Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for December 23

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 Sunday, December 23rd 2018.

With the day-job work finally dying down for the month and time off for the holidays, that also means it’s time to focus on some fantasy hockey for the last DFS NHL play of the week before the league takes a few days off over Christmas.

If you’re playing the All-Day slate, there are eight total NHL games on Sunday, but only six for the Main slate. After today, NHL teams take Monday through Wednesday off, returning for a massive 13 game slate on Thursday, followed by a short three game slate on Friday. I’ll likely write an article for both of those days as well.

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 Sunday, December 23rd 2018:

Flyers at Rangers 7pm ET NHL Network

Panthers at Blackhawks 7pm ET ESPN+

Red Wings at Maple Leafs 7:30pm ET

Islanders at Stars 8pm ET

Kings at Golden Knights 8pm ET

Coyotes at Sharks 8pm ET

This slate is exciting. The Flyers are trying to emerge from a head coach firing, playing their rival Rangers in New York tonight. The Panthers are in Chicago facing an inconsistent Blackhawks team, and the Maple Leafs are hosting the Red Wings in what could be a blowout win for the Leafs.

But the Leafs are expensive for DFS NHL FanDuel, so we’ll likely need to find some value in lineups from the Stars or Golden Knights, both hosting games on Sunday night. The Sharks are also an attractive option hosting the Coyotes.

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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

If you can afford him, and yes he’ll likely be chalky, Auston Matthews ($8,500) is once again a great play for the Maple Leafs. He was quiet against the Rangers and has been less consistent lately, but Matthews has a great home ice match up against the Red Wings on Sunday night.

While Auston doesn’t have points in three of the last six games, he still somehow has three goals and four assists in that time, thanks mostly to a two goal and two assist onslaught of the Panthers in just 17 minutes of ice time three days ago.

But, we’re seeing greater consistency from John Tavares ($8,100) over the last couple of works, totaling five goals and three assists over the last six games. Tavares only game missing a point in that span was against the Lightning, and he still has six shots for 9.6 FanDuel NHL points.

Not only has John been more consistent lately, but he’s also $400 cheaper than Matthews. It’s possible this could make Tavares more chalky compared to Matthews, but it’s also likely most winning lineups on Sunday night will have one of these two guys in them. Between the two, I like the value play more from Tavares.

Speaking of consistency and value, Dylan Larkin ($6,700) continues to be a great play as a mid-$6K center who’s constantly providing 15 to 20 FanDuel NHL points.

The match up in Toronto doesn’t worry me. While the Leafs are winning a lot of hockey games, they’re also giving up too many shots, and sometimes too many goals, while doing it. It’s mostly their offense winning games, so Larkin is a sneaky play for Sunday.

Finally, my favorite value play at center is Kevin Hayes ($5,600) while hosting the Rangers against rival Flyers in New York Sunday night. Honestly, of the four guys we’re mentioning for this position, Hayes is currently the hottest. In the last six games, Hayes has five goals and seven assists. That’s quite a tear, and the Flyers are vulnerable.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Before we dive through the winger list looking for value plays to make sure we can afford Tavares or Matthews, we need to address an obvious mini-stack for the Maple Leafs. Mitch Marner ($8,000) is also very expensive, but the guy has six goals in the last four games, one was a power play goal, and three assists.

Assuming Hayes stays hot, a Tavares and Marner mini-stack, along with Hayes, could yield around 50 to 60 FanDuel NHL points. That would put us in a tremendous position if we can find some decent double-digit value plays, along with a winning goalie.

Fortunately, the Golden Knights, once again, offer awesome value picks at the winger position. At some point soon, this value will be gone, assuming Alex Tuch ($5,300) and Brandon Pirri ($3,000) continue to emerge as offensive targets for fantasy hockey.

Playing on the top regular and power play lines for Vegas, Alex has two goals and two assists in the last five games. Tuch is piling up around 15+ minutes each games, getting several shots on goal, and can pile up as many as five blocked shots, as he did against the Canadiens yesterday.

Pirri’s salary is somewhat unexplainable. Maybe this is an early fantasy hockey Christmas present from FanDuel? I don’t know. But I do know if you have a Golden Knights second-liner who scored three goals in the last two games costing you only $3K, you play the dude!

