Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for February 21

Welcome to back for another NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays. This is a fantasy hockey post focused on top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Thursday, February 21st 2019.

After a recent tear of great picks, several of our fantasy hockey options for Wednesday didn’t play out well. Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, and Jake DeBrusk were solid plays with a total of four goals between then, and a combined 62.4 FanDuel NHL points.

Charlie McAvoy added a shot, blocked shot, and assist for another 11.2 FanDuel NHL points. And our favorite goalie of the night was Jaroslav Halak, who turned out to be one of the best with 28.8 FanDuel NHL points, winning in a shootout on road ice against the Golden Knights in Vegas.

But, Dylan Strome, David Krejci, Dominik Kahun, and Ryan Pulock really fell flat. In a change of events, for fantasy hockey, the Avalanche offense finally woke up (again) and poured on seven goals against a solid Jets team on home ice. If you stacked the Avs’ offense with Dylan Larkin, you basically won every contest and cash game you entered.

We will take what we learned from some of yesterday’s losses, look back at what worked over the last week, and review some of the current shifts in teams across the NHL and try to develop the best fantasy hockey lineup for the Thursday Main slate.

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 Main slate on Thursday, February 21st 2019:

Capitals at Maple Leafs 7pm ET ESPN+

Hurricanes at Panthers 7pm ET

Senators at Devils 7pm ET

Wild at Rangers 7pm ET

Sharks at Penguins 7pm ET

Flyers at Canadiens 7:30pm ET

Sabres at Lightning 7:30pm ET

Kings at Predators 8pm ET NBC Sports Network

Blues at Stars 8:30pm ET

Islanders at Oilers 9pm ET

Coyotes at Canucks 10pm ET

It’s a Thursday, so there’s no surprise to see a massive eleven game slate on the schedule. That can be a good thing, but also presents some challenges. It’s often more difficult to win with stacked lineups, considering so many goal scorers and goalies on the ice Thursday.

Finding the right combination of players across all 22 teams can be daunting. But, we also have more top plays to consider at each position. Also, there is a ton of great value plays we can leverage to build a great lineup. We just need to nail down a solid goalie as well.

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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

The Penguins have a red-hot offense right now, and Sidney Crosby ($9,000) and Evgeni Malkin ($8,600) are likely your top two fantasy hockey picks at center on Thursday night. There’s some risk playing these two against the Sharks. But, especially Malkin, we should still continue to see some solid offense from the Penguins on home ice Thursday, regardless of the opponent.

However, they’re only great plays depending on your strategy on Thursday. If you’ve followed this column all week, you’ve seen several different approaches.

We’ve tried playing guys like Malkin with a cheap value play to average out the salary. We’ve played two mid-salary range centers, effectively averaging out the salary again. But we’ve also stacked the center position with either a good chunk of our salary or two value plays. Each strategy can win lineups and has success potential for Thursday.

I may ultimately go back to some top picks at center, like Crosby, Malkin, Sean Couturier ($7,300), or Elias Pettersson ($7,100). However, this slate is loaded with top talent at winger, and has some great defensive options as well. I also likes some of the center values, combined, as much as I like some of the top plays.

So for the example lineup, I’m going with two value plays who have been consistently solid fantasy hockey plays the last two weeks. Both Tyler Bozak ($4,600) and Travis Zajac ($4,200) lead 2nd lines for their teams, and they each have a great match up on Thursday.

Bozak and the Blues hot offense is visiting a Stars team in Dallas who seems to have lost its identity. The Stars have been stingy on defense this season, only giving up 2.61 goals per game (tied for second best in the NHL). But, they’ve given up just under five goals per game in the last three games. They’re also 1-4-1 in the last six games.

Meanwhile, the Blues have won their last eleven straight games, and are averaging around five goals per game in their last six games.

Bozak has been agressive on the ice lately, with his roughly 17 minutes of ice time, piling up around three shots per game, blocking shots, and providing four helpers in the last five games, along with two goals in the last six. Against the Stars, he’s a sneaky value play.

Zajac is in a similar position, but against a weaker team and on home ice Thursday. In the last four games, Travis has a power play goal and three assists. Zajac also has at least one blocked shot in those games, and several shots on goal.

Fortunately, the Devils have the Senators on home ice tonight, and this could turn into a high-scoring affair. The Devils and Senators are two of the top four NHL teams giving up the most goals this season.

Having both value plays in your lineup is risky, but the points you see in return across the rest of your lineup should elevate the 20 to 30 points you get here. However, you could also grab an expensive Malkin or Crosby, or mid-salary range pick like Couturier or Pettersson and snag one of the value plays. Between the two, I like Zajac’s point possibilities more.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Before we dive into the top plays at winger, let’s address value. There are so many great winger options on Thursday, but Jesper Bratt ($4,000) and Frank Vatrano ($4,700) continue to be low-priced while they’re both consistently piling up double-digit points.

Vatrano now has 20 goals this season, three in the last six games, and is also hitting the 20 FanDuel NHL point mark with assists, shots, and blocked shots. Playing over 15 minutes on the ice thanks to the movement to the Panthers top line has really improved his fantasy hockey value.

In eight of the last nine straight games, Bratt has had at least 12+ FanDuel NHL points per game. Also playing on a top line, and like Zajac against a terrible defensed opponent, Jesper has hauled in two goals in the last two games and provided five helpers in the last six games.

