Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for March 7

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, March 7th 2019.

The Wednesday night fantasy hockey picks started out with a bang, but some of the plays flattened out. Still, many of the options we laid out responded with double-digit, and often 20+ FanDuel NHL points. So with the right combinations, you hopefully had a great night.

While the Flyers were blown-out early, in Philadelphia, but the Capitals 5-0, they responded with three straight unanswered goals. That helped my Couturier and Giroux combination climb to over 47 total FanDuel NHL combined points.

Shea Theodore added a goal, for another 22.1 points. Theodore continues to be a great value play from the Golden Knights d-man core. And Mitch Marner is playing outstanding hockey lately, providing another 16.5 FanDuel NHL points thank to a short-handed helper.

Oskar Lindblom was an honorable mention, with an assist, blocked shot, and four shots on goal for 16 points. But, Travis Sanheim didn’t produce the type of value he’s been consistently providing over the last couple of weeks.

Zach Hyman was also a disappointment, but we knew there was risk. However, the biggest disappointment of the night was Frederik Andersen piling up 18 saves, in a shutout attempt, only to allow the Canucks to come back and beat the Maple Leafs in overtime.

That loss, effectively knocked my example lineup out of cashing in all formats. However, it was simply that close. For Thursday night, I hope for better luck. But, we need to create our own luck with smarter NHL DFS picks.

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, March 7th:

Panthers at Bruins 7pm ET (6 Projected Goals)

Blue Jackets at Penguins 7pm ET NBC Sports Network (6.5 Projected Goals)

Islanders at Senators 7:30pm ET (6 Projected Goals)

Rangers at Red Wings 7:30pm ET (5.5 Projected Goals)

Wild Lightning 7:30pm ET (6 Projected Goals)

Sabres at Blackhawks 8:30pm ET ESPN+ (7 Projected Goals)

Avalanche at Stars 8:30pm ET (5.5 Projected Goals)

Canucks at Oilers 9pm ET (6 Projected Goals)

Flames at Coyotes 9pm ET (6 Projected Goals)

Blues at Kings 10:30pm ET (5.5 Projected Goals)

Canadiens at Sharks 10:30pm ET (6 Projected Goals)

With an 11 game slate, large but usual for a Thursday night of NHL action, we have to consider 22 teams. That’s 22 potential winning goalies and a ton of options at both the offensive and defensive positions.

While stacking is still a valid strategy in this type of situation, it’s not necessarily the best strategy in bigger slates. That’s because you have a better possibility of point return by spreading your chips around the table on the best scoring options from each lineup.

That being said, we still need to consider the games with the most likely goals. As of Thursday morning, the Blackhawks and Sabres game is projected to have the most goals scored, seven, of any other game.

So, we need to figure out a way to get some action in that game. The next best option is the Penguins and Blue Jackets. I think I have a way we can get most of the goodness from both games.

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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

If you’ve followed this column, you know I’ve taken many different approaches to the center position. We’ve played two expensive top picks together, flipped that around and grabbed two value picks so we can stack the winger position, but often play a top pick with value play, to spread out the FanDuel NHL salary while also maximizing our total points from our centers.

For the Thursday night slate, I’m very likely spending a ton of salary on each center pick. The reason is simple. Sidney Crosby ($9,500) and Jack Eichel ($8,400) are arguably the hottest centers in hockey right now.

While I also toyed with the idea of playing Connor McDavid ($9,100) against the Canucks, I love the fact that in both the Penguins game and Sabres game we’re expecting the most amount of goals on Thursday night. Also, the Canucks did a solid job of shutting down a good Maple Leafs offense on Wednesday night.

If you’re not taking this route and you only want to grab one of these guys with a better value play in the second position, get Crosby over Eichel, and play Sidney with either Vincent Trocheck ($5,600) or Brock Nelson ($5,900).

There are some decent top winger plays for Thursday night, so I get that strategy. It’s just not one I’m likely playing. But also, notice neither Trocheck nor Nelson is really that cheap. That’s because this slate lacks great value at the center position, another reason why I’m going so expensive with this position.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

I get why you may want to save some money at winger. Nikita Kucherov ($9,300), Leon Draisaitl ($8,500), and Patrick Kane ($9,100) are each available in this slate. But, Kuch and Draisaitl each have difficult match-ups on Thursday, and issue often driving their point totals below 20 points. So, I don’t get why you’d pay that much salary for that play.

Kaner is an outlier though. He does have an exploitable match-up on home ice. Also, we know the Blackhawks and Sabres are expected to have the most goals on Thursday night. And, Kane has been smoking hot over the last three months.

But, Kane also doesn’t have a point in each of his last two games, once against a dreadful Kings team, so you have to wonder if it’s time for Patrick to cool off from his insane points run. Also, most of the goals on Thursday are likely coming from the Sabres, which is why Eichel is a better value.

All three big plays likely get you around 15 to 20 points. But if I’m spending that much on any one player, I want more than 20 points.

For that reason, I’m looking at mid-salary range players. There’s a decent group of options, and depending on how expensive I get at the defense and goalie position, I can grab any four combination and make it work.

For the example lineup, we’re going to go safe and expensive at the goalie position, and cheap at the defense positions.

With that in mind, my favorite mid-salary range value play is Matthew Tkachuk ($5,300) against a decent Coyotes team in Arizona. We saw some fire in Tkachuk last night against the Golden Knights. That isn’t surprising considering he’s firing off three to five shots per game, and has two power play goals and two assists in his last five games.

