Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for February 3

Welcome BACK to the NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays column. This is a fantasy hockey post focused on top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Sunday, February 3rd 2019.

We had solid fantasy hockey picks in yesterday’s column. Depending on the combination you used, you likely won at least some cash plays. However, we missed big when not focusing heavily on the Jets nine-goal result lineup.

We did like Mark Scheifele as a top center pick, but our sample lineup focused more on value to plug Patrick Kane into the top winger spot. Kane had a power play assist and four shots, but that wasn’t nearly the result we were hoping for. It would’ve been easier to win cash and GPP with more Jets in your lineup.

Hopefully if you considered playing Dylan Larkin in your lineup, you saw the news yesterday, before the Red Wings hit the ice. With a ‘strained oblique’ Larkin is unfortunately now out for the next week or two.

We don’t expect any late-breaking news before the early Main slate for Super Bowl Sunday, but make sure you check all player status before 12:30pm ET today.

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, February 3rd 2019:

Bruins at Capitals 12:30pm ET NBC

Oilers at Canadiens 2pm ET ESPN+

Flames at Hurricanes 2pm ET

That’s right, this slate starts early and it’s a quick one. We only have three games on the NHL schedule for Super Bowl Sunday, which makes sense considering most of the United States will be tuned away from all non-NFL sports for the day.

The Capitals are hosting a tough Bruins team, and I’m willing to play some of each team’s offense, but certainly avoiding the goaltenders from each team. The Oilers are on ice in Montreal, after losing a disappointing overtime loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia yesterday.

The Oilers have some great offensive options, but they’re vulnerable today. Keep that in mind! Finally, the red-hot Flames are in Carolina today, to play another vulnerable team, the Hurricanes. But, the Canes can be tough to beat at home. Still, the Flames should have a clear advantage. We just may be more inclined to pick some Cans over Oilers.

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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

Connor McDavid ($9,000) is always a healthy consideration when on the ice. But when you look over all of the various options at each position, paying up for McDavid could implode your entire offense if he struggles against Price and the Canadiens. That’s certainly possible today.

However, I also don’t plan on getting too cheap with either of these picks. The talent really drops off the board when you look at player salaries below Max Domi ($5,700). Speaking of, the Oilers just gave up five goals to the Flyers yesterday, and the Canadiens are playing great hockey lately.

Domi isn’t the type of fantasy hockey player who will differentiate your lineup from everyone else. However, we’ve had Max in our lineup often over the last month as he’s contributing double-digit points consistently.

In the last six games, Domi has two goals and four assists, even with only a couple shots on goal per game. But Domi is also getting blocked shots. This is the cheapest FanDuel NHL salary you’ll find on Sunday while also yielding ten-plus points.

For your top center pick, it depends how much value you get at the other positions. I know I’m spending a lot with the goalie position, and for the sample lineup, I’m going to spend big with the top winger and defense picks.

So with that in mind, I’m looking at playing either Sean Monahan ($7,800), Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,100), or Nicklas Backstrom ($6,200). Of those three, I like Monahan the most and will likely have him in a few lineups. But, for the sample lineup I’m going to go with Backstrom because he has better value than Kuznetsov and I want to grab an expansive defender.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Remember how I said I plan to spend big with the top winger pick? Well, there are a TON of options for a three game slate. I’d love to play Johnny Gaudreau ($8,600) or Alex Ovechkin ($8,500) in all of my lineups and I likely will have a Monahan and Gaudreau stack along with an Ovi and Backstrom stack.

However, another completely logical play, instead of Gaudreau or Ovi, is playing David Pastrnak ($8,200) instead. Frankly, Pasta is as good of a play as Johnny or Alex, and is clearly cheaper. So while a Flames or Caps top player stacks are attractive on Sunday, Pasta actually makes the most sense as a top winger pick.

The problem with playing any top winger picks is that most of the decent options for Sunday’s slate are fairly expensive. Still, there are plenty of decent value plays buried in the winger list, like always.

My favorite are Joel Armia ($3,500) getting a lot of time with the Habs lines, Jake DeBrusk ($4,800) whose name is often called on during Bruins games, and Paul Byron ($4,200).

Armia’s value makes him a must-have in all lineups. He’s a decent shot at over ten points with a nearly dirt-cheap salary. Byron isn’t on the ice as much as Armia, and he’s more expensive, but he’s another cheap shot at double-digit points.

DeBrusk might not get into many of my lineups, but I’m trying to fit him into a couple. I’ve watched several of the last few Bruins games and Jake reminds me of Travis Konecny at times. Even if he’s not scoring goals often, he’s very often involved in scoring opportunities for the B’s.

