Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for February 28

Welcome BACK to the Thursday, February 28th, Main slate edition of the NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays column. This is a fantasy hockey post focused on top lineup plays each day.

Well, yesterday’s fantasy hockey experiment of two cheap centers in the same DFS NHL lineup didn’t always play out well. Mikael Backlund only had three shots on goal for 4.8 FanDuel NHL points and Derick Brassard was quiet in the Avalanche’s win over the Canucks, with 3.2 points.

But, depending on the combinations, you may have done better than the example lineup. Hopefully you mixed an matched the suggestions. For example, while Carl Soderberg didn’t score, he had more shots on goal, five, and a blocked shot for more points in a cheap center play.

The top two wingers had a great night, again, with Patrick Kane scoring another goal giving us 20 points and Nikita Kucherov landing 29.3 FanDuel NHL points into our lineup. Kuch is back on the ice Thursday night.

Andreas Johnsson was one of our top value wingers and he was the steal of the night. For only $4,300 in FanDuel NHL salary, Johnsson gave us two goals, one during a power play, and several other items adding up to over 30 points.

Sergachev was a bust for value play at center, but Gustafsson continues to be a top fantasy hockey pick at defense. David Rittich was close to a shutout, and frankly that likely would’ve cashed the example lineup, but I’m still happy with his 23.2 FanDuel NHL points with the win.

Thursday night will be a little unique, in that we have less games for a Thursday night of NHL hockey than we’ve seen in a while. But, some of the match-ups present great stacking opportunities.

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 slates on Thursday, February 28th 2019:

Maple Leafs at Islander 7pm ET ESPN+

Flyers at Blue Jackets 7pm ET

Lightning at Bruins 7:30pm ET NBC Sports Network

Oilers at Senators 7:30pm ET

Canucks at Coyotes 9pm ET

Panthers at Golden Knights 10pm ET ESPN+

Stars at Kings 10:30pm ET

With a big Friday night of hockey, the Thursday night slate is smaller than normal, but still robust. One game will be nationally televised, and two others available on ESPN+.

There are also several exploitable match-ups, like the Oilers traveling to Ottawa, the Coyotes continuing to roll, and the Stars in L.A. facing a Kings team in absolutely turmoil right now. We’ll figure out how to use that to our advantage.

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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 ($8,800) is likely a great play against a poorly defensed Senators team with a now talent-depleted team. I will likely find ways to build some lineups around him, expecting an easy 20+ points from this pick.

But, if you ask me who the top two DFS NHL centers are for Thursday, I’m more included to say Auston Matthews ($8,300) and Aleksander Barkov ($7,700). They’re both red-hot on offense, right now, and they’re playing teams who (on the surface) look tough, but are very beatable considering the offensive talent around Matthews, Maple Leafs, and Barkov, Panthers.

Matthews is clearly more expensive than Barkov, but he’s a cheaper pivot from McDavid. We’re very likely getting double-digit points from this play, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we had two points (goals or assists) including some power play points for high 20’s to low 30’s in points.

With the acquisition of Mark Stone, everyone is talking about the Golden Knights right now. As they should be. The Knights are a very good team now, and they will be tough to beat in Vegas. That being said, they’re playing a Panthers team who is 5-1-1 in their last seven games and are averaging four goals per game in that time.

That includes two road games, in Colorado and Arizona, where they continued to average around four goals per game. A big part of that reason is that Barkov continues to stay hot on offense.

He even had three goals and one against against a stingy Canadiens defensive team in mid-February. Aleksander likely scores as many points as McDavid or Matthews on Thursday, and he’s significantly cheaper.

So we need value for the center position right? Well, not so fast. I’m actually more inclined to stack Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6,200), with McDavid, Matthews or Barkov. In Fact, Barkov and Nugent-Hopkins is a reasonably priced choice while also getting a piece of the McDavid offensive action against the Senators.

But, if you need cheaper, Bo Horvat ($5,900), Derek Stepan ($5,700), Vincent Trocheck ($5,400), Paul Stastny ($5,300), and Boone Jenner ($4,700) are your best value plays. I know they’re not terribly cheap, but diving into the cheaper options likely isn’t the best play on Thursday.

It may seem obvious given his salary, but Jenner is the best value play of that group. Torts recently slid Jenner into the 3rd line center position on a now good line with Nick Foligno and Josh Anderson.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Nikita Kucherov ($9,300) is back on the ice Thursday, but I do NOT like his match-up against the top line Bruins in Boston. Will he land double-digit points? Sure, but this likely won’t be one his better fantasy hockey games, and there are so many great point options on Thursday night.

Leon Draisaitl ($8,300) is likely nearly as good, or better, than Kuch on Thursday. Again, the Oilers have a great match-up in Ottawa and Draisaitl is leading the Oilers second line at center, currently, and also centers Edmonton’s top power play line with McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins.

Jonathan Huberdeau ($6,300), Jake Debrusk ($5,900), and Reilly Smith ($5,800) are my favorite plays at the mid-salary range. Huberdeau plays with Barkov and Frank Vatrano ($4,400) on the Panthers top line and benefit from Aleksander’s current hot offensive play.

DeBrusk is on the Bruins second line, a slightly better mach up against the Bolts, and has six goals in his last seven games.

