Lineups were posted around 4:45 PM ET. Keep in mind, cash games on shorter slates are going to have a lot more variance and a lot more risk involved. Still, I’m going to try to fight the variance and risk and give you the best lineup possible. Please be sure to check back before roster lock in case changes are made to the lineups.
We are skipping the early slate (as usual), so I am back at it for another wonderful short four game DFS NHL slate that has a roster lock of 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT. Amazingly, there will be five teams playing their second game in as many nights. This includes the Carolina Hurricanes (7-4-2), Colorado Avalanche (4-5-0), Chicago Blackhawks (9-3-1), Ottawa Senators (6-3-1), and Montreal Canadiens (7-4-2). Again, each team’s record when playing without rest is in parentheses, and it should be noted that Carolina is the only team out of the five who will be playing a team that did not play on Saturday.
Again, with four games available, I am going to continue with my new format where I include projected lines for each team in order to help with GPP lineup construction. Lines can definitely change prior to roster lock, so please keep an eye out for any changes. You can always check out my NHL Beat Writer list on Twitter by going to https://twitter.com/kle18/lists/nhl-beat-writers. My favorite line stacks of the night will be in GREEN. Secondary stacks in GOLD. Contrarian stacks will be in BLUE. Players who will be on the POWER-PLAY are going to be in BOLD CAPS.
COLORADO AVALANCHE AT CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (CHI -360 favorites; 5.5 O/U u130)
Starting Goalies: Jeremy Smith (Unconfirmed) vs. Scott Darling (Likely)
Colorado Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
COL1: RANTANEN - MACKINNON - ANDRIGHETTO
COL2: LANDESKOG - DUCHENE - BOURQUE // could be a disaster if Schmaltz matches up against Duchene who is outstanding at faceoffs
COL3: Mitchell - Soderberg - Comeau
COL4: Grigorenko - Compher - Colborne
COLD1: JOHNSON - BARBERIO
COLD2: Tyutin - BARRIE
COLD3: Lindholm - BEAUCHEMIN
COLPP1: Rantanen/MacKinnon/Andrighetto/Barberio/Barrie
COLPP2: Landeskog/Duchene/Bourque/Beauchemin/Johnson
Chicago Projected Lines (Updated: 6:30 PM ET)
CHI1: Hayden - TOEWS - PANIK
CHI2: PANARIN - SCHMALTZ - KANE
CHI3: HARTMAN - Kruger - Jurco // Hossa is out of the lineup
CHI4: Desjardins - KERO - Tootoo
CHID1: KEITH - Hjalmarsson
CHID2: Kempny - SEABROOK
CHID3: CAMPBELL - van Riemsdyk
CHIPP1: Panarin/Toews/Panik/Kane/Keith
CHIPP2: Hartman/Kero/Schmaltz/Campbell/Seabrook // Hossa is out of the lineup
I think there’s probably a little more to dissecting the Avalanche/Blackhawks matchup than the obvious, and that’s the fact that the Avalanche are a very bad team with very little motivation, and the Hawks are a team that have the ability to absolutely humiliate them. It should be noted that the last time the Avalanche visited the United Center, they defeated the Hawks in Overtime in a 2-1 nail biter. If we are looking at the intangibles, you should consider that the core trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Matt Duchene generally do play better against the Hawks. If we are looking purely at the advanced statistics as well as the standard statistics, it’s pretty clear that the Hawks should outclass the Avs tonight.
It’ll be interesting to see if the lines get jumbled up at all because having Nick Schmaltz center Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane has been a complete waste. Schmaltz won only 1 out of 12 faceoff attempts against the Leafs last night and has struggled from the faceoff dot throughout his career. That puts Panarin and Kane at a severe disadvantage considering they are often forced to be in the defensive zone more than you would want them to be.
Kane is going to be very popular given the matchup, but it might be Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik being the safer plays along with the defense options in Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. At least the Hawks are the opening game so we’ll be able to see how Head Coach Joel Quenneville sets his lines.
