Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for March 19

Welcome to NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Tuesday, March 19th. This is a fantasy hockey post focused on top lineup plays each day.

I took last weekend off from fantasy hockey to focus on a live fantasy baseball draft. In fact, I’m also beginning to look at the first FanDuel MLB slate of the season, opening day on Thursday of next week.

However, the NHL schedule is hot this Tuesday with many important playoff-related games, along with new talent on the ice. That bodes well for scoring, but also presents more of a challenge for our NHL DFS lineups.

This is often when we see more defense, and tougher play, during the NHL season. Several teams are kicking the playoff hockey into gear, which can be different from the regular season. Meanwhile, other teams eliminated from the playoffs, either technically or effectively, are looking toward the future and may test drive some AHL talent over the next couple of weeks.

So this can be an exciting, but also tricky, time to build NHL DFS lineups and cash in in all formats. The keys are to follow the trends, and look for rising value.

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 Tuesday, March 19th:

Bruins at Islanders 7pm ET (Total Projected Goals: 5.5)

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

Canadiens at Flyers 7pm ET (Total Projected Goals: 6)

Penguins at Hurricanes 7pm ET  (Total Projected Goals: 6.5)

Capitals at Devils 7:30pm ET NBC Sports Network (Total Projected Goals: 6)

Oilers at Blues 8pm ET (Total Projected Goals: 5.5)

Maple Leafs at Predators 8pm ET ESPN+ (Total Projected Goals: 6.5)

Avalanche at Wild 8pm ET (Total Projected Goals: 5.5)

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

Blue Jackets at Flames 9pm ET ESPN+ (Total Projected Goals: 6.5)

So we have ten games on the NHL schedule, twenty teams to pick through. That gives us a healthy ten goals to consider for wins, but we can narrow down the most likely big points candidates.

Looking at the total goal projections, some make sense but there are a few that surprise me. We don’t often see a lot of offense in Nashville, from either team, so I’m skeptical of the 6.5 goal total. However, the Leafs offense is hot right now.

Even against the Blue Jackets, the Flames are in a good position for offense at home, but I suspect the Stars are also in a better position than the goal total suggests. Dallas is more likely to give up less goals in a lopsided win.

The Flyers and Canadiens is a toss-up, with the Flyers offense more attractive for fantasy hockey. The Hurricanes should pull off a win against the Penguins on home ice, and the Capitals are likely heavy, chalky, favorites of your average FanDuel NHL player.

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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

For top center plays, we have tons of the best talent on the ice for Tuesday. However, one thing I noticed immediately is hardly any of those players are on home ice. While that isn’t necessarily always important, I don’t like the match-ups many of these guys have on road ice.

Connor McDavid ($9,300) in theory should have over 20 points against a struggling Blues team, all of a sudden. However, if the Blue get hot again back at home, likely with Binnington in the cage, then McDavid is suddenly a big waste of your FanDuel NHL salary.

I feel that way for many of the top centers on road ice, with maybe an exception for Auston Matthews ($8,500). The Predators are a tough team to score on, especially in Nashville, but Matthews is firing shots off at a VERY high rate, 17 in the last two games along.

That volume likely doesn’t slow down much, even against the Preds, and Auston is one of the best 20+ shots you can take while spending a lot of your FanDuel NHL salary. I’ll likely play Matthews in a few cash plays, but for my sample lineup, I’ll show you someone I like more.

Both Tyler Seguin ($7,900) and Sean Couturier ($7,600) are on home ice for Tuesday night. Couturier has been red-hot over the last month, scoring the game winning goal in Pittsburgh, with seconds left in overtime, during the Flyers last outing.

And the Stars top lines are getting hot as well, with Tyler providing at least a goal or assist in seven of the last eleven games. Like Matthews, I also love how often Seguin is firing shots on goal lately, eleven in the last two games. Against a Panthers team on home ice, the Stars top line should score more than once.

Between the two, either is a good value. I’m leaning toward Seguin mostly because the Stars, in theory, have a better match up than the Flyers. However, the Flyers are also barely clinging to hope for that last playoff spot in the East, and the Habs are in the way. It’s entirely likely Couturier has a big game too. Pick one, be happy, and move on.

For value, I still like Scott Laughton ($4,100) playing on the Flyers third line. Laughton is hot right now, and it’s possible that could run into the final game of the season. But you should also consider Nick Bjugstad ($4,700) and Lars Eller ($4,500). Swapping between any of these three will give you value to leverage through the rest of your lineup.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

It didn’t take me long to find my two favorite wingers for the Tuesday night slate. Johnny Gaudreau ($8,200) and Alexander Radulov ($6,700) are each playing consistently at a high level on the ice right now, and they’re both playing best at home.

Don’t worry about game logs too much. There is a lot of ebbs and flows with hockey. What I like about Johnny’s last game, even though he only had 6.4 FanDuel NHL points, was that fact that he was on the ice for 23 minutes and got at least four shots on goal.

