After a break for the Super Bowl I’m back swimming through NHL stats to construct FanDuel lineups for Sports Jerks. There are certain things to consider when building a daily fantasy lineup and recently I have been using power play ice time as one of my factors when choosing a player. I will still use that stat to piece together today’s team, but I won’t give it as much weight as I have been in the past. While still hugely important in FanDuel (and fantasy hockey) it’s not the end-all be-all of daily fantasy. I’ll also put more weight on players who have had time to rest.
LW: James van Riemsdyk $5,500. He’s strong and he just plants himself in front of the net during Toronto’s power plays. He scored a power play goal against Washington on Thursday and should see plenty of opportunities on the power play. Toronto has only averaged two goals per game at home this season but they are facing a Carolina team that has allowed 3.29 goals per game—sixth worst in the NHL.
LW: Zach Parise $7,600. Parise, Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley (Minnesota’s top line) are too good a trio to be kept pointless for a third straight game. While the Wild had a roster shakeup recently, the top line remains intact—for now.
RW: Nail Yakupov $4,000. I’m taking Yakupov because of the value he could potentially bring on the power play. At $4,000 he’s very hard to pass on.
RW: Radim Vrbata $6,100. Vrbata has a point in five out of his past six games. He only had one shot on goal on Feb. 2 but I expect him to get back into the scoring column after a day off yesterday. Vrbata has three goals, six assists and 29 shots on goal this season. Six of his nine points have come on the power play.
C: Joe Thornton $8,000. After a day of rest I expect Thornton to break out of his mini slump.
C: Logan Couture $7,200. Couture was held pointless against Nashville on Saturday. Like Thornton though, I like the fact he’s playing after a day of rest. I expect him to get back on the board tonight. He has five goals and five assists this season—half of his points have come on the power play.
D: Jason Garrison $4,900. I think Garrison is poised to break out at some point. It’s easy to forget he had 33 points last season. He sees plenty of ice time (including power play time) and will get his chances.
D: Oliver Ekman-Larsson $4,600. Although he didn’t get a point on Feb. 2 against Dallas he did get six shots on goal and was on the ice for over 25 minutes. He has seven points this year and I like his value at $4,600.
G: Thomas Greiss $6,700. This is purely a play based on price. Greiss is the probable starter for the Sharks today according to leftwinglock.com. Make sure you check on his status again before you submit your lineups.
