Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for February 16

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 Early Only & Main slates for Saturday, February 16th 2019.

Friday’s slate had mixed results. Leon Draisaitl continued his fantasy hockey onslaught with yet another goal. However, the Oilers only scored one all game, so that felt like a ‘close one.’ Still, Leon gave us 20 FanDuel NHL points, which was a good start for the night

Another great fantasy hockey play on Friday was Jesper Bratt, even better for DFS given his bargain $3,400 FanDuel NHL salary. Evan Rodrigues was a decent $3,700 value giving us at least eight points with five shots. However, the lack of scoring hurt.

Ryan Suter continued to be a hot play with two assists, including one during the power play, totaling 21. 3 FanDuel NHL points. And our top goalie pick, Jaroslav Halak was a great play with a shutout over the Ducks, giving us 44 points. In fact, we anticipated the possibility of a shutout.

However, stacking the Bruins top line was a huge disappointment. Bergeron, Marchand, and Heinen each had a few points, but neither had more than five points, which is a massive failure considering the salary we spent.

Still, I was able to get all of my money back thanks to cash game plays. But GPP’s were very difficult to win with a B’s stack. We may need to reconsidering our stacking approach for Saturday.

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  to catch late breaking lineup news.

Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for the Early Only and Main slates on Saturday, February 16th:

Early Only

Red Wings at Flyers 1pm ET NHL Network

Flames at Penguins 1pm ET ESPN+

Blues at Avalanche 3pm ET

Main

Maple Leafs at Coyotes 7pm ET

Senators at Jets 7pm ET

Canadiens at Lightning 7pm ET NHL Network

Oilers at Islanders 7pm ET

Stars at Hurricanes 8pm ET

Blue Jackets at Blackhawks 8:30pm ET

Predators at Golden Knights 10pm ET ESPN+

Canucks at Sharks 10pm ET

Bruins at Kings 10pm ET

Typical for a Saturday, we have two slates to consider. There are 12 games, or 24 teams, on the ice Saturday. Three of those games start between 1pm and 3pm ET, making up the Early Only slate. The remaining nine games start between 7pm and 10pm ET, making up the main slate.

We are going to highlight top picks for each slate, and present a sample lineup for both as well. Full disclosure, the Early Only slate is difficult to figure out and it’s almost impossible to avoid stacking. However, the Main slate has plenty of options and we’re going to have a very diversified lineup.

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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

Early Only

With Mike Smith likely in goal for the Flames, I’m a little more inclined to pay up for Sidney Crosby ($8,600) and Evgeni Malkin ($8,100). Between the two, I like Malkin more as he’s coming back from a one-game suspension. Also, Evgeni has six assists in his last five games.

But, I don’t think there’s a lot of value in playing the Penguins against a good Flames team, even on home ice. Especially considering the plethora of top options across the board for the center position in the early only slate.

I am tempted to go with Dylan Larkin ($7,100), as he’s been red-hot lately and seems to score a goal even in games where the Red Wings get blown out. But, I don’t like the match up against the Flyers top line and Carter Hart in the crease.

Instead, I’m more inclined to go with Nathan MacKinnon ($7,800) and Ryan O’Reilly ($6,600) as top picks for the center position. In fact, I may go with both, being able to pay up thanks to the value we’ll see at the winger position.

O’Reilly was a disappointing play against the Yotes recently, but he’s been generally outstanding for fantasy hockey this season, and he was bound to have a stinker. He’ll very likely bounce back against the Avalanche in Colorado.

I hesitated picking MacKinnon because the Avs have been falling apart as the season moves into the spring, but Nathan is still one of the best fantasy hockey plays, firing six or more shots on goal in three of his last five games.

I’m also considering Sean Couturier ($6,900), but I may not be able to grab him given the other Flyers I’m looking at in the rest of the positional spots. Nolan Patrick ($4,500) and Carl Soderberg ($4,400) are solid considerations as well with better value.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Centers

Main Slate

I found myself in a similar situation as the Early Only slate, for Centers in the Main slate. There are a few solid value, or cheaper, plays like Dylan Strome ($5,600) and David Krejci ($5,100). Both are solid plays with a decent probability they get over ten points.

However, the main slate is littered with $6K to $7K centers who can give you over 20 points, with a ceiling closer to 40 points. So the next move I made was to see if I can find value in the winger and defense positions. Fortunately, the winger position has a ton of value on Saturday night, allowing me to use more of my salary for big plays at center.

If you’re going to go with at least one value play, I’d try Krejci against the Kings in Los Angeles. While the Kings have been a terrible hockey team all season and a great target for NHL DFS optimal lineups, I’m not a fan of targeting them recently. They’re playing better, and Jonathan Quick is still a talented goalie.

What I’d rather do, instead, is grab two more expensive top plays at center, like Jonathan Toews ($7,400) and Matt Duchene ($7,000). While I’ve been all over the Blackhawks second line for DFS NHL lately, their top line continues to play at a high level as well. They just happen to be more expensive.

But I like the match-up for the Hawks top line and Toews has been on fire lately, with four goals and four assists in the last six games. Duchene’s Senators aren’t quite as good right now, but Matt continues to play at a high-level, like Toews, with five goals and one assist in the last five games.

