New Jersey Devils' Taylor Hall passes the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Welcome back to another Saturday night in the National Hockey League. There are no afternoon games today but we have another busy night with nine games including six of the bottom seven defenses. There are four teams(CBJ, LAK, EDM, CAR) playing on a back to back and three teams(EDM, LAK, NSH) playing their third game in four nights. We are in for an exciting and possibly high scoring night of hockey so let's jump in and take a look at some of the top plays at each position.
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Opponent - BUF
Proj Pts FD - 13.93 DK - 3.48
Rask has been arguably the best goalie in the league for a couple months now helping the Bruins to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. He has won eight straight and 14 of his last 15 starts allowing 3+ goals just twice in that time for a ridiculous .940 save % and has not lost in regulation since late November. He now gets an elite home matchup vs. the visiting Sabres and their 31st ranked offense that scores just 2.3 goals per game on the season. He is my #1 goalie tonight and safe in all formats.
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 15.59 DK - 3.9
Has been up and down lately giving up four goals twice in his last 10 games but has been money on home ice winning eight of his 10 starts(both losses came in overtime) in Minnesota with an elite .939 save percentage. While the matchup on paper appears a bit scary as the Blackhawks rank inside the Top 10 in offense on the road, they have struggled a ton lately losing eight of their last 10 games while scoring just 21 goals. While I will be using Rask heavy in my cash games, Dubnyk can be considered there as well and makes an excellent GPP pivot tonight.
Opponent - BUF
Proj Pts FD - 16.54 DK - 4.96
I have said it many times, when paying up for a player we want value across the board and Bergeron offers just that. He has provided a very high floor with 36 shots in his last 10 games and is averaging 3.7 per game on the season. While he is one of the best all-around forwards in the league(4-time Selke Award winner), he also provides a ton of upside and has 13 points in his last 10 games with four multi-point efforts and now has 46 points on the season. To top it off tonight, he gets a terrific matchup vs. the Sabres 28th ranked defense. Fire up Bergeron in all formats.
Stack with: Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD -14.85 DK - 4.22
It is very likely most people will be turning to the top guys tonight which could open up an ownership gap making Staal a great pivot tonight. He doesn't provide the same safety as those players at the top with an average of just 2.7 shots per game on the season but he has been red hot lately scoring in three of his last four games with 12 points in his last 10 games. I mentioned the Blackhawks struggling offense above and it holds true for their defense as well as they have given up an average of 3.3 goals per game over their last 10 games while losing eight of them.
Stack with: Tyler Ennis, Nino Niederreiter
Opponent - ARI
Proj Pts FD - 8.62 DK - 2.49
Patrick isn't having the rookie season the Flyers or their fans(myself included) expected but he has been consistent for fantasy lately and comes at a value price which is hard to find at the center position. He has points in two of his last three games with 13 shots on goal and now gets an elite matchup vs. the basement dwelling Coyotes who rank 30th overall in defense allowing 3.4 goals per game. Using him in any format allows to pay up for multiple top tier players in a somewhat stars and scrubs lineup.
Stack with: Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek
Opponent - CBJ
Proj Pts FD - 17.52 DK - 5.06
It's almost impossible to not keep writing this guy up right now as he is literally carrying the entire Devils offense on his back. He extended his point streak to 12 games on Thursday and in that time has five multi-point efforts and 18 total points. Not only does he provide big upside but he has also given us a very high floor with 56 shots during the streak(4.7 per game) and is now averaging 3.7 per game on the season. The matchup is a bit tougher tonight as the Blue Jackets have a 16-10-1 home record but have been struggling lately losing five straight games and will be playing on a back to back. All things considered, Hall is a great play in all formats.
Stack with: Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt
Opponent - NJ
Proj Pts FD - 12.71 DK - 3.64
I just mentioned how Columbus has been struggling losing five straight but one player who hasn't been struggling is Cam Atkinson. He was out nearly a month with a fractured foot and has been extremely consistent since returning with points in four of five games with 23 shots on goal(4.6 per game). The Blue Jackets are playing on a back to back tonight but are at home and Atkinson is just too cheap for the production he is providing. He can be considered in all formats.
Stack with: Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin
Opponent - LA
Proj Pts FD - 11.4 DK - 3.19
Another player who is far too cheap for the production he is providing us is Yanni Gourde. He has been red-hot with multi-point games in three of his last four and points in seven of his last eight and was recently bumped up to the top line with Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson on Thursday. Who knows if the Bolts keep the same lines but regardless, he should remain in the top six giving him near elite PTS/$ value despite the tougher matchup vs. the Kings.
Stack with: Tyler Johnson, Steven Stamkos
Also Consider: William Nylander(TOR)
DEFENSEMEN
Opponent - ARI
Proj Pts FD - 13.3 DK - 4.13
The "Ghost Bear" is heating up coming off a three-assist game and now has a four-game point streak going and makes a terrific choice if you are paying up at defense tonight. He has also been consistent lately tallying 30 shots and 20 blocks over his last 10 games while averaging 4.2 DraftKings/15.0 FanDuel points per game. He skates on the top pairing and quarterbacks the top powerplay for Flyers and tonight gets an elite matchup vs. the Coyotes 30th ranked defense. All things considered, he is safe in all formats.
Opponent - EDM
Proj Pts FD - 11.65 DK - 3.75
When looking for value in the sub $5K range on this slate, not many have been more consistent than Marc-Edouard Vlasic recently. He has never been a high upside play but has been very productive lately with seven points in his last 10 games but more importantly, has provided a high floor with 32 blocks and 23 shots in those games averaging 4.5 DraftKings/15.7 FanDuel points per game. He is a safe play in all format at these prices.
Also Consider: Kris Russell(EDM) as a punt play
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.
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NHL sheet for today:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zg9Snr9laYBy08xu6S3EvVcnUWqhOtGW5hFDNb2l-kE/edit?usp=sharing