Welcome to NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays. This is a fantasy hockey column focused on top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Saturday, February 2nd 2019.
The All-Star break ended for the NHL early this week, and the following schedule was a weird one for fantasy hockey. Until Friday night, most of the league sat on the sidelines as a handful of the same teams rotated through games against each other.
But as of Friday night, we’re now back to a more robust fantasy hockey schedule. There are two games starting at 1pm and 2pm eastern, followed by eleven games for the 7pm eastern ‘Main’ FanDuel NHL slate. That makes for 26 teams in the all day slate, or 22 teams for the Main slate.
We’re going to focus on the Main slate for Saturday, with so many great options to pick through, especially value plays.
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, February 2nd 2019:
Penguins at Maple Leafs 7pm ET ESPN+
Red Wings at Senators 7pm ET
Golden Knights at Panthers 7pm ET
Kings at Islanders 7pm ET
Blues at Blue Jackets 7pm ET
Ducks at Jets 7pm ET
Lightning at Rangers 8pm ET NBC
Stars at Predators 8pm ET
Blackhawks at Wild 8pm ET NBC
Canucks at Avalanche 10pm ET
Coyotes at Sharks 10:30pm ET ESPN+
One trend many DFS NHL optimal lineup generators are not picking up lately is the emerging Blackhawks and Flyers offenses. There also are some value nuggets buried in many of the lineups over the last couple of weeks.
The Flyers are in Saturday’s early slate, and if you’re playing that slate you should strongly consider the value from that lineup. For the Main slate, we’re likely going to grab a few Blackhawks, but I also like some Rangers value at home, Canucks, Panthers, and Golden Knights. Notice a theme?
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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’re going to spend a lot for a top play at center, Steven Stamkos ($8,700) and Brayden Point ($8,100) are each a good top play in New York against the Rangers. And even though the Penguins are a tough team for the Maple Leafs to play on home ice right now, Auston Matthews ($7,900) has been a more consistent fantasy hockey contributor lately.
However, I’d prefer not to pay that much as a top center pick. I don’t love the value options at goalie today, and I am grabbing a red-hot super expensive winger, which we’ll get to soon. For that reason, I’d rather look at cheaper top plays, mid-salary range guys, and value options for all four winger picks.
Depending on what you can get for the second center pick, you could likely still afford Mark Scheifele ($7,800) or Jonathan Toews ($7,500). Scheifele is the more obvious play, a very good Jets top line on home ice against a Ducks team struggling over the last two months.
Toews seems like more of a risk. The Blackhawks travel to Minnesota to play, what has been early in the season, a tough Wild hockey team. But the Wild have played surprisingly poor defense over the last two weeks and the Blackhawks offense is finally clicking. Toews ownership will be lower as well, as there are too many attractive names on Saturday’s main slate list for center.
Still, I may go even cheaper. Mostly because I like Bo Horvat ($5,700) against the Avalanche, in Colorado. For starters, Nathan MacKinnon ($8,300) may not be on the ice tonight, making Horvat a serious fantasy hockey upgrade.
But even if MacKinnon is on the ice, Horvat is nearly a lock for eight to ten points on a standard night, with a very solid shot at 15 to 25 points. Considering his salary, that’s not a bad return, and that leaves us with plenty of cash to grab either a Scheifele or Toews, or a slightly cheaper top center pick.
Among the slightly cheaper center picks, I like Dylan Larkin ($6,900) and Ryan O’Reilly ($6,900) the most. O’Reilly has been a major bright spot on an otherwise terrible offense for the Blues this season. Larkin was in most winning GPP lineups friday night, with 20.5 FanDuel NHL points. Larkin now has four goals in the last four games, and four assists in the last six games.
Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers
My top play for Saturday’s FanDuel NHL Main slate is no secret. I’ve been playing Patrick Kane ($8,900) every time he’s on the ice for the past three weeks. Kane started to get hot in early January, and remained so throughout the month.
While the Blackhawks were dealing with new coaching and a team identity, Patrick was piling up seven goals in ten games, along with 14 assists or over one assist per game. Kane had a point in every game in January, except for the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.
So, how did Kaner open February, last night, against the Sabres in Buffalo. Well, not too surprisingly, the Buffalo native had an explosive game to start the month. With 21 minutes of ice time, Patrick had two goals and two assists, for four points, on top of just four shots. Most winning lines-ups, including mine, had Kane in there with 46.4 FanDuel NHL points.
So, obviously, I’m playing Kane against for Saturday’s main slate.
Kane may seem almost too expensive, but he’s worth paying up for the points, and the ownership is likely chalk, even with so many skaters on the ice. Also, we fortunately have plenty of mid-salary range value plays too look at, making defense and goalie still easy to pick.
My two favorite mid-salary range plays at winger are Mats Zuccarello ($5,900) and Alex Tuch ($5,900). Tuch has essentially been a DFS NHL value for FanDuel most of this season. He’s consistently cheap, while also consistently a major part of the Golden Knights’ offense.
