Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for February 14

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 Thursday, February 14th 2019.

Last night aside, I’ve had a successful run with Fantasy Hockey over the last week. Last Saturday, I stuck with Dylan Larkin, yet again, while playing Pasta (who’s now hurt), Bonino, and stacked a hot Flyers team. As a result, I easily won most of my GPP and all of my cash plays with over 166 FanDuel NHL points.

I followed that up on Sunday with a Blackhawks stack of their top two lines (although missing Kahun kept me away from a much larger pay-day), along with the Bolts Domingue in goal and Pulock and Ristolainen on defense. Again, GPP and Cash was easy money with over 167 FanDuel NHL points.

The next three nights all landed between 150 and 190 FanDuel NHL points, further padding the bank account. The biggest play was stacking the Flyers and Blackhawks together on Tuesday, within a massive NHL slate.

We may need to keep that last fantasy hockey play in mind for Thursday. Yes, there are eleven games on the schedule, so 22 teams to consider, which makes stacking a little more risky. But stacking during nights like this also presents a lower ownership average.

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 Thursday, February 14th 2019:

Flames at Panthers 7pm ET

Islanders at Blue Jackets 7pm ET

Senators at Red Wings 7:30pm ET

Stars at Lightning 7:30pm ET ESPN+

Canadiens at Predators 8pm ET

Avalanche at Jets 8pm ET

Devils at Blackhawks 8:30pm ET

Blues at Coyotes 9pm ET

Maple Leafs at Golden Knights 10pm ET ESPN+

Canucks at Kings 10:30pm ET

Capitals at Sharks 10:30pm ET

Looking at Thursday’s schedule, several games and teams jump out at me. For starters, the Sharks are the hottest team in hockey. Yes, the Capitals are Stanley Cup champs and are, generally, still a good hockey team. But the Caps are also giving up a lot of goals lately, and beating the Sharks in San Jose right now is quite a feat.

I don’t like the idea of playing against the Kings lately, they’re not as vulnerable as they used to be, and I also want to stay away from the Maple Leafs and Golden Knights in Vegas. The Islanders and Blue Jackets are another tough match-up for fantasy hockey.

However, I do love the Blackhawks on home ice against the Devils, the Blues are hot right now and can beat the Yotes on road ice, and the Jets, Red Wings, and Senators all have some solid value plays to consider for Thursday.

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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

I likely won’t get too expensive with the center position on Thursday night. However, as the day goes on and we continue to pick through the information, it’s possible we may want to pivot to one or two more expensive options.

If that comes to play, I love Jonathan Toews ($7,500) and Dylan Larkin ($7,200). Frankly, neither are actually that expensive, but they’re more expensive than my favorite, cheaper, top play which is Ryan O’Reilly ($6,800).

Of these three, Toews and O’Reilly are the best plays, both hot active offensive hockey players right now on hot scoring teams. They each also have ideal match-ups, with Toews hosting a struggling Devils team right now and the Blues traveling to play a vulnerable Coyotes team.

The odd-ball appears to be Larkin. I mean, why a center from the horrendous Red Wings? Well, while the Red Wings aren’t a great hockey team this season, Dylan Larkin isn’t playing like it. Dylan is in the top 40 in total points, with 24 goals and 29 assists.

In his last ten games, Larkin has six goals (three during the power play) and six assists. He’s averaging over a point per game lately and nearly a point per game this season. If Dylan was on a better offensive team, he’d likely be a top 20 player. From a fantasy hockey perspective, this makes Larkin a sneaky value play for DFS.

Regardless of who you’re grabbing for your top center pick, I highly recommend you go with another Dylan, Dylan Strome ($5,800). Get him while he’s still cheap, from a FanDuel NHL perspective!

It took some time for the Blackhawks to gel together their young second line. But boy are they looking great lately. Strome’s second line is consistently scoring goals, Dylan now has two goals and eight assists in the last five games alone. Strome used to be cheaper, but his production is unavoidable and while his salary is climbing he’s still a great value.

Of the top three, I prefer to play O’Reilly also because that gives me more room to potentially stack Strome with the rest of the Hawks second line.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

You’ll likely notice a key theme with my favorite winger picks on Thursday. It’s all about the Blues and Blackhawks stack. There, I said it.

Again, the Blues and Blackhawks have been one of the most offensively productive teams in the NHL, of about five or six hot teams right now. Stacking their hottest offensive lines is an easy way to win FanDuel NHL contests, as long as they stay hot.

So there is some clear risk here. Each team go flat tonight. I doubt that’s happening, considering these match-ups, but we need to have some other pivot-to options in case you’re skeptical of these stacks. We’ll get to those in a minute.

Before we do, Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,300) and Brayden Schenn ($5,600) play together on a hot top line for the Blues and Alex DeBrincat ($7,100) and Dominik Kahun ($4,700) play with Strome on the Hawks second line.