And, thanks to all of that value, even with someone like Tavares and Marner in our lineups, we can still afford a mid-salary range big play like one of our favorite Sharks, Timo Meier ($6,000).

He’s still playing on the second power play line, but lately the Sharks have had Meier on their first line, inflating his minutes to closer to 20 per game. We know Timo can go on goal-scoring tears, so hopefully he has one of those on home ice against the Coyotes on Sunday night.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Once again, the defense position tempts you to try Erik Karlsson ($7,200) and/or Brent Burns ($6,800). Karlsson is a consistent point machine and Burns can explode during a game landing you 30 to 40 FanDuel NHL points.

But, Burns has been inconsistent this season, and frankly you can get as much or more consistent points from other plays at defense versus having to pay so much FanDuel NHL salary for Karlsson. So, once again…I’m fading both of them.

Instead, I’d rather stick with the Maple Leafs stacking theme and go with one of our favorite top defenders, Morgan Rielly ($6,500).

Like Karlsson, Rielly can also be a consistent points machine and like Brent Morgan can also pile up monster points in just one game. In fact, over the last two home games, Rielly is averaging over 30 FanDual NHL points per game!

The probably with playing Rielly along with Marner and Tavares or Matthews is math. That’s an expensive three-man stack.

Fortunately, Erik Gustafsson ($4,400) makes it more comfortable paying up for those guys. Playing on the Blackhawks top lines, Gustafsson has been on a tear lately, which isn’t too surprising considering the Hawks offense, in general, has looked better at times lately.

Averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game, Erik has three goals and three assists in the last six games. Even better, two of those goals were during power play opportunities and he’s also piling up nearly three blocked shots per game. I love the value Gustafsson gives us on home ice against the Panthers Sunday.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

At least early on Sunday, the goalie position is a little tricky. Many of the goalie options have played several games over the last couple of days. So without knowing who will start on Sunday night, with several likely getting some time off before the Christmas break, I’m struggling to figure out not only who I like the most, but who’s actually going to play.

One certain start is Anton Khudobin ($8,400) on home ice in Dallas against the Islanders. Frankly, it’s not a bad play as Khudobin has been solid filling in for Ben Bishop ($8,600) at times this season. I just don’t love the match up against the Islanders.

We know the Maple Leafs are set up well to win against the Red Wings in Toronto on Sunday. Although, even if the Leafs offense plays well, I’m still not very confident the Red Wings fail to pull off an upset in Toronto. The Leafs allow a LOT of shots on their goaltenders and if someone like Larkin gets hot, that will be an expensive disappointment at goalie.

Instead, the goalie options I continue to come back to are either Aaron Dell ($8,100) or Martin Jones ($8,000). The Sharks are playing very well at home this season and they’re hosting a team who’s struggling on the road.

I’m not sure who’s starting, but the early indication is that it’s likely Jones. Fortunately, there is only a $100 difference between the two, so if you can afford either, pick one and keep your eye on who’s starting. I’ll be sure to tweet it out as soon as I see it.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays December 23rd 2018 Summary

The Leafs are a top play on Sunday, so we’re going to try to play Matthews or Tavares in all of our lineups. We’ll also stack Marner at winger and Rielly at defense. The Leafs hopefully score a bunch of goals on Sunday, and all three, or four, of those guys should be heavily involved.

But, they’re an expensive unit to pay up for DFS NHL FanDuel. So, we need to find some value too. Dylan Larkin is tempting at center, but Hayes has been about just as productive and you save roughly $1K with his pick instead.

Pirri is a slam-dunk value at winger, and paired with Tuch we’re getting a good chuck of ice time from the Golden Knights top two lines in a favorable match up. Their value also makes it easy for us to play one of our favorite Sharks wingers, Meier.

Fortunately, Gustafsson also gives us a ton of value at the defense position, leaving us with plenty of salary to play either Martin or Dell against the Coyotes on home ice.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Sunday, December 23rd 2018:

C       John Tavares ($8,100)

C       Kevin Hayes ($5,600)

W     Mitch Marner ($8,000)

W     Timo Meier ($6,000)

W     Alex Tuch ($5,300)

W     Brandon Pirri ($3,000)

D      Morgan Rielly ($6,500)

D      Erik Gustafsson ($4,400)

G      Martin Jones ($8,000) / Aaron Dell ($8,100)

Remaining Salary: $100 / $0

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!