Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS Value Update – March 28

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.

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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.

Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers

This is a vital weekend for the Maple Leafs with just eight games remaining and two teams ahead of them in the standings on the docket. Tonight, they’re off to face the Broad Street Bullies.

The Leafs find themselves in a four-way tie for the final two playoff spots and have lost six straight games in regulation. One thing the team has done is kept scoring; in their last eight games, the Leafs have managed 20 goals, good for 2.5 goals for/game. Of course, they’ve allowed an average of 4.0 goals against/game over that stretch so it’s not like there haven’t been some serious drawbacks. Phil Kessel had gone cold for a little stretch but has two goals and two assists with 13 shots on goal in those four games.

Philly has lost a couple of games in a row in their own right and will be looking to right their ship. One problem that the Flyers have to correct immediately is their shots against; the team has allowed 70 shots against in their last two games for the first time in any two games since before the Olympic break. That’s team defense breaking down. They have just three goals on their last 63 shots, so they are getting their own chances to score, the percentages just aren’t breaking their way right now.

These two teams met a few weeks ago and the result was a 4-3 Leafs win. I expect a similar scoring line tonight so I will just avoid the goalies and look for some skaters for my 50/50 games.

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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