ($6,200) are great plays.

I’ve been high on Pettersson all season, as he’s an exciting young fantasy hockey option, but Horvat’s value is more intriguing to me. We’re saving $700 in salary while likely still getting 15 to 25 points.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Before we get into the nitty-gritty (not the mascot) of the value in the winger position, I want to address the elephant in the room. After a player does what Alex Ovechkin ($9,000) has done over the last two games, I usually fade them. Three consecutive hat tricks is unlikely.

But, the six goals over the last two games aside, Ovi also has nine goals in the last five games. In fact, Alex hasn’t had a point-less game since November 14th. And even in that game, he had nine shots and still gave you 14.4 FanDuel NHL points.

On home ice against the Sabres, a team who gave up six goals recently to the Flyers, Ovi is bound to be heavily involved, again, in a big offensive night for the Capitals. In fact, I’m likely going to grab a few Caps for Saturday night.

Speaking of Caps, yes, Tom Wilson ($5,300) is a smart play again Saturday. While Wilson went point-less against the Golden Knights last Tuesday, literally no FanDuel NHL points this time, he followed that up with three shots on goal, and a goal, against the Hurricanes last night.

Regardless of how you feel about Wilson, the guy is playing incredible hockey this season and his DFS NHL value is too hard to pass up.

To afford a lot of these expensive picks, there are two value plays I love. One you’ve seen a lot recently, it’s Andrew Shaw ($3,800). The kid has at least one point in each of the last six games, two goals and four assists.

Shaw continues to be on the ice for around 17 minutes per game, playing on the Habs top line. And the home ice match up against the Senators is another great time to plug him into your lineup.

The other value play I love also had a hat-trick recently. Ondrej Kase ($4,400) had three goals against the Stars on Wednesday, and has four goals and two assists in the last two games. Kase is playing on the Ducks top line, is now averaging around 15 minutes of ice time a game, and is hot on offense. For this salary, the return is unavoidable.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

For the defensive position, I’ve played around with a lot of great picks. Fortunately, there are tons of options again on Saturday. John Carlson ($6,700) is my favorite play, for the same reasons I like Ovi and Wilson.

The Caps are red-hot right now and Carlson has been a big part of the Caps offense all season, while also getting blocked shots for additional points.

But we’ve also talked a lot about Seth Jones ($5,700) lately, because he’s been playing on a Carlson-type level over the last three weeks. Jones continues to be involved in scoring, also gets several shots on goal, and has nine blocked shots in the last three games.

For a second defensive pick, I like either Thomas Chabot ($5,300) or Rasmus Ristolainen ($5,200). Between the two, Chabot is more of a slam dunk.

However, Ristolainen has also been on fire lately, even getting double-digit points, regularly, thanks to a ton of shots on goal plus additional blocked shots. Rasmus has at least three-plus blocked shots in four of the last five games. Meanwhile, Chabot continues to pile up nearly 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

The goalie position is where I spent most of my time trying to figure out who to play Saturday night. Frederik Andersen ($9,300) is my favorite play in Florida against the Panthers tonight, but I don’t like how much he limits your salary in the other positions.

If you’ve been following this column, you know I always like Pekka Rinne ($9,000), and he’s hosting the Devils in Nashville Saturday night. But, for the same reason as Andersen, I’m likely finding a cheaper goalie option Saturday.

While looking for a better value, I keep going back and forth between Matt Murray ($8,000) and Jacob Markstrom ($7,500).

Both have had ups and downs this season, and Matt Murray is literally just coming off the IR on Saturday.

Markstrom is attractive because the Flyers are struggling on this road trip, but they’re still able to score high amounts of goals, even in a loss. And unfortunately, they score those goals on a low shot volume. That really hurts Markstrom’s value.

The Kings are firing a lot of shots on goal, but they’re not winning games. That makes Murray attractive to me. I know Matt struggled before leaving the ice due to an injury, but if healthy on Saturday night, he’s in a fantastic match up to pile up over 30 FanDuel NHL points for us.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays December 15th 2018 Summary

At goalie, we’re going with either Markstrom or Murray. Either is likely a great play with high odds for a win. Between the two, I like Murray the most. On defense, I like Carlson or Jones the most, and Chabot or Ristolainen as a second pick.

At the center position, Dylan Larkin is my favorite play due to his likely point return and salary. You have lots of other pricey options, but given all the great picks offered today, that doesn’t seem like the best bet. For a second pick at center, I love either Horvat or Pettersson against the Flyers Saturday.

At the winger spot, I’m going with a mini-Caps stack of Ovechkin and Wilson. Ovi isn’t hard to afford, because we have great value plays from the Habs Shaw and the Ducks Kase for the final two winger picks.

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

C       Dylan Larkin ($6,700)

C       Bo Horvat ($5,500)

W     Alex Ovechkin ($9,000)

W     Tom Wilson ($5,300)

W     Ondrej Kase ($4,400)

W     Andrew Shaw ($3,800)

D      John Carlson ($6,700)

D      Thomas Chabot ($5,300)

G      Matt Murray ($8,000)

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!