Happy Sunday NHL DFS fans! A short three game slate awaits us tonight, so let’s dive right into each matchup and breakdown who we should be targeting when building our lineups.
NYI @ CGY
This game should be a shootout. Vegas has the game total sitting at 6.5, which is extremely rare in hockey. The Islanders are terrible in goal and it’s not any better for CGY. You’ll want to have a ton of exposure to this game tonight.
Let’s start with the freefalling Islanders. John Tavares hasn’t been JT like for the last couple of weeks, and he should be matched up against CGY’s top line, so i’ll gladly fade the top line. The line that most people should be targeting is the second line of Jordan Eberle, Mathew Barzal and Andrew Ladd. Yes, Andrew Ladd is making a guest appearance on the second line and his free on both FanDuel and DraftKings ($3600/$2900). He’s not a pretty play, but he’s a cheap bargain bin option that will allow you to pay up for some superstars. Nick Leddy is also a nice option on either site, so you could go with a Barzal/Leddy/Eberle/Leddy stack and call it a day.
On the flip side, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are easy options to consider. They should be able to hit value easily. They will be heavily owned across all sites, so it may be wise to fade them in GPPs.
Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano both play on the top powerplay unit, and both are reasonable priced on both sites. Hamilton has a small advantage in my books, but honestly, you can’t go wrong with either one.
DAL @ PIT
Here’s another high scoring game that you’ll want to have some exposure to. The Dallas Stars don’t have a ton of success scoring goals on the road, but they are also ranked in the top-10 in GA/GP on the road. Pittsburgh is a machine at home, scoring over three goals per game, but they also give up a ton. I’ll always favour the team playing at home, so i’ll make sure to have some PIT exposure in all of my lineups.
You just can’t go wrong with Evgeni Malkin in your lineup. He’s an expensive option to roster, but he’s been one of the most consistent fantasy players all season. What even better is knowing that his winger Patric Hornqvist joins Malkin on the top PP unit, so those two are an easy mini-stack to consider. Hornqvist doesn’t have a great price on either site, but he’s more affordable on DK, so that’s the spot to use him.
On the blueline, Kris Letang is the most expensive option on FD, but the fifth most expensive defenseman on DK, so if you want to use Letang, DK is really the only spot to use him. That will give you maximum exposure to PIT2 and PIT PP1.
As for the Dallas Stars, Tyler Seguin and Alex Radulov are playing together on the top line and the top PP unit, so those two are an option to consider. That duo will cost you more to roster on DK, so they become more of a GPP option for me. On FD, it’s the opposite. As mentioned earlier, Dallas has a harder time scoring goals on the road, so they are more of a GPP option for me.
If you want to complete your stack, John Klingberg is an absolute stud, so I’d pair him with Seguin/Radulov.
If you don’t want to pay up for the studs, Mattias Janmark is expect to return to the lineup tonight after missing the last game due to illness. He’s around the 4K mark on both sites, so he’s an excellent salary relief option with a ton of upside.
VAN @ ARI
This matchup really makes me want to vomit. You can’t really trust either team, but at the same time, you don’t want to trust either goalie.
The Canucks are #NotGood, but a top line mini-stack of Bo Horvat/Sam Gagner is extremely tempting. Gagner is expected to see top PP minutes and is priced at $3600 on DK. if I was going to consider anyone from VAN, it would be those two. Alexander Edler is another option I would look at, but there’s no way i’m paying $5300 on DK when I can get him for the same price on FD.
What makes Vancouver such a hard play is how good Antti Raanta has been over his last three starts. He’s missed the last three games due to a lower-body injury, but before that, he had won three straight, allowing only four goals on 85 shots. The hard part would be paying $8200 on DK (the most expensive goalie on the slate). On FD that’s not a problem, where he’s priced at $7500, so if you did want to roll with Raanata, that’s where I’d consider him.
Up front, Clayton Keller and Derek Stepan are two options to consider, but they play on seperate power plays and Keller is priced at $6000 on DK, which is way too high for me to even consider playing him.
This matchup is a heachache, but decisions will need to be made by 7:00PM tonight. As goalies get confirmed, it will probably be easier to make a decision. As of right now, I’ll lean more towards playing Vancouver, but nothing is set in stone.