Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS Value Update – March 8

I will mention that I generally do not pick two players playing against each other in the same game for a daily fantasy hockey lineup. The same applies for a goalie and a player from opposite teams. You might see two players among the “value picks” from opposite teams, but that doesn’t mean you should take them both. No matter the value, you’re also likely cannibalizing points, so any gains made below a certain price point – the point where production and cost intersect – can be lost if production declines overall as well.

There are many things that determine value: The player’s history (both short and long-term), the price, recent production, opponent, line matching at even-strength, power play time and injuries are just some of the factors to consider. The “Top Value” doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest player, either.

Finally, as far as goalies go, it’s the one position I’ll pay through the nose for if I really like the match-up. The same applies for back-ups with good match-ups. In a given night, with a full slate of games, I won’t have more than three different goalies across all my lineups, usually two. I’ll name the goalies I like specifically in the match-ups they appear in.

Here is today’s slate of games (and DraftStreet values). Reminder: check Left Wing Lock for up-to-the-minute information on starting goalies.

 Games are color-coded as follows:

Green means stack for GPPs. Yellow means targets for cash games. Red means value plays only.

Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs

Despite shoddy defense and goaltending that has led to 17 goals against in four games, the Flyers are 3-1 since the Olympics. Like the bulk of the season, the offense has carried the load with 18 goals over the same stretch of games. It’s been pretty volatile – as the four power play goals scored and five against will show – but the Flyers are just finding ways to win games. A team that is playing over its head is always dangerous and that goes for the Flyers as well. A lot of it is thanks to captain Claude Giroux as he has seven points (four goals) in the team’s last three games.

Three of the four games the Leafs have played since the Olympics have gone to overtime, losing two out of three. Overall, though, the team is scoring goals as they always have; the Leafs have 11 goals on their last 105 shots, a shooting percentage of 10.5-percent overall. The team is scoring goals at a prolific rate but their team defense leaves a lot to be desired as they have given up 135 shots in those four games. Same ol’ Leafs: Timely scoring, great goaltending, a little luck.

These two teams met at the start of the season with the Leafs taking a 3-1 win along the way. I expect this game to be much higher scoring than the four total goals in that contest, so skaters from both sides are recommended. As was the case in earlier games, neither goalie is a particularly good play tonight. Gun to my head, I’ll take Jonathan Bernier in a GPP.

Michael Clifford

Michael Clifford was born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and is a graduate of the Unviersity of New Brunswick. He writes about fantasy hockey and baseball for XNSports and FantasyTrade411.com. He can be reached on Twitter @SlimCliffy for any fantasy hockey questions. Follow @SlimCliffy !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');

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