Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for March 9

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 Saturday, March 9th 2019.

I followed a mediocre Thursday night of fantasy hockey up with a dreadful Friday night. That was a rare night of NHL DFS. First of our, our hot team suddenly looked flat, although I’m never stacking the Wild again this season…there’s a reason I faded them earlier.

But even more odd, the Jets piled up eight goals. Typically when a team scores that many goals, having several of their top players in the same line is a good thing. For some odd reason, on Friday, aside from a decent 22.1 FanDuel NHL points form Blake Wheeler and a meh result from Tyler Myers, we really didn’t benefit from playing great players on the right team.

Even worse, the Ducks suddenly scored eight goals against a very good Canadiens team. However, that ended what we as, now clearly, a trend for the next. The home ice teams dominated the games on Friday. It started with the Panthers, who had six goals, and ended with the Ducks.

It’s not always the smartest move to stick with home ice plays for fantasy hockey, but last night certainly makes me want to lean that way in the future, including tonight. Especially as we enter playoff races this month.

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 Saturday, March 9th:

Maple Leafs at Oilers 7pm ET NHL Network (Projected Goal Total: 6.5)

Senators at Bruins 7pm ET (Projected Goal Total: 6)

Red Wings at Lightning 7pm ET (Projected Goal Total: 6.5)

Flyers at Islanders 7pm ET (Projected Goal Total: 5.5)

Devils at Rangers 7pm ET (Projected Goal Total: 6)

Penguins at Blue Jackets 7pm ET ESPN+ (Projected Goal Total: 6.5)

Kings at Coyotes 8pm ET (Projected Goal Total: 5)

Hurricanes at Predators 8pm ET (Projected Goal Total: 5.5)

Blackhawks at Stars 8pm ET ESPN+ (Projected Goal Total: 7)

Golden Knights at Canucks 10pm ET ESPN+ (Projected Goal Total: 6)

Even with two games in the Early Only, afternoon, FanDuel NHL slate, we still have ten games left over for a very big Saturday night Main slate. Looking at the projected goals, alone, tells us we should take a hard look at the Blackhawks, Stars, Penguins, Blue Jackets, Lightning and Red Wings.

However, of that group, we know the Stars and Lightning are in the best home position. So we’ll grab some goodness from each of those teams, and definitely consider one of their goalies. But also, while the Blue Jackets, in theory, should be a great play, they haven’t had a good couple of weeks and the Penguins offense is still more attractive to me.

Even after last night.

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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

There are a TON of great options at center on Saturday night. You can easily make a case for paying up to get two top plays at center, while using value, which is all over the winger board again, at other positions.

However, that approach has burned me often recently. And, we’ve had generally good success grabbing a top center pick, and using value in the second pick to also grab top options at the winger and other spots in the lineup.

Far and away the top play at center on Saturday night is Sidney Crosby ($9,500). If you’ve followed this column most of the season, you know I’ve stayed away from Crosby in the past because his salary often didn’t justify the point return.

However, as we approach playoff time, and the Penguins are on the fringe of making the players in the Eastern Conference of the NHL, it’s clear Crosby is playing his best hockey. Sidney is almost a lock for a goal and/or assist each night, giving you the best possible option for 25+ points each time he’s on the ice in March.

If you are unwilling to pay that much for Crosby, some other top plays to consider are Connor McDavid ($9,200), John Tavares ($8,100), Patrice Bergeron ($8,300), and Sebastian Aho ($7,700). I would consider that order a ranking as well.

McDavid is the closest thing you’ll get to Crosby, while saving at least $300 in salary. But frankly, if you’re going to spend that much…just pay up for Crosby. If you want to spend lower than $9K, I wouldn’t go higher than Bergeron, and Tavares is a better value. Aho has a tough match-up, but the way the Canes are playing right now, that doesn’t bother me too much

For value, Paul Stastny ($5,200) is a great mid-salary range option, but when paying up for someone like Crosby, I also like the Senators top-liner Jean-Gabriel Pageau ($3,500). The 26-year-old is likely a newer name to those just starting to play Fantasy Hockey this season.

He’s one of the many benefactors of the Sens making multiple moves at the trade deadline to continue (forever) to rebuild their program. Pageau is getting nearly 20 minutes of ice time each game, and is averaging around four to six shots per game lately, a big sign he’s going to score often.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

There are three wingers I like nearly as much as Crosby. The problem is, how do I pay for all of them? Pageau is a great start, but if we like all or most of these guys, we likely also have to find a value play at the fourth winger spot, and need some value at defense and goalie.

Mitch Marner ($8,300), Brad Marchand ($8,900), and Alexander Radulov ($6,000) offensively on fire and have a fantastic match-up on Saturday night. Marner is on an insane scoring streak right now, including a goal and two assists to the same Oilers team he’s playing tonight, back on February 27th.

Marchand has three goals and six assists in the last five games. That’s just short of a goal and/or assist per game. And the Bruins playing a low-level Senators squad on their home ice in Boston should present great options for Brad to stay hot. I just worry about a similar situation like we had last night, where a top player on a good team didn’t get as much ice time against a bad team.

