Daily Fantasy Hockey Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 3/21/17

Welcome back for another big Tuesday night in the National Hockey League. We have 11 games tonight with nine teams opening as -150 favorites or greater. This is great news for daily fantasy as we can expect a high scoring night and with so many games, it should help spread out the ownership. Let's jump right into the picks.

 

Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get access to our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.

If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.

GOALIES

Carey Price FD - $9400 DK - $8500
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 19.65 DK - 4.91

This guy is good in case you didn't know and his team is starting to score goals as they are approaching playoff time. What does this mean? Fading Carey Price is a dangerous proposition. He is expensive, but we just have to find value elsewhere. The star tender has won eight of his last nine starts and I dug a little deeper into his head to head stats against the Red Wings and I found some very convincing information. Price and the Habs have played the Red Wings three times this year and they won two out of three with two shutouts for Price and only two goals allowed. That is impressive, to say the least. Montreal is listed as -230 favorites today according to Vegas and Price is an elite play in all formats.

 

**Update - Al Montoya us getting the start for the Habs tonight**
Al Montoya FD - $8200 DK - $8400
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 20.21 DK - 5.05

 

Corey Crawford FD - $8900 DK - $8500
Opponent - VAN
Proj Pts FD - 19.24 DK - 4.81

On a huge slate like this, it is okay in my opinion to give you two goalies who are huge favorites. My reasoning is the fact that the ownership percentages shouldn't be as lopsided. Crawford and the Hawks welcome the Canucks and their awful 28th ranked defense to town this evening. The star net-minder has won his last three games while allowing only five goals and he faced an average of 37.3 shots per game in those three starts. That is a lot of rubber coming at him on a nightly basis recently. Crawford is at the top of his game currently and he is also an elite play in all formats this evening.

 

Also Consider: Jake Allen - Stl

 

 

CENTERS

Sidney Crosby FD - $9300 DK - $8600
Opponent - BUF
Proj Pts FD - 17.01 DK - 4.83

There isn't much value at the mid tier of the center position today so I'm going with Crosby as my top center play. We will just have to find value elsewhere. Fading this dude is a very dangerous idea today and I'll explain why. The Canadian superstar is only two points back of Connor McDavid for the points lead and he's played in seven less games. He looks extremely motivated to take over the top position as he scored a hat-trick last game. He has five goals and an assist in his last two games to go along with ten shots on goal. Enough said. Like I stated above, Sid the Kid is a dangerous fade in all formats today. Roster him with a ton of confidence.

Stack With: Connor Sheary, Jake Guentzel

 

 

 

Nicklas Backstrom FD - $7100 DK - $6800
Opponent - CGY
Proj Pts FD - 13.33 DK - 3.89

The Capitals recently reunited the Star Swede with Ovechkin again and it paid off in a big way last game as Backstrom contributed with four assists. Washington has a tough matchup against the Flames and their surging 13th ranked defense, but Backstrom has a ton of upside on any given day because he shares the ice with Alex the Great. He is not a safe play because he only averages just under two shots per game, but he makes for a decent contrarian GPP play this evening.

Stack with: Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie

 

 

 

Adam Henrique FD - $4500 DK - $3900
Opponent - NYR
Proj Pts FD - 9.24 DK - 2.7

It is my job to make your lives easier and I believe that I have done that here as I found out that Henrique has been exceeding value in a large way recently. This guy is dirt cheap on both sites and he has three goals (1PP,) two assists and 11 shots on goal during his current four-game point streak. He plays on the #2 line in New Jersey and their recently potent #1 powerplay unit. I will be filling my second center spot with this guy in my cash game lineups and you should consider doing that as well.

PP Stack with: Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri

 

 

 

WINGERS

Artemi Panarin FD - $7100 DK - $6600
Opponent - VAN
Proj Pts FD - 12.99 DK - 3.69

This guy is on fire as is his teammate Patrick Kane. They are both great plays today, but Panarin is much cheaper, so let's discuss him for a brief minute. The young superstar is on a lengthy six-game point streak as he has four goals and four assists during those four games. He scored a goal on seven shots and added an assist in his last game and he has 14 shots on goal in his last three games. We need a lot exposure to the Hawks today as they face the Canucks and their 23rd ranked defense who have mailed it in for the season. This one could turn into a blowout very quickly and Panarin is an elite play in all formats.

Stack with: Patrick Kane, Nick Schmaltz

 

 

 

Nikita Kucherov FD - $8200 DK - $8000
Opponent - ARI
Proj Pts FD - 18.11 DK - 5.36

Unless you have been living on a rock, you are aware that this young Russian is a pretty darned good hockey player. This is his team with Stamkos on the shelf and he is carrying him on his back right into the playoffs. Oh my goodness, I just realized that the Lightning are about to play the Coyotes and their laughable 27th ranked defense today. I was going to recommend this guy regardless of his opponent. He scored two goals last game (1PP) on four shots and that was against the Washington Capitals. The Russian superstar averages 3.36 shots per game and has 33 goals (17PP) and 38 assists this season. He vanished into thin air in his two games previous to his last game, so he's not an elite cash game play today, but with the weak opponent his team faces and his decent prices, Kucherov is a great GPP play as he has massive upside potential.

Stack with: Ondrej Palat, Braden Point

 

 

 

Paul Byron FD - $4300 DK - $3400
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 8.53 DK - 2.34

The Habs apparently got a steal of a deal with this speedster, as they picked him up off of waivers late last season and nobody wanted him. He is playing with a chip on his shoulder and he's simply too cheap to ignore. The Habs' offense has woken up from the dead recently and Byron plays on their #2 line and the #1 powerplay unit while averaging around 17 minutes of ice time per game. He has four goals, two assists and 11 shots of goal four games and the Habs are welcoming the Wings and their not so good 26th ranked offense to town this evening. At these prices combined with his current production, Byron is a great play in all formats.

Stack with: Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec

 

 

 

 

DEFENSEMEN

Ivan Provorov FD - $4100 DK - $4600
Opponent - WPG
Proj Pts FD - 8.31 DK - 2.47

My friend and fellow DFSR writer Chris Durell is going to love this pick today. The young Russian is one of mine and his favorite players  (His junior team, the Brandon Wheat Kings are my local team and Chris is a Flyers fan) and he has been very popular in this column this season. He has had growing pains as a rookie, but he has been playing some good hockey lately and with the Flyers out of the playoff picture, they have let him loose and they bumped him up to the #1 powerplay unit. Provorov has averaged 25 minutes of ice time in his last three games and he has a goal, three assists, five shots and eight blocked shots in those three games. He had a huge game against Carolina last game with a goal and two assists. The Flyers travel to Winnipeg to play the undisciplined Jets and their 28th ranked defense, so at these prices, Provorov is a great play in all formats.

 

 

Alex Pietrangelo FD - $5600 DK - $5800
Opponent - COL
Proj Pts FD - 11.25 DK - 3.34

Provorov is my favorite D-Man today, but this guy is a close second. Since Shattenkirk left St. Louis, Pietrangelo has taken over the blue-line and he QB's the #1 powerplay unit. He has a powerplay goal, an assist, six shots and three blocks in his last two games and he has 13 shots and nine blocks in his last four games. He has been averaging around 26 minutes of ice time in his last 10 games and tonight him and the Blues play the lowly Avalanche and their league-worst defense. The matchup is too juicy to ignore and this guy is a solid play in all formats.

 

 

Also Consider: Dustin Byfuglien - Wpg

 

 

 

Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get accessto our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.

If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.