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.
Playoffs are much different from the regular season. Playing the same team over and over means mostly the same match-ups over and over. That also means fairly consistent value among players regardless of how the price moves, and THAT means how the price moves has a huge influence on daily plays. Also, nailing goalies is of utmost importance.
Philadelphia Flyers at New York Rangers
If recent history is any indication, the Rangers should take Game 1; in the four games the two teams played this year, each team won two games in regulation at home. All the games last night in the playoff were won by the home teams as well.
The Flyers stumbled down the stretch, winning just four of their final twelve games. Their wins were against Toronto, Florida, Buffalo, and an overtime win against Pittsburgh. In short, this team isn’t playing very good hockey of late. To make matters worse (I think?), Steve Mason will miss at least Game 1 and possibly Game 2 with an upper-body injury. The team defense was shaky a bit down the stretch so there are a lot of good reasons to stay away from this team tonight.
The Rangers didn’t have much trouble generating offense down the stretch run of the season, posting at least 30 shots on goal in each of their final eight games. They did manage just 21 goals, though, shooting 7.4-percent along the way. I do think we see a very good game out of them tonight, though, seeing as they averaged nearly 32 shots on goal per game against the Flyers this year, scoring seven goals in their two home games. I might not stack them outright, but there will be good value and I will be using Henrik Lundqvist in most lineups. I would stay away from the respective top lines with Giroux and Nash on them; they were matched against each other in their final game and the only goals scored with them on the ice were by Ryan McDonagh (a defenseman) and Jakub Voracek (while short-handed).
|
Top RW Value |
Top LW Value |
Top C Value |
Top D Value |
Bargain Bin |
|
(PHI) $6940 |
(NYR) $9980 |
(NYR) $7204 |
Ryan McDonagh (NYR) $9092 |
(NYR) $4379 |
