Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for March 21

Welcome to 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 21st.

If you’re very focused on fantasy hockey for the Thursday night, March 21st, slate, you are likely a very dedicated NHL fan. It’s very likely NHL DFS will be drowned out by March Madness (in the U.S) and baseball emerging.

That should make for an interesting slate, considering we also have an enormous 12 game slate to pick through, or 24 NHL teams to consider in fantasy hockey for Thursday. Also, the NHL has already taken a bit of a turn at this point in the season.

We clearly have several teams already re-tooling their play mentality for the playoffs, which is notoriously different from season play. Additionally, there are suddenly all of these random fantasy hockey value nuggets thanks to bad teams pulling up good young prospects who can randomly score in games, with a very cheap FanDuel NHL salary price tag.

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 21st 2019:

Coyotes at Panthers 7pm ET

Bruins at Devils 7pm ET

Lightning at Hurricanes 7pm ET ESPN+

Islanders at Canadiens 7:30pm ET

Red Wings at Blues 8pm ET

Penguins at Predators 8pm ET

Flyers at Blackhawks 8:30pm NBC Sports Network

Avalanche at Stars 8:30pm ET

Senators at Flames 9pm ET

Blue Jackets at Oilers 9pm ET

Jets at Golden Knights 10pm ET

Sharks at Kings 10:30pm ET

I’m not going to focus too much on total projected goals for this slate. There are several opportunities to stack teams with big-scoring slates. I’d rather focus on that data for a small slate, which we may do for Friday night (two game slate).

There are a couple of themes, though, I’m focusing on for the Thursday night slate. The Panthers are scoring at a high right, higher than mostly every NHL team in the last couple of weeks. They’re certainly in play Thursday on home ice.

The Senators gave up a TON of goals to the Canucks last night, and they’re back on the ice in Calgary. So the Flames are definitely a great stack opportunity, although they likely are the chalk for the night. Still, I can’t pass up the opportunity to play Matthew Tkachuk against his brother Brady on the Sens.

Also, the Canadiens are playing great hockey lately, and have been better on home ice. They have a tough match-up against the Islanders Thursday, but I still likely them. Additionally, the Predators have played great defense lately and are also on home ice.

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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

Of the most expensive plays for Thursday, and with 24 teams on the ice there’s a ton of them, Patrice Bergeron ($8,400) has one of the more obvious best match-ups. The B’s are getting to full-health again, and Bergeron leads, arguably, the best line in the NHL this season.

Even though the Bruins aren’t on home ice, the Devils are a very vulnerable hockey team right now and the B’s aren’t traveling that from from Boston, to New Jersey. For that reason, you could also consider David Krejci ($6,100), just don’t expect the same upside you’re getting from Bergeron.

But, the Bruins are the only team pushing me to reconsider playing Aleksander Barkov ($8,100). Somehow, the Panthers are scoring at a high rate but are also no longer considered to be in the playoff hunt. With a slightly better defense, and net-minding, this offense would be incredibly dangerous earlier in the season.

For fantasy hockey players, though, we need to ride this massive wave of scoring from the Panthers. They’re playing a tough Coyotes team, but on home ice. And Barkov has four goals and 13 assists during his current seven game point streak. That is incredible!

I realize a lot of the NHL DFS attention will be on the Flames in Calgary on Thursday. I hope that remains the case. Because I also love the Sens value in that same game. I’m not looking for a huge scoring game from the Senators, but I know we can get double-digit points from dirt-cheap players.

Two Senators to consider for value on Thursday are their top two line leaders, Chris Tierney ($3,800) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau ($3,500). It’s possible Pageau gets some points on Thursday assuming the younger Tkachuk, Brady, plays a great game against his older brother Matthew.

However, between the two, Tierney has the clear better match up, and is likely a better fantasy hockey option. Either way, each are great value plays Thursday night.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

There’s no point in beating-around-the-bush when it comes to the top plays at winger. We know the Flames have piled up a ton of goals lately, and we know the Senators give up a ton of goals, and just let the Canucks, a lower-scoring team, just piled up seven goals last night.

So, while they may be super chalky, Johnny Gaudreau ($8,300) and Matthew Tkachuk ($6,600) is the kind of NHL DFS chalk you’ll want to eat on Thursday. Johnny has been firing off a ton of shots each game, lately, and we’ve seen him recently pile up over 70 points against the Devils on home ice.

I’m not saying Gaudreau will have another 70 points game, but I’m certainly expecting around 30 points, with the possibility of nearly 50. Even if that’s a chalk play, you won’t win in any format, especially cash, if you don’t have Gaudreau in your lineup.

Tkachuk isn’t quite as much of a lock (no one is) as Johnny, but he’s close. Also, I suspect Matthew will have a big game playing with better players around him against his younger brother on the Flames home ice. This is just too good of a situation to pass up.

What are some good Flames fade options? Well, you can go with Brad Marchand ($8,500), Nikita Kucherov ($9,300), Mark Stone ($7,600), Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,500), Patrick Kane ($9,000), or Alex DeBrincat ($7,100).