In fact, if you have O’Reilly and Strome in your center spots, you now have two pure stacks from the Blues top line and Blackhawks second line. Granted, that puts all of your chips on two teams, but it also easily differentiates you from most other FanDuel NHL players on Thursday night.

If you don’t like the stacking plays, I have other options to consider which I may play in other lineups. First, Jesper Bratt ($3,400) is a great value play to counter the Hawks move. Currently playing around 15 minutes per game, Bratt now has a goal and three assists i the last five games, a least one point in four of the five games. That’s incredible consistency considering the salary.

Also, Kevin Labanc ($4,200) is a value winger play we continue to like. We recommended Kevin after his hat-trick against the Oilers in Edmonton, and he responded with yet another goal against the Canucks in Vancouver. His scoring involvement should continue on home ice against the Caps.

For top, more expensive plays, I love Elias Lindholm ($6,700) for the Flames against the Panthers in Florida. With enough value in my lineup, I’d also consider Mark Stone ($6,900) against the Red Wings, and Evander Kane ($7,800), another Shark, against the Caps.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Depending on how much FanDuel NHL salary you have left over, you can take several routes on Thursday with the two defensive picks. I actually recommend grabbing your goalie pick first, so you know how much salary to work with.

That’s mostly because the range of options vary significantly. Brent Burns ($7,700) is a great play once again and he fills the Sharks stacking trend, if you can afford it. Burns likely gets you over 20 FanDuel NHL points, but he could limit your options at center and winger.

Shea Weber ($5,600) is a great play too, with the Habs a little off the radar for most FanDuel NHL players, traveling to Nashville to play a tough Predators team. Weber is simply piling up shots and blocked shots for easy double-digit points, but also has helped the Canadiens with their current scoring surge.

However, there are two cheap picks I like, on the ice together in Arizona. Alex Pietrangelo ($4,900) was in our lineup over the last week, while the Blues continued to surge, and he gave us 25 to 40 FanDuel NHL points in the last two games. We should expect closer to the teens most nights, but this could be another big night for Alex if he can get another goal in net.

On a different line, the Yotes second, Alex Goligoski ($4,000) has quietly been a great fantasy hockey play for the Coyotes. Averaging over 20 minutes per game lately, Goligoski is getting several shots on goal and blocked shots, while providing assists and a power play goal lately. Even against the hot Blues, Alex is likely a solid double-digit play on Thursday.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Figuring out your goalie play on Thursday has a huge impact on the rest of your lineup. Easily the best play of the night is Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,400), but the Bolts top net-minder is so expensive that he forces you to make difficult decisions in at least one spot for each position.

I typically don’t like to stack my points with one position, and you can usually find solid 20+ FanDuel NHL plays with other goalies, especially when you have at least 11 other winning goalie picks.

When looking for cheaper plays, I also look for high amounts of saves. Carey Price ($9,100) and Frederik Andersen ($9,100) should have plenty of saves in tough match ups, but their value is still to pricey.

That thought moves me back to the Blues and Blackhawks. Jordan Binnington ($8,000) has been outstanding for the Blues, including a shutout of the very hard to beat Bolts last Thursday. Jordan is likely to win against on Valentine’s Day, but he’s not piling up as many saves as Collin Delia ($7,800).

The Hawks newest net-minder started in Late December and has been spectacular since. Delia is now 6-3-3 with over 420 saves, averaging over 35 saves per game. So it’s no wonder his FanDuel NHL point-per-game average is over 20 points.

But more importantly, Collin is consistently averaging at a high volume of saves, which means he’s more likely to give you over 20 points than Binnington. Also, Delia has a higher consistent point ceiling. He’s my favorite for Thursday.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays February 14th 2019 Main Slate Summary

There are plenty of great options at each position, outside of a Blues and Blackhawks stack. But most of our plays lead us down that path. We love Toews and Strome at center. We also like O’Reilly but could maybe fade away from that play by picking a Dylan Larkin as an outsider in the position.

For wingers, I love Lindholm, Stone, and Kane. Labanc continues to be a solid play and Bratt is one of the best winger values. But my favorite four are Tarasenko and Schenn completing the Blues top line stack and DeBrincat and Kahun completing the Hawks second line stack.

On defense, Burnsy and Weber are great top-two plays, but Pietrangelo and Goligoski likely give us better value. And while there are tons of great goalie talents on the ice Thursday, Binnington and Delia give us the best, consistent, shot at well over 20 FanDuel NHL points in the goalie position.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Thursday, February 14th 2019:

C       Ryan O’Reilly ($6,800)

C       Dylan Strome ($5,800)

W     Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,300)

W     Alex DeBrincat ($7,100)

W     Brayden Schenn ($5,600)

W     Dominik Kahun ($4,700)

D      Alex Pietrangelo ($4,900)

D      Alex Goligoski ($4,000)

G      Collin Delia ($7,800)

Remaining Salary: $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 winter!