Over the nine game period, you can add another goal and three assists, as he’s consistently providing points in February. Either Bratt or Vatrano, or both, allows you to pivot between several top plays at winger while likely adding another 20 to 40 points to your lineup.

OK, there are four very good top plays at winger and they all have decent match-ups. Nikita Kucherov ($9,200) and Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,700) both have favorable match-ups, with Kuch having the best among the top four.

Kuch is quite expensive, so you’ll need to find some reasonable salary plays on defense if you go that route. Tarasenko can be plugged into almost any lineup. But if you have enough value, you could also add Alex Ovechkin ($8,500) or Leon Draisaitl ($8,100).

Between Ovi and Draisaitl, Ovi has the better match up against a Maple Leafs team who gives up enough goals to target for fantasy hockey purposes. Draisaitl has a stingy Islanders defense on home ice, but Leon has been scoring against practically everyone lately. Also, Draisaitl has a goal against the Islanders last week, in New York.

For cheaper top plays, consider Mark Stone ($7,300), Filip Forsberg ($7,400), Mats Zuccarello ($6,500), or Kyle Palmieri ($6,400). They all have ideal match ups and should have over 20 FanDuel NHL points on Thursday. The Hurricanes Justin Williams ($5,800) is also a solid play.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

While messing around with my lineups since Wednesday night, for the Thursday nigh main slate, I’ve tried several different strategies. One strategy I keep coming back to is using a value play like Travis Sanheim ($4,400), Justin Schultz ($4,300), or Ryan Pulock ($4,400) to grab a big play at defense.

Over those three value plays, though, Sanheim has been the most consistent. Schutlzy and Pulock should bounce back on Thursday night, but they’ve been a little more dicey to play, compared to the incredibly consistent Sanheim, since early January.

Your top D-man pick is easily Brent Burns ($7,500), but you likely can’t afford him unless you only have one expensive winger or two value plays at center. Why play Burns? Well, he’s the one defender who has the type of offense (he used to play left wing), who can give you just as many fantasy hockey points as Draisaitl, Ovechkin, Tarasenko, or Kucherov.

The only problem with Burns is that his salary limits your options across the board. But, there’s a good reason for that. If you don’t grab Burnsy, another play I love is Thomas Chabot ($5,400) against the Devils.

The Senators may be giving up a lot of goals this season, but they’re also scoring a high volume of goals and Chabot, like Burns, is one of the top offensive players on his team, regardless of his defensive position. He’s the poor-man’s Burns if you will.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

The most annoying part of a big NHL slate is trying to figure out who, of 22 starting goalies, will get the win, who has the best odds for most saves, and does any of these options have a decent shot at a shutout on Thursday.

While Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,500) is a great pick, I actually prefer Jordan Binnington ($9,200), who can’t seem to lose this season, facing a Stars team who can’t score. Binnington should see a decent volume of nearly 30 shots on Thursday, and he has a very good chance at a shutout.

But, while I think it’s likely Binnington starts against the Stars, Vas may get the night off and we could see Louis Domingue ($8,400) in the crease. Domingue is less likely to get the shutout, but he’s also likely to get a win with such a great team in front of him.

Louis has won his last eleven straight starts, his last loss was on November 27th against a then good Ducks team. Considering his salary, this is a very good play and likely a much better value. However, in a very similar situation, Pekka Rinne ($8,400) is probably a lower ownership move.

The Predators continue to be sort of a quietly good NHL team this season. The Preds aren’t scoring a high volume of goals, so they’re often not in your daily highlight reel. However, Rinne and the Preds defense also aren’t giving up many goals this season, and Pekka has another great match-up on home ice against a very beatable Kings team.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays February 21st 2019 Main Slate Summary

If I have enough salary left, I’ll grab Vasilevskiy or Binnington at goalie. However, if Vas isn’t starting for the Bolts on Thursday night, I’m definitely considering Domingue. Although, if I want a great pick with lower ownership, Rinne is a great play.

On defense, I’m most intrigued by Burns if I can afford him. If I can’t, I love Chabot as a cheaper Burns-type of play on defense. Sanheim, Pulock, and Schultz make this easy to afford, and also add another double-digit FanDuel NHL point option.

At center was have Crosby and Malkin back on the ice, two fantastic plays. But we also should consider Couturier or Pettersson along with value plays Zajac and Tyler Bozak. We can mix and match that group, but we could also go with a value move, playing Zajac and Bozak together.

If we go with the value play, that allows us to do something like Tarasenko or Kucherov matched with Ovechkin or Draisaitl. If we only grab one of those four, you can use any one of Stone, Forsberg, Zuccarello, or Palmieri.

From there, I like Justin Williams as a great mid-salary range pick for winger. And Vatrano and Bratt, once again, present some insanely great value at the position. With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Thursday, February 21st 2019:

C       Tyler Bozak ($4,600)

C       Travis Zajac ($4,200)

W     Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,700)

W     Alex Ovechkin ($8,500)

W     Frank Vatrano ($4,700)

W     Jesper Bratt ($4,000)

D      Brent Burns ($7,500)

D      Travis Sanheim ($4,400)

G      Pekka Rinne ($8,400)

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!