Even when he’s not providing goals or assists, Tuch shoots the puck so much that he’ll give you at least eight to ten points, and he’s an a solid shot at nearly 30 points when he’s involved in scoring for Vegas.
Zuccarello was a game time decision on Thursday. Fortunately, I took the chance of playing him and he gave me three assists for 29.3 FanDuel NHL points. He added that to the already five assists and one goal in the previous three games. In fact, in his last six games, Zucs has four goals and eight assists. He’s consistently a monster fantasy hockey option lately.
Finally, also on the ice with Tuch, but on the other bench, will be Frank Vatrano ($4,400). If you’ve been following this column, you know we consistently look at Vatrano over the last month as a great value play.
That hasn’t changed. Now playing on Panthers top line, Vatrano has piled up four goals and three assists in the last six games. He looks like a great play again on Saturday, playing on home ice against Tuch and the Golden Knights, in Florida.
Alright, let’s finally look at a few top picks on defense…
Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders
With the defense position, I’ve been bouncing around between grabbing a top pick and value play versus picking two mid-salary range guys. Given we’re playing Kane in our top winger spot, and I don’t plan on finding too much value in the goalie position, I likely need to fade a top defensive pick like Brent Burns ($7,500), Erik Karlsson ($7,200), or Kris Letang ($6,800).
But, if you’re not playing Kane or you’re taking a chance with cheaper value picks, Burns and Letang are my favorite picks. They should produce about the same amount of points, making Letang the better value play.
But, frankly, I think there are significantly cheaper defensive picks which are as good or better than most of the more expensive options. Of that group, Brent Seabrook ($4,300) and Alexander Edler ($4,300) each seem like bargains for Saturday’s Main slate.
Remember, the Blackhawks offense has been playing better lately. And Seabrook is on the ice for a large amount of each Hawks game. As a result, he has a goal and three assists in the last five games, on top of several shots added to several blocked shots.
That makes Brent a decent 15 to 20 point play on a very reasonable salary. Edler is in a similar position for the Canucks, but he’s piling up more blocked shots, almost four per game lately, thanks to the need to play great defense due to a high volume of shots on goal against the Canucks.
Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies
The fact that so many of Saturday’s teams played on Friday night makes picking a goalie, at least early on Saturday while writing this post, very difficult. It’s hard to tell if these teams will go with the same hot-hand, give Friday’s starting goalies another shot, or go with a backup.
Some teams have obvious solutions. Marc-Andre Fleury ($9,100) has had a long break since the All-Star game and should be in net for the Golden Knights against the Panthers in Florida. Fleury has been playing incredible hockey lately, but I don’t love goalies against the Panthers offense in Florida.
Jonathan Quick ($8,200) had been playing better hockey in January, but he’s given up eight goals in his last two starts and has a tough assignment against the Islanders in New York on Saturday. In that case, I’d rather go with Robin Lehner ($8,600), assuming he starts, against a vulnerable Kings team on home ice for Lehner.
For the same salary, I also love Connor Hellebuyck ($8,600). The Jets have struggled on their recent road trip, but they are back on home ice against a Ducks team who has very few wins over the last month.
The problem is, we don’t know if the Jets will go with Hellebuyck or Laurent Brossoit ($8,400). Regardless, either is among my top five goalie plays for Saturday’s Main slate, and Brossoit obviously gives you a little more value.
It’s a dicey play, but a better value option with a high potential return is Darcy Kuemper ($7,700) against the Sharks in San Jose. I hate playing goalies against the Sharks on the road, but Kuemper has been a fantastic fantasy hockey play for all of January. He could be a cheap 20+ FanDuel NHL point play again on Saturday.
Of this group, I like Lehner or either Hellebuyck or Brossoit.
Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays February 2nd 2019 Summary
At the center position, you could spend big with Stamkos, Point, or Matthews for Saturday’s Main slate, but I’d prefer to grab Scheifele or Toews if I’m going to spend that much for a top center pick. I’d prefer to get Larkin or O’Reilly as a top center pick, getting likely about the same amount of points for a cheaper salary, along with Horvat as the center center pick.
For the wingers, I’m going to plan a very expensive Kane at the top of my winger list. Patrick is the chalk play of the day and he’s worth it. Fortunately, guys like Zuccarello, Tuch, and Vatrano make paying up for Kane fairly easy while also getting an additional 60 FanDuel NHL points.
For defense, Brunsy, Karlsson, or Letang are attractive. Of that top three, I like Letang and Burns the most. But, I’d rather save a ton of salary and get Seabrook and Edler instead. And between the pipes, I’m going with either Lehner, Hellebuyck, or Brossoit.
With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Saturday, February 2nd 2019:
C Dylan Larkin ($6,900)
C Bo Horvat ($5,700)
W Patrick Kane ($8,900)
W Mats Zuccarello ($5,900)
W Alex Tuch ($5,900)
W Frank Vatrano ($4,400)
D Brent Seabrook ($4,300)
D Alexander Edler ($4,300)
G Connor Hellebuyck ($8,600)
Remaining Salary: $100
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!
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