Adam Markowitz already gave you a great set of picks for today—but if you’re anything like me you sometimes like to throw an alt-lineup into one of the FanDuel tourneys … especially the ones that allow multiple entries. Consider this a Sports Jerks alt-lineup. It’s kind of like Pink Floyd without Roger Waters or Van Halen without David Lee Roth (I’ll stop before I further age myself). It’s an experiment that may not be as good as the original. Consider this lineup like life with Sammy Hagar.
I’m feeling good after doing ok last night in some head to head matchups. Cory Conacher and Steven Stamkos both helped push the lineup over the top, while Zack Kassian continued to be a nice value. Claude Giroux wrecked any chances for a better day by only adding 1.2 fantasy points—and If you didn’t have Henrik Zetterberg (and I didn’t) your chances of winning any tourney’s were nil. My love/hate relationship with Giroux is becoming more about hate—and I don’t like that. At heart, I’m a man of peace.
Note: One thing that worried me about Kassian’s value was a shortened five on three power play by the Canucks where Kassian did not get on the ice. If you have been reading my picks recently you know I construct lineups based around value and power play time. Keep your eye on Kassian’s power play time over the next couple of games.
Today’s lineup will be heavy on the Oilers. Sean Allen of ESPN noted that 57.9 percent of all Edmonton’s scoring has come on the power play. In that same piece he notes, “52.6 percent of the goals against the Colorado Avalanche this season have come on the power play.”
Edmonton plays Colorado today. I’m hanging my hat on that matchup. I am aware Colorado has only allowed 19 goals this season—that is why this lineup should be used as an alternative to our initial picks. I’m experimenting with one particular game today based on one very interesting stat.
LW: Taylor Hall $8,400—I’ll take Hall for the EDM/COL reason mentioned above.
LW: Cory Conacher $4,800—He continues to put up points. It can be prudent to steer clear of back to back games like this but at $4,800 he’s too difficult to pass up.
RW: Nail Yakupov $3,900—He gets power play time and has shown a knack for finding the back of the net. Plus, this continues my theme of using Edmonton players against Colorado.
RW: Matt Frattin $5,000—Frattin has four goals and two assists in four games played. He’s a good value at $5,000.
C: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins $7,000—See Taylor Hall, then see Sean Allen’s nuggets of information above.
C: Joe Thornton $8,700—Thornton centers one of the best, if not the best, line in hockey. He has 14 points in seven games.
D: Justin Schultz $5,100—Schultz sees a ton of power play time for Edmonton and always seems to be a good play regardless of the matchup.
D: Dougie Hamilton $3,500—Hamilton gets plenty of power play time for Boston and continues to look perfectly comfortable in the NHL.
G: Antti Niemi $8,600—I think Niemi is the best play in net today. He’s 6-0-0, with a 1.95 GAA and a .933 save percentage.
Other values: Cody Hodgson $4,800, Daniel Winnik, $4,900