CAROLINA HURRICANES AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (PHI -145 favorites; 5.5 O/U u130)
Starting Goalies: Cam Ward (Unconfirmed) vs. Steve Mason (Confirmed)
Carolina Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
CAR1: AHO - STAAL - TERAVAINEN
CAR2: McGinn - RASK - LINDHOLM
CAR3: SKINNER - RYAN - STEMPNIAK // don't exactly view this line as safe for cash games though
CAR4: Nordstrom - Brown - Di Giuseppe
CARD1: SLAVIN - FAULK
CARD2: Hanifin - Pesce
CARD3: Dahlbeck - Murphy
CARPP1: Aho/Staal/Lindholm/Teravainen/Faulk
CARPP2: Stempniak/Rask/Ryan/Skinner/Slavin // Slavin took the last few shifts last night on the #2 power-play which would be a huge boost to his value
Philadelphia Projected Lines (Updated: 2:40 PM ET)
PHI1: SCHENN - GIROUX - SIMMONDS
PHI2: KONECNY - FILPPULA - VORACEK
PHI3: Weal - COUTURIER - Weise
PHI4: Vandevelde - Bellemare - Read
PHID1: PROVOROV - MacDonald
PHID2: DEL ZOTTO - Gudas
PHID3: Schultz - GOSTISBEHERE
PHIPP1: Schenn/Giroux/Simmonds/Provorov/Gostisbehere
PHIPP2: Konecny/Filppula/Couturier/Voracek/Del Zotto
Carolina played a solid game last night against Nashville and were led by Jordan Staal and Jeff Skinner, who each contributed two points. It should be noted that Sean Couturier’s line has been dominant defensively, and has matched up against their opposition’s top offensive line at home, but it’s hard to tell whether the Flyers consider it to be Staal or Skinner’s line. I think they’ll match up against Staal’s line, but given the circumstances, it may be best to flat-out avoid Carolina in cash games.
Philly has been completely hit or miss lately, but they’ve been doing well enough offensively to remain in consideration in all formats tonight. While Sean Couturier is going to be an interesting cash game value option given the lack of cheap options up the middle, you’re probably better off playing it safe and giving the increasingly affordable forward PP1 core of Brayden Schenn, Claude Giroux, and Wayne Simmonds a good look. Carolina has been a good penalty killing team throughout the season, but they’ve struggled in March, allowing six goals in 25 attempts, which is the 6th worst in the NHL.
OTTAWA SENATORS AT MONTREAL CANADIENS (MON -150 favorites; 5 O/U o125)
Starting Goalies: Craig Anderson (Confirmed) vs. Carey Price (Confirmed)
Ottawa Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
OTT1: Smith - TURRIS - RYAN
OTT2: DZINGEL - BRASSARD - BURROWS
OTT3: HOFFMAN - Pageau - Pyatt
OTT4: STALBERG - Kelly - Winkels
OTTD1: Methot - KARLSSON
OTTD2: PHANEUF - Ceci
OTTD3: Borowiecki - WIDEMAN
OTTPP1: Hoffman/Turris/Brassard/Ryan/Karlsson
OTTPP2: Burrows/Dzingel/Stalberg/Phaneuf/Wideman
Montreal Projected Lines (Updated: 5:25 PM ET)
MON1: PACIORETTY - GALCHENYUK - RADULOV
MON2: LEHKONEN - DANAULT - SHAW
MON3: BYRON - Plekanec - Gallagher
MON4: King - Mitchell - McCarron
MOND1: MARKOV - WEBER
MOND2: Emelin - PETRY
MOND3: Benn - Beaulieu
MONPP1: Byron/Galchenyuk/Radulov/Pacioretty/Weber
MONPP2: Lehkonen/Danault/Shaw/Markov/Petry
The Senators and Habs played a weird one last night where six goals were scored on two of the better goalies in the NHL. I think the oddest thing about it was that Montreal was able to contribute from their depth lines, and that Andrew Shaw’s 2nd line dominated Ottawa at 5v5 throughout the night, netting two even strength goals. While they will continue to be in play tonight, I am willing to pull the trigger on guys like Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, and Shea Weber tonight given the likely matchup with Mike Condon.
I mentioned in yesterday’s Playbook that the value for those three increase significantly if Mike Condon is in net rather than Craig Anderson. That obviously will hold true again tonight. In the case of Pacioretty, he has been shooting the puck even more than he has in the past, and is in a better spot on the power-play to contribute with Andrei Markov dropping down to the second unit. While he is pricey on FanDuel, he’s as affordable as he can possibly be on DraftKings. Not only that, but at home, they avoid matching up against the tough Jean-Gabriel Pageau led 3rd line, which was able to contain MON1 throughout the night.
