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.
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Games are color-coded as follows:
Green means stack for GPPs. Yellow means targets for cash games. Red means value plays only.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs
Tampa Bay comes into Toronto riding a three-game winning streak and having scored 12 goals along the way. One problem that the Lightning are having is that their Vezina Trophy-candidate goalie Ben Bishop just so happens to be having his worst month of the season (.905 save percentage, 2.71 goals against average). Another problem is that their special teams have just been breaking even over their three wins, with two power play goals for and two power play goals against in those games. Rookie Ondrej Palat is riding a five-game point streak with three goals and five assists though his price is starting to get a little bit high.
Toronto played in Detroit last night and lost 3-2 in regulation to a very short-handed Detroit team. The Leafs have played well in back-to-back games this year as the team is 6-6-0 when playing the second of back to back games this season. The one concern would be who would be in net as Coach Randy Carlyle didn’t seem to fond of James Reimer in his post-game comments, and with Jonathan Bernier on the shelf with a lower-body injury, it’s either Reimer or AHL goalie Drew MacIntyre. The power play has kicked into gear lately, going 3-for-14 in their last five games.
Prior history is in the Leafs favour as they’ve beat the Lightning twice already this year, though both games were in the weeks leading up to Sochi i.e. when Steven Stamkos still wasn’t playing. The way the goalies are playing makes me nervous enough to not use either of them but there are values on the respective power plays for 50/50 games.
|
Top RW Value |
Top LW Value |
Top C Value |
Top D Value |
Bargain Bin |
|
(TBL) $8823 |
(TBL) $5567 |
(TOR) $8865 |
(TOR) $6415 |
(TOR) $5131 |