Against the Blue Jackets on home ice, Gaudreau should be able to elevate the shot level, and likely gets involved with score one or more goals. And in his last four home games, Radulov has 20 shots on goal, scoring five times and providing a helper. A combination of these two should get us 40+ FanDuel NHL points.

Below those top two, there is a long list of 15 to 20 FanDuel NHL point plays to consider. While he’s on the pricier side of that list, Jakub Voracek ($7,800) seems like the best play.

Voracek was quite against the Penguins, although there was only three total goals in that game, but in the six games prior, Jake had 13+ points in each game, and 20+ points in five of those six. He’s hot, and should bounce back on home ice Tuesday.

Some other plays to consider are David Perron ($5,500), Craig Smith ($4,900), Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,600), Matthew Tkachuk ($6,500), and Anders Lee ($6,900).

Smith should be a great value for Tuesday, but you can also snag some value from Roope Hintz ($4,400) playing on the Stars top line. Hintz has also been hot lately and his salary is slowly starting to climb. Blake Coleman ($4,700) and Andrew Shaw ($4,700) also offer a decent shot at double-digit FanDuel NHL points with a cheaper salary.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Defense is a little tricky. Like many nights where John Carlson ($6,800) is on the ice, especially against the Devils, Carlson is one of the best fantasy hockey plays at the defense position. If you can somehow afford him, go for it.

But, if you play Carlson, you likely need to swap out someone like Voracek and grab two value plays at the winger position. It’s not a bad play, it’s just more risky considering your hanging your lineup on a defender over a winger.

I’m likely going to fade that approach, and play two value plays at defense. Fortunately, there are plenty of options. Oscar Klefbom ($4,600) is a top-liner for the Oilers and has a decent shot at over ten points, even without a goal or assist.

Also, Mike Matheson ($4,200) and Matt Niskanen ($4,100) are solid plays from the Panthers and Capitals. Mike and Matt each should get over 20 minutes of ice time, should have a few shots on goal, and should see several blocked shot opportunities. If they involved in scoring at all, this would be a huge value for Tuesday.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

I’m not sure if Ben Bishop ($9,300) or Anton Khudobin ($8,100) is starting in goal for the Stars on home ice against the Panthers. Florida isn’t typically a team I’d like to grab a goalie against, especially when they’re on road ice.

For some reason, the Panthers are one of the highest scoring road-ice teams in the NHL. For that reason, Khudobin scares me a little bit. However, Bishop had been playing on another level before taking some off due to a ‘lower body’ injury.

Ben is supposed to suit up, but we don’t know if he’ll be on the ice or not. So keep an eye on that news today. He’s expensive, so you need to make some pivots, likely with the third and/or second winger spots to make room for him on your lineup. But he also may be worth it.

With the Stars cage-minder up in the air, I’ve looked at playing Jordan Binnington ($8,500) against the Oilers on home ice and Petr Mrazek ($8,200) on home ice against the Hurricanes. Between the two, I prefer Mrazek.

However, my favorite play is value-related. We haven’t focused on Henrik Lundqvist ($7,600) in a long time. Lundy has struggled most of this season, but a lot of that has to do with the overall Rangers team.

That being said, Henrik has played solid hockey over the last couple of starts and is piling up a high volume of saves, even while taking a loss. In fact, the Rangers were in Detroit a few weeks ago, and Lundqvist piled up 26.4 FanDuel NHL points against the Red Wings in an overtime loss. Lundy has another shot at 25 to 35 points on Tuesday, especially with a win on home ice against the Red Wings.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays March 19th Main Slate Summary

There are a ton of goalie plays we like tonight. Bishop is a great play, assuming he’s starting, but Mrazek and Binnington are safer plays. However, Lundqvist is our favorite overall goalie, and is easily the best value at the position.

The top defensive play for fantasy hockey on Tuesday is Carlson. We can likely only afford Carlson if we found value in at least two winger positions. Instead, I’m likely finding two value plays at defense, like Kelfbom, Matheson, or Niskanen so I can pile up points at the winger spot.

At winger, Gaudreau and Radulov are the top two plays for Tuesday. They may be chalky, even with a ten-game slate, but they’re both worth the salary and are a good base to build on in all formats. For a third play, you can go with Voracek, whose a bit pricey, but you also have Tkachuk, Huberdeau, and Lee to consider.

Fortunately, there’s plenty of great value plays at winger like Craig Smith, Coleman, Shaw, and Hintz. Of that four, we love Hintz the most, and that plays well with the Seguin top center pick. If not sold on the Stars, Couturier is read hot for the Flyers, who also have a great value play like Laughton for your lineups.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Tuesday, March 19th 2019:

C       Tyler Seguin ($7,900)

C       Scott Laughton ($4,100)

W     Johnny Gaudreau ($8,200)

W     Jakub Voracek ($7,800)

W     Alexander Radulov ($6,700)

W     Roope Hintz ($4,400)

D      Mike Matheson ($4,200)

D      Matt Niskanen ($4,100)

G      Henrik Lundqvist ($7,600)

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 NHL, NBA, MLB, EPL, GOLF, College Basketball, and NASCAR this Spring!