Mid-salary range wingers, again, has tons of great options. So it’s going to be easy to make a case for many different lineups on Sunday.

I like Matthew Tkachuk ($6,300), Brendan Gallagher ($6,200), T.J. Oshie ($6,000), Nino Niederreiter ($5,600), and Jonathan Drouin ($5,200). Frankly, any combination with two of these five players works.

I started Oshie and Niederreiter, but flipped to Drouin and Tkachuk because I wanted more exposure to the Flames offense in the sample lineup. However, I’ll likely build several different combinations for Sunday’s Main slate.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Before we get into the to picks for the defensive spot, I took a quick scan of the value plays and immediately loved Justin Faulk ($4,400) as my second defensive pick. We’re getting a likely ten-point FanDuel NHL play for a very cheap price.

I’m not looking for the Hurricanes to pull off a win and score a lot of goals today. Instead, I think Faulk will get several shots on goal from the point, and get us over ten points with several blocked shots. If Justin adds points from assists or goals, it’s just gravy.

For your top defensive pick, it will depend on how you play the value in the center and winger spot. If you have enough salary to do it, I love John Carlson ($6,700) or Mark Giordano ($6,200) on Sunday. Both likely are the top two fantasy hockey plays on defense, which may seem obvious, but also you can make a case to afford them on Sunday.

If you need to save some FanDuel NHL salary, consider going with Jeff Petry ($5,000) or Darnell Nurse ($5,400) instead. They should both be a near lock for eight to ten points on Sunday, but they each have a higher possibility of scoring close to twenty points, compared to other players at the same salary level.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Goalie is always an interesting position when there’s only three games in a FanDuel NHL slate. You have six options, and only three can work out. If you pick a losing goalie, you could immediately put yourself in a losing position.

However, if there’s risk of picking a losing goalie, make sure you grab the guy who likely gives up the least amount of goals, while losing, and has potential to pile up a ton of saves.

At the time of writing this post, I know Tuukka Rask ($8,800) is starting against the Capitals in Washington, D.C. for the Bruins. Rask is hot lately, the reason for his expensive salary, but he’s facing the defending Stanley Cup champions who likely have a good Braden Holtby ($8,400) between the pipes in D.C.

The Caps haven’t played great hockey lately, which may draw a lot of FanDuel NHL players to choosing Rask, but I’d recommend staying away from both goalies. This will likely be a high-scoring game between two very good hockey teams, and it’s quite frankly hard to predict who will win this one.

Instead, I like either David Rittich ($8,300) or Carey Price ($8,600). Both Price and Rittich are goaltending for winning teams who are in the middle of winning the majority of their games over the last couple of weeks, and they’re both playing great hockey right now.

So, the difference between the two appears to be $300 in FanDuel NHL salary. However, I also like Price more. Rittich is still a decent pick, but the Hurricanes are a tougher match up for Rittich while on road ice. Price and the Habs are hosting a very beatable Oilers team in Montreal. I like those odds more. Price is a very good 25 to 35 FanDuel NHL point play on Sunday.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays February 3rd 2019 Summary

We’re going to grab either Rittich or Price as our goaltenders, which makes us comfortable we’ll get 20 to 30 FanDuel NHL points. However, both players are expensive, so we know we’ll likely need to find some value in other positions.

Fortunately, at the defense position, Faulk is dirt-cheap, and there are plenty of mid-salary range picks on defense like Petry or Nurse. However, you can still make room for a big Carlson or Giordano play on Sunday as well.

At the winger position, Armia is dirt-cheap, and Byron and DeBrusk also give you great value and salary back for big plays in the rest of your lineup. For mid-salary range options, I like Tkachuk, Gallagher, Oshie, Niederreiter, and Drouin. From there, I’m picking either Pasta, Ovi, or Gaudreau as my top winger pick.

At the center position, Domi is an easy second pick, giving me plenty of salary to pick either Monahan, Kuznetsov, or Backstrom as my top center pick. Hopefully these lineups generate 130+ FanDuel NHL points, which should help us cash out this three-game Super Bowl Sunday slate.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Sunday, February 3rd 2019:

C       Nicklas Backstrom ($6,200)

C       Max Domi ($5,700)

W     David Pastrnak ($8,200)

W     Matthew Tkachuk ($6,300)

W     Jonathan Drouin ($5,200)

W     Joel Armia ($3,500)

D      John Carlson ($6,700)

D      Justin Faulk ($4,400)

G      Carey Price ($8,600)

Remaining Salary: $200

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!