Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid works for the puck against the Columbus Blue Jackets during an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, March 4, 2016. The Blue Jackets won 6-3. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Welcome back hockey fans. After a somewhat quiet Wednesday, we are back with a busy 12-game slate tonight with just two teams(TOR, PHI) playing on a back to back. Let's not waste any time and jump in and take a look at some of the top plays at each position.
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 lineups with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.
Opponent - ARI
Proj Pts FD - 14.36 DK - 3.59
It's a bit of a weird situation when looking at the goalie position as there is no one elite goalie at home who stands out. In this case, I will be turning to a road goalie in Kari Lehtonen who gets a near elite matchup facing a Coyotes team that sits in the basement of the league with just 12 wins and also rank 30th overall in offense scoring just 2.3 goals per game. The other selling point for me tonight is that Lehtonen has been money away from Dallas lately winning four of his last five starts holding the opponent to two or fewer goals in all four wins with a .930 save %. All things considered, I will be using Lehtonen in all formats, especially on FanDuel where is the 28th most expensive option.
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 15.41 DK - 3.85
One home goalie I am looking for a GPP pivot tonight is King Henrik who will be facing a Leafs team who is one of just two teams playing on a back to back tonight. Lundqvist will likely be lower owned seeing as the Leafs have owned him this season in starts where he has allowed eight goals and tallied a poor .852 save %. The worst of those two starts came at the start of the season when he was struggling big time and in the latest start in New York he was much better stipping 34 of 37 shots he faced. The Rangers as a complete unit have been much better at home this season so as long as he is low owned, he makes an excellent high upside GPP play tonight, especially on DraftKings where he comes at a discount.
Also Consider: Pekka Rinne(NSH)
Opponent - COL
Proj Pts FD - 16.94 DK - 4.88
The Oilers got some ground to make up in the second half after falling 12 points back of the Western Conference wild-card and will heavily rely on superstar, Connor McDavid, to put them on their back. He currently sits outside the Top 10 in points but has still been very consistent with 54 points and also flashed his enormous upside with 14 multi-point games. He has also seen a nice uptick in shot volume over the past two months averaging over 3.5 shots per game. The Oilers get a plus matchup vs. the Avalanche who will be without their top player(MacKinnon) and have dropped three straight allowing three or more goals in each. Fire up McDavid in all formats tonight.
Stack with: Leon Draisaitl, Michael Cammalleri
Opponent - BUF
Proj Pts FD - 16.01 DK - 4.56
Opponent - FLA
Proj Pts FD - 12.42 DK - 3.63
I wrote on Tuesday that we could consider stacking both Tavares and Trocheck in the Panthers/Isles game and it was the latter who paid the bills. Trocheck ended up tallying two assists as the Panthers picked up a 4-1 win on the Island. Tonight I like the idea of game stacking the centers in this projected high-scoring game. It starts with Trocheck has been very consistent lately with 10 points over his last 10 games with an incredible 48 shots on goal to give him an elite floor, especially for the sub $7K price tag on both sites. He gets another plus matchup tonight vs. the Sabres 28th ranked defense so fire him up in all formats once again on Thursday.
O'Reilly hasn't been nearly as good this season with 34 points in 49 games but also comes at a nice discount on both sites in the mid $5K range. He has been consistent lately with nine points(four on the powerplay) in his last 10 games and has also seen a nice uptick in shot volume with 36 in that time. There are no odds out yet as of writing this but this game has the potential to be one of the highest scoring of the night as the Panthers also struggle defensively ranking 27th on the season. All things considered, O'Reilly is also a safe play in all formats.
Stack Trocheck with: Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov(PP)
PP Stack O'Reilly with: Kyle Okposo, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart
Also Consider: Brayden Point(TB)
Opponent - ARI
Proj Pts FD - 15.77 DK - 4.64
We are definitely going to want some exposure to the Stars offense tonight even with their 23rd ranked road offense as they travel to Arizona to take on the Coyotes 29th ranked defense. I lean Benn over Seguin as my top play on the team as Benn has been much more consistent on the road averaging a point per game this season. He has been held without a point over the last two games but has been consistent overall lately with 10 points in his last 10 games for an average of 4.6 DraftKings/ FanDuel points per game. I trust him in cash games and will be stacking him with Seguin and Radulov in GPP formats.
Stack with: Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 13.41 DK - 3.84
Rakell is following up his 33-goal season with a very consistent 2017-18 campaign where he tallied 18 goals and 18 assists in the first half which was enough to send him to his first All-Star game. From a fantasy perspective, he was also more consistent gaining nearly a half shot per game on average. Rakell came out of the break and recorded two helpers on Tuesday as the Ducks went into a tough environment and beat the Bruins and now gets an even better matchup. He and the Ducks travel to Ottawa to face a Sens team that has dropped six straight games and sit just two points up on Buffalo for worst record in the Eastern Conference. They also rank 30th overall on defense so fire up Rakell in all formats.
Stack with: Ryan Getzlaf, Jakob Silfverberg
Opponent - NJ
Proj Pts FD - 10.08 DK - 2.93
Konecny has been thriving on the top line with Giroux and Couturier and comes into tonight's game with a goal in five straight and seven over his last 10 games with 30 shots on goal. He has been seeing his ice-time climb into the high teens after averaging just 13 minutes on the season and he is also getting some run on the second powerplay unit. The best part and reason he is safe in all formats tonight, even on a back to back, is the fact he still comes at a value price under $5K on both sites.
Stack with: Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux
Also Consider: Sebastian Aho(CAR) in all formats
DEFENSEMEN
Opponent - ARI
Proj Pts FD - 13.59 DK - 4.08
If you are planning on paying up for a defenseman tonight, there is one name that stands out above the rest. While he was held without a point in his first game after the All-Star break, he crushed value with five blocks and five shots on goal for five DraftKings & 16 FanDuel points. He also has the most upside of any D-man on the slate with 48 points in 51 games and is well on his way to topping career highs across the board. He has an elite matchup to add to his totals tonight as the Stars travel to the desert to take on the Coyotes 29th ranked defense.
Opponent - VEG
Proj Pts FD - 8.89 DK - 2.6
You have seen him here ina ton of my articles and I will once again be relying on Josh Morrissey as my punt play at the position. He offers little upside with just 18 points on the season although he will soon be setting a career high in the area(20 points last season) but what he does offer is safe floor(for the price) as he has tallied 32 blocks over his last 10 games for an average of 2.5 DK/8.3 FD points per game. I will likely reserve him to GPP's on FanDuel but will be using him in all formats on DraftKings as his price has dropped back into the mid $3K range.
Also Consider: Darnell Nurse(EDM)
Hockey is back and with it comes 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.
image sources
Get a free trial to DFSR NFL DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
Get a free trial to DFSR NBA DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
A packed slate of late-season NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel
We've got a ton of games going with picks and plays for DFS NBA games…
A packed Tuesday of NBA DFS action on FanDuel and DraftKings
We've got an interesting slate of NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel.
View Comments
NHL sheet for today:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1siv3-0YJH_XvRnaaffeKTC6ahMxJoSix9f3ySJO5_A0/edit?usp=sharing