I will mention that I generally do not pick two players playing against each other in the same game for a daily 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 very 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.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Columbus Blue Jackets – Series Tied 1-1
There has been 14 total goals scored in this series, each team with seven, and each team has scored three of those seven on the power play. There have been 21 total power plays given out in the two games, so obviously special teams should be the focus on either side of this series, at least for now.
One interesting development for the Penguins in the last game was that James Neal was taken off the top power play unit and Paul Martin was added to it, giving them two defensemen on that unit. This is probably in response to the fact that the Blue Jackets scored a short-handed goal in each of the first two games. It also gives Paul Martin a huge boost in value.
For quite a large chunk of the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets ran three power play units and that essentially cut the value of all the players that were on the power play. This series, the Jackets are down to two units – Letestu/Johansen/Jenner and Dubinsky/Anisimov/Atkinson. The defensemen are usually Jack Johnson and James Wisniewski (Ryan Murray and David Savard also get a bit of time).
This series looks like it may be tougher than the Penguins anticipated so I’m not sure I stack either side here, or use either goalie here. I’d rather just look for the players on the respective power plays to fill out 50/50 rosters.
| Top RW Value | Top LW Value | Top C Value | Top D Value | Bargain Bin |
| Cam Atkinson(CBJ)$7215 | Chris Kunitz(PIT)$11,960 | Boone Jenner(CBJ)$8183 | Paul Martin(PIT)$9523 | Lee Stempniak(PIT)$5719 |
