Columbus Blue Jackets Vs. New York Rangers
The Columbus Blue Jackets have a chance to clinch the final spot in the Eastern Conference with a win against the New York Rangers, so we can expect them to come out of the gate strong and with a purpose. As much As I’d love to see Columbus lose, it’s very unlikely that they will. The Rangers do offer some value if you want to fade the Jackets, but it’s so little that it’s almost not worth it.
For Columbus, their top line of Matt Duchene, Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson will be very chalk. All three play together on the top power play unit, so you can roll with all three in cash games. That being said, the trio will cost you and arm and a leg to roster, so Duchene/Panarin would be the best mini-stack option to consider.
Their second line on Pierre-Luc Dubois, Ryan Dzingel and Josh Anderson is an interesting combination. Both Dubois and Anderson play on the second power play unit, but their price tags on DK aren’t low enough to want to go that route. On FanDuel, there is some value in both players, seeing as they are priced below the average player salary. If you want to use the second mini-stack combination to pay up for other options, that would be fine.
On the blue line, Seth Jones is a nice option to consider, but for $900, Zach Werenski is seeing top power play time and can offer move value at the position. Obviously Jones would be the best way to go if you are using Dubois/Anderson, but if you don’t have the salary to pay up for him, Werenski is a great second choice.
Sergei Bobrovsky is the most expensive goalie on the slate, and for good reason. He has been the backbone of this team for the last month, and let’s be honest-- the reason Columbus is fighting for a playoff spot is because of him. The Rangers aren’t a very talented team up front, and they may not be able to find the back of the net if Bobrovsky is sharp. It’s going to be a challenge to fit him into your lineup on a short slate, but he’s worth the price.
Dallas Stars Vs. Chicago Blackhawks
I really like Dallas tonight, but they just recently clinched a playoff spot and they are going to start resting some players. Ben Bishop, Mats Zuccarello and Jamie Benn are all confirmed out of the lineup for tonight, which sucks, because those were three players I was hoping to be able to target. There is still some value on the Dallas side, but we will focus more on the Blackhawks and which players we should be targeting.
Let’s start with the obvious--Patrick Kane. He’s going to be all over the scoresheet tonight, so I’m going to do everything possible to fit him into my lineup. It’s going to be hard to pair him with Jonathan Toews, but if you faded the Panarin/Duchene stack, you should be able to fit them in. If you can’t, Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat are the next best thing. The duo play together on the second line and on the top power play unit. DeBrincat is only $6700 on FD and Strome is below $5K. That is some hard value to pass up on. If you can’t choose between the two, roll with both mini-stacks in a GPP.
On the blue line, Erik Gustafsson is the only player worth looking at. He’s been the best defenceman on this team all season and he continues to rack up the points. His price tag is too high for my liking, so I’ll limit my exposure to him to GPPs, but he’s a solid option on this slate.
On the flip side, Tyler Seguin and Alex Radulov make for an excellent mini-stack. They are quite expensive on either site, and because of their situation, they may only be a GPP option tonight. I’d love to use both players in cash, but there is a strong chance that the Stars just don’t show up tonight.
All that being said, the third winger on that line is Jason Dickinson. He’s expected to skate on the top line, and at $3200 on DK, he will be in all of my lineups. He’s a nice salary relief option, but he doesn’t have to do much to hit value, and you will need some value plays on this slate to fit all the superstars into your lineup. The one downside-- he isn’t seeing any power play time, but we can live with that.
Los Angeles Kings Vs. Anaheim Ducks
Most people are going to forget about these two teams, but this is where you will find all your value plays. The Kings and Ducks are two garbage teams, but one team is going to score more goals than the other. There is enough value here to pick on, so don’t sleep on this game!
Let’s start with the Ducks, who are -153 favourites to win. Ryan Getzlaf return to the lineup last game, but he didn’t return to his usual top line spot. Instead, Sam Steel played on the top line and scored a goal. He is my favourite center play of the night in terms of value. His $4200 price tag on FanDuel is enough to plug him into all of my lineups. What’s even more appealing about him is that he’s expected to skate on the top power play unit. Even if that changes, at $4200, he doesn’t need to do much to hit value. You can also go with his wingers-- Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg, in a GPP and still have salary leftover to build a decent team.
On the back end, Cam Fowler is seeing time on the top power play unit, so he will be the defenceman I target. His $4100 price tag on DK is exactly the amount I want to spend. Hampus Lindholm is another name that could be interesting, but he isn’t seeing any power play time, and for $300 less, that isn’t a big enough savings to want to go that route.
Ryan Miller got the start last game for the Ducks, so we expect John Gibson to start this game. If he does, he becomes my favourite goalie play of the night. He’s $7700 on FD, which is $1600 less than Bobrovsky with an equally great matchup. The Kings aren’t a dangerous team up front and Gibson has proven that he is an above-average goalie playing on a terrible team. Even if his ownership is high, he’s a lock in cash games and GPPs.
On the Kings’ side, there is some value to exploit. Anze Kopitar is $5000 on DK, which is absolutely obscured. Yes the Kings have been garbage all season, but if they are going to get any offence tonight, it’s going to be thanks to him. He’s joined by Dustin Brown and Alex Iafallo on the top line, but only Brown joins him on the top power play unit. I don’t think I’ve recommended Brown as a play once this season, and I was hoping to keep that streak going, but no, he is DFS relevant tonight. He’s $5000 on DK, so you can play two decent players on DK for 10K and have lots of salary left over to build a good GPP team. Both players are overpriced on FD, so no point using them there.
Drew Doughty is an interesting play for me. He’s $4700 on DK and clearly underpriced, but he might also be useful on FD as a single-bullet. His $5400 price tag is $100 more than Werenski, but we know Doughty is going to be on the ice a lot, and that usually leads to shots/blocked shots, which is important in DFS. I won’t go crazy trying to fit him into my lineup on FD, but I will be using him in cash games on DK.