With Matthew in my top winger spot, I’m going to pivot between Timo Meier ($5,200), Josh Bailey ($4,900), Jared McCann ($4,500), J.T. Compher ($4,500), Robert Thomas ($3,500), Jason Pominville, ($3,500), and Josh Archibald ($3,300).

McCann is my favorite of that group. Thomas had a fantastic two-goal night and the rookie is beginning to demonstrate some consistent offense for the Blues second lines. I love Meier in more formats, but could also go with Bailey if I need the salary. Compher and Pominville are solid plays, and Archibald is a reach, but potential fantastic value.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

I’m fading Brent Burns ($7,400), Mark Giordano ($6,700), Victor Hedman ($6,300), and John Klingberg ($6,200) in all formats for the defensive position. I don’t like the injury news swirling around Burnsy, and the others just aren’t contributing enough fantasy hockey points, lately, to make a solid case for their salaries.

In fact, I really think Erik Gustafsson ($6,100) and Alex Pietrangelo ($6,100) should be the most expensive plays. In my mind they’re the two top defensive plays of the night, likely each getting around 15+ FanDuel NHL points.

Given the match-ups and projected goal totals, I’ll lean on Gustafsson as my favorite play. He’s been fantastic now that he’s finally getting more time on the ice. But, there’s tons of value in this slate for defensive plays.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($5,100) and Rasmus Dahlin ($4,500) are my favorite two mid-salary range plays. You’ve heard me talk about Dahlin at nausea lately, so I won’t dive into that pick. And Ekman-Larsson has been on of my favorite plays each team the Coyotes are on the ice. They’re a better hockey team right now, and he’s one of the key players at the blue line.

But, if you REALLY need better value, and you may given all of the great picks for Thursday, the top two are Alex Biega ($3,500) and Alex Martinez ($3,800). We’re not talking about two guys who will definitely get you over 20 points on such cheap salaries.

However, they should land around 10 to 15 points, which is a steal considering the low salary you’re giving up. This allows you to pay up more at the winger spot.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

When you have 22 options at the goalie position, it makes for a difficult position to pick through for a big slate. But worse, many of the starting goalies haven’t been announced, and with some teams playing back-to-back nights, it’s hard to really know who may be starting on Wednesday.

It’s pretty likely Jordan Binnington ($9,400) gets the night off, so I’m already scratching him off my list. That likely makes Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,800) and Tuukka Rask ($9,200) the top two plays of the slate.

Assuming they’re each starting, they’re set up well for 25 to 35 points. Vas should get a high volume of shots from a decent Wild offense in Tampa, but the Wild aren’t the kind of good team who can overwhelm Andrei for a win. In fact, Vas could see as shutout on Thursday.

Rask is in a more difficult situation. On the one hand, Rask and the Bruins are one of the hottest teams in the NHL since the All-Star break. Given recent history, a win on home ice is almost certain. However, the Panthers offense has been firing a lot of shots on goal lately, scoring three to four almost every game, and seem un-phased on road ice.

But, I think Rask still gets the win with a high number of saves. That makes him a very attractive play. However, if you need another $100 in salary to make that one pick work, Ben Bishop ($9,100) is just as good as Vas or Rask on Thursday night.

In fact, I like Bishop the most because the Stars are in a similar situation to the Lightning and Bruins. I’m not claiming the Stars are as good as the Bolts or B’s right now, but they’re playing better offensive hockey lately, and Bishop has been incredibly efficient minding the cage, when healthy, over the last month.

So, I’m leaning toward Bishop, of these three, given the likelihood he’ll be low-owned in most FanDuel NHL formats.

If you really need value, Henrik Lundqvist ($7,700) is worth a shot. Also, if you’re unconvinced by Bishop, Semyon Varlamov ($7,700) is a sneaky pivot play at the position. I just don’t like that risk, at all.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays March 7th Main Slate Summary

I’m going to pay-up at the goalie position for FanDuel NHL on Thursday night. Vasilevskiy, Rask, and Bishop are all my favorite plays. They may seem obvious, which is why I like Bishop the most. Ben likely has lower ownership in all formats.

On defense, I like Gustafsson and Pietrangelo as top plays. But I’m just as likely to grab Ekman-Larsson and Dahlin, who have more risk but could yield just as many points. Biega and Martinez are decent value options at the position.

Patrick Kane is awfully attractive as a top winger play, but I plan on playing Crosby and Eichel together, so it’s doubtful I can afford Kaner as well. If you snag a value play at center, like Nelson Trocheck, it’s feasible to play Patrick, but I don’t think that’s the best option.

For that reason, I’m likely grabbing a bunch of mid-salary range picks for the wingers. I’m looking at Tkachuk, Meier, Bailey, McCann, Compher, Thomas, Pominville, and Archibald. Some combination of those players should yield around 50 to 60 combined FanDuel NHL points. A solid base to lay down before we pile on the big-play fantasy hockey points.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Thursday, March 7th 2019:

C       Sidney Crosby ($9,500)

C       Jack Eichel ($8,400)

W     Matthew Tkachuk ($5,300)

W     Josh Bailey ($4,900)

W     Jared McCann ($4,500)

W     Robert Thomas ($3,500)

D      Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($5,100)

D      Rasmus Dahlin ($4,500)

G      Ben Bishop ($9,1000

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 winter!