Smith has points in seven of his last night games, at the Golden Knights top line, with a goal and eight assists. Reilly isn’t as dominate a fantasy hockey option as Huberdeau and DeBrusk, but he’s a very good shot at double-digit FanDuel NHL points.

Regardless of how I handle my second winger pick, I”m likely going with Alexander Radulov ($5,700) for the third winger pick. The Stars are in Los Angeles facing a horrendous Kings defense right now, and that Stars top line continues to play well lately. Radulov may be over-looked by many DFS NHL players, and is a strong candidate for over 20 FanDuel NHL points on Thursday.

Like the center position, on Thursday, I’m not a fan of digging too deep for dirt-cheap value plays. You can find some, like Sam Gagner ($3,300) on the Oilers top line, but I can afford to spread my salary out through the four winger picks and grab Marcus Johansson ($4,600) as my last pick in the position.

The former Devil left New Jersey with a goal and assist, and arrived in Boston to provide another helper against the Sharks. Johansson is a good hockey player on a better Bruins line, and his salary is too cheap for FanDuel NHL right now.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Victor Hedman ($5,800) had a great night in New York, last night, against the Rangers. Hedman scored a goal and provided an assist along with two blocked shots and four shots on goal. His 30.1 FanDuel NHL points will look appealing to most fantasy hockey players on Thursday.

I think it’s a mistake to grab Hedman at that price, especially against a very good Bruins team in Boston. Also, while Morgan Rielly ($6,400), Torey Krug ($6,300), and other expensive top plays at defense are appealing, on the surface, they’re likely not getting many, if any, more FanDuel NHL points than the cheaper plays.

I think you’re likely still getting double-digit points with shots at 20+ by grabbing better value plays like Ryan Pulock ($4,600), Esa Lindell ($4,700), Charlie McAvoy ($4,400), Oscar Klefbom ($4,300), and Travis Sanheim ($4,300).

Who’s the best out of that group? Eh, pick one. They’re all going to be big fantasy hockey contributors on Thursday. If I had to pick two, I would grab Pulock and Sanheim, which doesn’t surprise daily readers, because of their consistency over the last month. But, any two-man combination among these five guys is a solid NHL DFS play Thursday.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Of the top goalies on the ice Thursday, Sergei Bobrovsky ($8,700) maybe has one of the better match ups. But even that one I don’t love. As I’ve pointed out on Tuesday, Brian Elliott ($7,600) continues to be one of the most underrated goalies this season.

I don’t love Elliott’s win potential against a good Blue Jackets team in Columbus. But, I’d be willing to bet this will be a low-scoring game, and given how hot the Flyers have been the last two months, I’m not really sure who wins this one. So that leads me to fade both.

I’m also staying away from the Lightning and Bruins game, for the same reason. And while the Maple Leafs and Islanders game is going to be a good one, in John Tavares revenge narrative with his return to New York, I also don’t know who takes the win there.

However, there are two goalies I do feel more comfortable grabbing. As we mentioned, the Kings aren’t a good team right now, even on home ice, and they’ll likely struggle against Anton Khudobin ($7,900) and the Stars. Khudobin has, generally, played well this season and is a great NHL DFS play for Thursday. His salary is insanely low as well.

While I’m not excited about playing a goalie against Jacob Markstrom ($8,600), it’s not known if he starts tonight but it’s possible, I also know the Canucks offense has struggled to help him lately. Also, Darcy Kuemper ($7,800) has been nearly as hot in the last month, with over 30 save per game and seven wins in his last eight starts.

Either Khudobin or Kuemper are a great play. If you can afford Khudobin, he’s the best play. But I’ll create an example lineup with Darcy so you can see why that may not be possible in some cases.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays February 28th Main Slate Summary

Well, we love Khudobin but also feel Kuemper is a great play at goalie. While there appears to be several top plays at defense, the cheaper options are just as good. Pulock and Sanheim have been the most consistent, so I feel more comfortable playing them. But Lindell, McAvoy, and Klefbom are just as good.

At the winger spot, I want Draisaitl in all of my lineups as my top play. From there, I’m grabbing one or two of Huberdeau, DeBrusk, or Reilly Smith. I also likely will have Radulov in all lineups and formats, as he’s in a fantastic fantasy hockey position.

From there, I’m going to use Johansson as my best value pick. He’s not super cheap, so you can go down to Gagner or Vatrano if you need more salary. But Marcus is one of the best NHL DFS values on the board Thursday.

I like McDavid and the Oilers match-up in Ottawa on Thursday night, at least offensively, but Matthews and Barkov have been read-hot and also have match-ups that shouldn’t slow them down.

Nugent-Hopkins is a great second pick for Center if you want to go expensive in that position. But you can also grab Ryan and play one of the several value options like Horvat, Stepan, Trocheck, Stastny, or Jenner.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS Main slate on Thursday, February 28th 2019:

C       Aleksander Barkov ($7,700)

C       Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6,200)

W     Leon Draisaitl ($8,300)

W     Reilly Smith ($5,800)

W     Alexander Radulov ($5,700)

W     Marcus Johansson ($4,600)

D      Ryan Pulock ($4,600)

D      Travis Sanheim ($4,300)

G      Darcy Kuemper ($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!