I don’t know if paying up for Kuch or Kane is worth it. You likely can get nearly as many or more points from Huberdeau, Stone, or DeBrincat. And, Marchand is likely the best of that group. Brad is especially a great play if you’re going with Bergeron at center.

Thanks to the terrible teams pulling up future prospects situation, we have two dirt-cheap value plays to consider. First, if you’re sticking with the Flames/Senators focus, Max Veronneau ($3,000) should be on the Sens top line again, and he has a goal and assist in his first three games.

Max also has fired off nine shots, already, in just three games. He should be a solid value even in a rough game for the Sens. Meanwhile, the Taro Hirose ($3,000) just logged his first NHL point in his first NHL game with an assist on Saturday. Hirose’s ownership will likely be VERY low on Thursday, so I LOVE this value play for GPP’s.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

A similar theme is emerging at the defense position for fantasy hockey in March. Paying up for the expensive FanDuel NHL d-men just doesn’t seem worth it. What do I mean by that? Well, you have ten options, some who are injured, of players with $6K salary or more.

But, of those ten players, they’re generating only ten to 15 points, most of the time, which isn’t much more than what you’re getting for the $4.5K to $5.9K salaried players.

So, in short, why in the world who you use up so much of your FanDuel NHL salary to grab a guy who likely gets you just as man points as a cheaper play? If you have an answer other than ‘I wouldn’t’, I really hope you’re in my contests.

I’ve been touting him a lot lately, and I’ll continue to do so on home ice against the Islanders Thursday night. Shea Weber ($5,700) has elevated his play for the Canadiens, lately, as the Habs fight hard for a final playoff spot in the East.

Weber’s match up is difficult, the Islanders don’t give up a lot of goals, but for a good defensive-man who’s very active on the ice, that doesn’t worry me. We can still get double-digit points from Shea with blocked shots and shots on goal.

An eight point result is likely the floor for Weber, with a decent shot at 15 to 25 points. For only $5,700 in FanDuel NHL salary, that is one of the best plays at this position for Thursday.

I’d love to give you a bunch of other options at this position so you can pick and pivot, stealing fellow contributor Brian Tulloch’s phrase. But, I can not find any other combo I like more than Weber and Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($4,300).

First of all, the match-up for the Sharks is fantastic. And while Brent Burns ($7,100) continues to provide mediocre fantasy hockey results, Vlasic has been consistently providing Weber-like FanDuel NHL results over the month of March.

With eight points against the Golden Knights on Monday, Marc-Edouard ended a four-game scoring streak, where he had a goal and five assists. Against the Kings, it’s likely Vlasic starts another scoring streak with 20-ish minutes of ice time on Thursday.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

I’ve been a Ben Bishop ($9,400) NHL DFS Fan-boy for the Month of March. He’s been on the ice for five games, giving up two goals in only one game, against the red-hot offensive Panthers team on Tuesday.

Back on home ice again against the Avalanche, I think Ben continues to stay hot. However, considering the salaries I want to use for offense on Thursday night, and lack of mid-salary range players we like, I may fade Bishop in most formats if we can find another goalie we think is nearly as good.

Carey Price ($8,800) is one of those options. After letting eight shots in goal in Anaheim in a bizarre result for Price on March eighth, Carey has only given up one or two goals per game in his last four starts. The Islanders are a good team, but they’re not a high-scoring one. Also, Price has looked generally better on home ice.

But, I think a far better play with a far better value is Pekka Rinne ($8,400). I know Rinne has been a hard fantasy hockey player to figure out this season. But we also know Pekka is currently playing very well behind a great Predators defense.

A very good Maple Leafs team was in Nashville on Tuesday. They could only fife off 22 shots on goal against Rinne, but he saves all 22 for the shutout win. The Penguins have great offense on their top two lines, as well, but not nearly as much fire-power as the Leafs (in my opinion). I think Rinne stays hot and has another 20+ FanDuel NHL night on Thursday.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays March 21st Main Slate Summary

I love Bishop in net again Thursday, and Price is a solid play too, but I’m going with Rinne in the cage for most lineup formats. At defense, we have great value from Weber and Vlasic, and I can’t shake playing either of them.

But we have a plethora of options on offense. Bergeron and Krejci should each have a great offensive game in New Jersey. But Barkov is likely the best center option of the night Thursday. We also love Marchand and Huberdeau at the winger spots if you’re playing a lot of B’s and Panthers on Thursday night.

However, we also love the Flames top two offensive plays Gaudreau and Tkachuk hosting the Senators in Calgary. Speaking of the Senators, their top two centers are dirt-cheap and likely work the play for great value Thursday. And Veronneau and Red Wings prospect Hirose make it easy to afford any of the top offensive talents for this slate.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Thursday, March 21st:

C       Aleksander Barkov ($8,100)

C       Chris Tierney ($3,800)

W     Johnny Gaudreau ($8,300)

W     Alexander Radulov ($6,800)

W     Matthew Tkachuk ($6,600)

W     Max Veronneau ($3,000)

D      Shea Weber ($5,700)

D      Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($4,300)

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