Duchene also has some great recent success against the Jets, who host the Senators in Winnipeg on Saturday night.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Early Only

The top winger spot almost seems too obvious. Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,400) has been on a crazy fantasy hockey tear in the last month. We barely heard from, or talked about, Tarasenko most of this season, but he and the Blues are red-hot right now and don’t seem to be cooling off anytime soon.

We hyped up Vladimir for Thursday, and he gave us 30.9 FanDuel NHL points with two goals, including one during a power play, on three shots and a blocked shot. The fact that Vlad is giving us points with blocked shots is unusual for a high-scoring volume player, and his shot total also helps me feel more comfortable with this play.

If you can’t quite afford Tarasenko, Johnny Gaudreau ($7,900) isn’t currently on the same tear that Tarasenko is, but Johnny is a similar type of player and a very solid shot at 15 to 25 points. But between the two, I recommend finding a way to pay up for Tarasenko.

OK, so how in the world do we afford three expensive picks (two at center) like this? Well, the Flyers have a ton of value in their lineup. James van Riemsdyk ($5,400) was quiet for most of the early part of this season, although part of that reason is injury related.

But, van Scottie Gordon (Flyers Head Coach) is pushing for an Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux to gel on the Flyers top line. That has benefited James’ fantasy value, as he’s on the ice with the Flyers top lines each game, is increasing his shot volume, and scoring more goals.

The Flyers also have a great match-up on home ice against a terrible Red Wings team on Saturday afternoon. For that reason, I also think Oskar Lindblom ($4,400) is a great value play as well.

I tinkered with Travis Konecny ($5,600) and Brayden Schenn ($5,600) and may work them into a lineup for Saturday, but Jaden Schwartz ($4,700) seems like a better potential value, playing on the Blues second regular and power play lines.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Main Slate

In a way, our lineup for the Main slate is starting to resemble the Early Only slate. We continue to have a ton of value plays available in the winger position, for the Main slate, which allows us to consider more expensive plays at higher point totals for a top pick at winger, and the two center positions.

As I already alluded to with the main slate center discussion, I dug through the winger picks to see if I could find value so I could afford two big plays at center. Fortunately, there is a ton of value at this position.

If you stacked the Bruins’ top line last night, you’re probably hesitant to go back to them on Saturday. I get that, but that’s also why I love Danton Heinen ($4,100) on Saturday night. He’s not a well know player, he won’t jump out at many FanDuel NHL players as they scroll through the lineup options, so his ownership is going to be very low.

At the same time, Heinen and the Bruins will have many scoring chances. This allows us to get points with at least shots on goal, and Danton isn’t afraid to get in front of a shot for blocked shots as well. So even if we don’t get scoring form Heinen, he’s likely to get over ten points on Saturday, and a goal or assist could get him over 20.

At the same salary level is another nugget many FanDuel NHL players may miss. Brady Tkachuk ($4,100) is having a tremendous rookie season and he has two goals and one assist in the last five games. Like Danton, Brady is also firing a ton of shots on goal and will take a blocked shot or two each game. So we’re in a very similar position with this pick, ten to 20 FanDuel NHL points.

And, there’s a third great value play, Kevin Labanc ($4,500). If you’ve been following these posts this week, this one should be a surprise. Labanc has been getting involved in the Sharks power play, and has five goals, at least one per game, in each of the last three games.

Even better, Kevin has a goal in four of the last six games and his ice time is climbing as he produces more offense. Against the Canucks on home ice, Labanc is a great play again.

We found so much value at the winger position, that even though we spent big at the center position, I have a ton of salary left to play with. So much so, that we can afford Patrick Kane ($9,200) as our top winger.

Folks, Patrick Kane has at least one goal or assist in each of the last 16-straight games. The last time he didn’t score or provide a helper, was January 1st against the Bruins, when he still had five shots on goal for FanDuel NHL points.

If you don’t include the January 1st game, then he’s had a goal or assist in the last 23 games, and the last time he didn’t score before that was December 14th, when he had eight shots on goal for 12.8 FanDuel NHL points.

So the short answer to ‘why Kane?’ is that he’s as close to a lock for around 20 points per game as you’ll find in DFS NHL. If the Blackhawks are on the ice, you should always try to find room for Kaner in your lineup.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Early Only 

Alex Pietrangelo ($5,400) is my favorite play in the defense position. The Blues are a hot hockey team right now and Pietrangelo is one of the reasons. Alex has been more involved in scoring lately, and he’s even piling up double-digit points with shots and blocked shots, when not scoring.

The only problem is, we may not be able to afford Pietrangelo in most of our lineups. If that’s the case, consider Tyson Barrie ($5,100) or Erik Johnson ($4,800) instead. They’re not quite at Pietrangelo’s level right now, but they’re both close.