Also, I’m not sure Marchand’s value is as great as Marner. And Radulov, who just had a hat-trick last night, is clearly the best value of this three. So I’m more inclined to say, keep Marner and at the very least Radulov in all lineups and pivot away from Marchand if you can find a better option.

In theory, the Flyers offense should have a tough match up against the Islanders in New York. But we faded that idea and stacked the Flyers the last time they were there, March 3rd, with great success. In that game, Claude Giroux ($7,100) had two assists, which was one of his five of six-straight games with at least two points (goals and/or assists).

A few other top plays at winger I like are Leon Draisaitl ($8,300), Jakub Voracek ($7,700), Jake Guentzel ($7,700), Mark Stone ($7,200), and as cheap as Reilly Smith ($5,900).

We also need to find some value plays and for that I like Zach Aston-Reese ($3,500) and Sam Gagner ($3,400). Aston-Reese has been quite lately, but he’s playing 15-20 minutes of ice tie on a good Penguins second line.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Morgan Rielly ($6,600) is a great play at defense for fantasy hockey in Edmonton on Saturday night. But for NHL DFS, you have a better value, especially for FanDuel NHL. Also, as I mentioned before, I’ve spent a lot of money in the center and winger spots, so I don’t think it’s worth paying that much for a pick that could get me nearly as many points as some cheaper plays.

Who are those plays? Well, I’d start with Nate Schmidt ($5,100) and Shea Theodore ($4,400). Both of these guys will likely land you around 15 to 20 FanDuel NHL points. Schmidt is more expensive because he’s playing a tad more ice time with the Golden Knights top line.

But, Theodore has been the more actively scoring Knight, between the two, and has a high potential to score over 20 points against on Saturday night. They’re both a great value, Theodore just currently has the better roughly 3X return.

There are plenty of other great mid-salary range plays at defense. For some reason, Alexander Edler ($4,400) isn’t one of them and I’m OK with that.

Edler appears to have recovered from a series head injury in Philadelphia, earlier in February, and now has 11 shots and two goals in the last two straight games. Edler is arguably the heart and soul of this team, especially the defense, and he’s going to be a big part of this game.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Of all the teams on the ice tonight, my two favorite goalies are Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,700) and Ben Bishop ($9,300). You’re probably thinking, well duh…they’re also the most highly priced. But, recently, they’ve been dominate goalies. Neither Vas nor Bishop are giving up more than two goals per game lately, and have the best shot at a shutout each night.

BUT, unfortunately neither goalie is in the cage tonight. So, scratch Bishop and Vas off your lists.

So where do we go from there? Well, it’s funny, I was going to go with Tuukka Rask ($9,200) against the Senators on home ice because he seemed like the best, safest, play at goalie. And after getting burned with Dubnyk Friday night, I’m looking for safe.

That also lead me down the path of considering Frederik Andersen ($8,900) over the Oilers, but then I noticed the road ice issue. Remember, we got burned wholly by road ice situations last night.

Darcy Kuemper ($8,600) is a solid play on home ice against a bad Kings team. And then I started thinking about home games. Anton Khudobin ($8,000) is nearly playing as well as Bishop and the Stars are a hot team right now. My only hesitation is that the Blackhawks are scoring often, even while losing.

But, ironically that’s what lead me to Louis Domingue ($8,200). Domingue has had some tough outing int he last two months, but mostly to very good teams. Also, he’s typically starting on road ice.

Domingue has actually played better on home ice, only giving up more than three goals (4) to the Sabres in late November. In nine home starts, Louis is 8-1-0 while only giving up 2.46 goals per game.

Even better, he’s averaging 29.22 saves per game at home. That’s a high enough amount that we’re looking at a solid 25 to 30 point play, with the shot at over 40 points with a shut out. And best of all, this is somehow a value play!

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays March 9th Main Slate Summary

Rask, Andersen, Kuemper, and Khudobin are all great plays at goalie on Saturday night. But Domingue makes me feel save, should have a high save volume, and has a shot out while somehow also playing as a value for FanDuel NHL.

I like Reilly at defense, but we’re just as good spending less money on Schmidt and Theodore as a top defensive play. They’re actually both value options. But I also like Edler as a second defensive pick, with either of these two, likely Theodore.

Marner, Marchand, and Radulov are top three plays at winger, but I’d rather get the value from Giroux over Marchand. You should also look at Draisaitl, Voracek, Guentzel, Stone, and Reilly. And Aston-Reese and Gagner are great value plays at the winger position.

At center, Crosby is my favorite top play. But, you could save money with McDavid, Tavares, Bergeron, and Aho. Stastny is a great mid-salary range play, and Pageau is a very good value option.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Saturday, March 9th 2019:

C       Sidney Crosby ($9,500)

C       Jean-Gabriel Pageau ($3,500) 

W     Mitch Marner ($8,300)

W     Claude Giroux ($7,100)

W     Alexander Radulov ($6,000)

W     Zach Aston-Reese ($3,500)

D      Alexander Edler ($4,400)

D      Shea Theodore ($4,400)

G      Louis Domingue ($8,200)

Remaining Salary: $100

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!