As for Ottawa, they have been very steady producers throughout the season, so they’re a team you aren’t going to be able to ignore with Al Montoya 99% likely to be in net for the Habs. Obviously, you have to consider the heart and soul of their offense, Erik Karlsson, who has been the DFS NHL MVP since the All-Star Break. He has also reached the point where he is playing the ENTIRE power-play, which is a significant boost to his value. If you can make the salaries work, he is basically in Brent Burns territory as far as production (even though recent play has him as a better option than Burns) but is a tad below Burns in terms of price. I also give Mike Hoffman a bigger boost considering his line with Pageau is going to avoid the Pacioretty line assignment tonight, which should open things up throughout the night.
Update: Craig Anderson is actually going to start again. I don't like the situation as much as I would if Condon were in net, but it's not easy to start on back-to-back nights in the NHL, and the Habs are still bigger favorites than they were last night.
Update #2: Carey Price is going to make starts on consecutive nights for the first time this season. Not sure what to make of this, but I wasn't targeting anyone outside of Erik Karlsson regardless.
LOS ANGELES KINGS AT CALGARY FLAMES (Pick 'Em; 5 O/U o120)
Starting Goalies: Jonathan Quick (Unconfirmed) vs. Brian Elliott (Confirmed)
Los Angeles Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
LA1: BROWN - KOPITAR - IGINLA
LA2: Pearson - CARTER - TOFFOLI // mainly want Carter and Toffoli as the PP1 stack
LA3: GABORIK - KEMPE - Lewis
LA4: Clifford - Andreoff - Dowd
LAD1: Forbort - DOUGHTY
LAD2: MUZZIN - LADUE
LAD3: Gravel - MARTINEZ
LAPP1: Carter/Kopitar/Toffoli/Muzzin/Doughty // prefer the PP stack rather than the 5v5 stack
LAPP2: Gaborik/Kempe/Iginla/LaDue/Martinez // Kings have been rotating these three forwards with Tanner Pearson, Dustin Brown, and Nic Dowd on the 2nd unit
Calgary Projected Lines (Updated: 5:50 PM ET)
CGY1: GAUDREAU - MONAHAN - Chiasson // better matchup, worse value
CGY2: TKACHUK - BACKLUND - FROLIK // worse matchup, better value
CGY3: VERSTEEG - Bennett - Lazar
CGY4: Bouma - Stajan - BROUWER
CGYD1: GIORDANO - HAMILTON
CGYD2: BRODIE - Engelland
CGYD3: Wideman - Bartkowski
CGYPP1: Versteeg/Monahan/Brouwer/Gaudreau/Brodie
CGYPP2: Tkachuk/Backlund/Frolik/Hamilton/Giordano
Last but not least, we have the Kings wiggling around the 9th spot in the Western Conference, fading away like a fish out of the water, meeting with the Calgary Flames, who firmly possess the #1 Wild Card spot. Kings/Flames games can be a bit funky, but it “tends” to be a low scoring affair. Still “tends” to be is in quotations for good reason. The Kings have actually had good success against the Flames, and have scored five goals in two of their last three meetings. Still, this is a very different Flames club who have won 11 games in a row when Brian Elliott is in net. We know that Brian Elliott is one of the toughest goaltenders to beat when he is playing with a high level of confidence, and you can’t get any more confident than Brian Elliott right now.
There’s a few things to consider when it comes to targeting players tonight. Mikael Backlund’s 2nd line has routinely matched up against the opposition’s top offensive lines at home. It makes a lot of sense for CGY2 to face LA2, which is led by Jeff Carter. Again, Backlund’s line is easily the team’s best two-way line, get the most ice time, and are all very affordable, but the matchup is going to be tough throughout the night. That has not made much of a difference more often than not. I don’t mind using someone from Backlund’s line as a salary relief play if it’s necessary. In general, I do think Johnny Gaudreau’s line should be in better shape going up against Anze Kopitar’s top line, mainly because they should be able to use their speed to get some good opportunities against the much older unit (Jarome Iginla is with Kopitar throughout the night), and Gaudreau is usually good for a breakaway or two on a nightly basis (though, whether or not he converts is another story). With that said, it’s more expensive to roster Gaudreau’s line, so they are far from being must plays.
If we’re talking cash game options, it’s difficult to ignore the defensemen from both teams as Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Dougie Hamilton, and Mark Giordano are among the best defensemen in the player pool tonight, and are quite reasonable in price.