And once again, the Flyers continue to offer value at every position, Travis Sanheim ($4,200) being the best value for defense. Playing on the top regular line for the Flyers, Travis is averaging well over 20 minutes of ice time per game, has been piling up helpers lately, and his shots on goal and blocked shots make him another solid double-digit point play.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Main Slate

If, for some reason, you don’t go with Kane, you should grab Brent Burns ($7,600) at defense on Saturday. Burns is basically the Kane of defense. However, if you’re not grabbing Kane because of chalk, then Burns doesn’t make a ton of sense either, as he’s another chalk play.

Frankly, I’m likely avoiding Bursy, and going with the plethora of cheaper picks. One under-the-radar hot pick is Erik Gustafsson ($5,500). He may have a 3rd line tag, but Gustafsson is on the ice for over 30 minutes per game and has two power play goals in the last six games. He also has four goals and two assists in that time.

For the same price, you can also get a hot Shea Weber ($5,500), although I’m paying more for shots on goal and blocked shots over scoring with Weber.

My favorite pick of the night is Thomas Chabot ($5,200). The Senators aren’t nearly as good as the Sharks, but Chabot’s fantasy value reminds me of Burns. Thomas is the kind of defender who often gets you points with blocked shots and shots on goal, but he’s a big part of the Sens offense as well. In fact, he’s easily the best value in the position.

Speaking of value, Nate Schmidt‘s ($4,300) salary doesn’t make sense to me. He’s on the Golden Knights’ top line, logs over 20 minutes per game, consistently has shots on goal and blocked shots, and has two goals and one assist in the last four games.

Schmidt was off to a cold start, like most of the Knights, earlier in the season, but he’s getting back into form and is a solid play for double-digit points and likely gets us over 20 points on Saturday night.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Early Only

Matt Murray ($8,600) was outstanding against the Flyers earlier in the week. The Fly-guys had an incredible 51 shots on goal during the game, and Murray stopped 50 of them. With the win, that made Matt a 48 point play, without a shutout. That doesn’t happen often.

Murray then followed that up with 38 saves, giving up only one goal, against the Oilers. He may be another great play against the Flames on Saturday, but I think Carter Hart ($8,500) is the safer play.

Murray and the Penguins beat Hart and the Flyers earlier in the week, but Carter has been consistently outstanding this season, his rookie year, and should have a shot at even a shutout against the Red Wings on home ice Saturday.

However, if you need a bit more salary back, and you’re not playing MacKinnon at center, Jordan Binnington ($8,300) continues to be a great play as well. Like Hart and Murray, Binnington has been incredible over the last couple of weeks and is another big reason the Blues keep winning. Also, Jordan has two shutouts in his last four games, including one against a very good Bolts team in Tampa.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Main Slate

It was pretty easy to narrow down the goalies for the Early Only slate. You had three games and three likely winning goalies, although you could make a case for four good plays. The Main slate is significantly more complicated.

For starters (pun intended), we’re not sure who all of the starting goalies are yet. So keep an eye on twitter and team news regarding starting goalies all day Saturday. However, we do have some new already we can use.

Also, there is a long, very strong, list of great goalies for Saturday night. I probably played with roughly ten different goalie options before I finally settled on Frederik Andersen ($9,200). Andersen and Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,500) are consistently the best net-minders in Fantasy Hockey.

Vas is a decent play on home ice against a Habs team who will pepper him with shots, piling up points with saves, but the Canadiens are also playing good enough hockey lately that they, and Carey Price ($8,500), could steal away the 12 FanDuel NHL points with the win.

Frederik is more likely to get a win over the Coyotes in Arizona. And we’ve found enough value in our lineup, depending on who you went with, that we can likely afford Andersen.

If you need some salary back, I also love Thomas Greiss ($8,800), Martin Jones ($8,500), Connor Hellebuyck ($8,300), and Collin Delia ($7,800). Assuming they’re all starting.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays February 16th 2019 Early Only and Main Slates Summary

Typically I like to recap all of my thoughts for the slate. However, I’ve written a lot of thoughts about two slates for Saturday and reiterating it all would take too much time. So if you need a recap, just jump back to each position and figure out what’s best.

The bottom line is this, for the Saturday slates. There is tons of value in both the Early Only and Main slates. Use the value to pay up for the top picks in each position, and don’t be afraid to spend big at both the Center and Goalie positions. There are just too many points on the table to avoid those top picks.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Early Only and Main slates on Saturday, February 15th 2019:

Early Only Slate                                                                       Main Slate

C       Nathan MacKinnon ($7,800)                                     C       Jonathan Toews ($7,400)

C       Ryan O’Reilly ($6,600)                                                 C      Matt Duchene ($7,000)

W     Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,400)                                     W     Patrick Kane ($9,200)

W     James van Riemsdyk ($5,400)                                  W     Kevin Labanc ($4,500)

W     Jaden Schwartz ($4,700)                                            W     Danton Heinen ($4,100)

W     Oskar Lindblom ($4,400)                                            W     Brady Tkachuk ($4,100)

D      Erik Johnson ($4,800)                                                  D      Thomas Chabot ($5,200)

D      Travis Sanheim ($4,200)                                             D      Nate Schmidt ($4,300)

G      Carter Hart ($8,500)                                                     G      Frederik Andersen ($9,200)

Remaining Salary: $200                                                       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!