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.
Minnesota Wild at Chicago Blackhawks
The first game was a little bit unexpected in the process but not the result. The Wild pretty much dominated the second half of the game but couldn’t keep the puck out of their net; from about the 4-minute mark onward, the Wild had 32 unblocked shot attempts while the Blackhawks had just 12. The Blackhawks converted four of those shot attempts to goals while the Wild had just one.
The Wild line that did very well in Game 1, despite being matched up against the Jonathan Toews line for most of the game, was Mikael Granlund’s top line. Zach Parise and Mikael were each on the ice for just seven shot attempts against at five-on-five all game despite having been matched up against the Toews line for 14 shifts.
On the flip side, the Patrick Kane line had a very good night as Kane not only scored those highlight reel goals, but the line was three of just six Blackhawks to post a positive CorsiFor relative to the rest of the team. The Kane line was matched against the third line of Minnesota, a very favourable match-up for Chicago while they still get last change.
I don’t have any faith in Ilya Bryzgalov as a goaltender but don’t mind Corey Crawford in any type of league format. I’d stack the Patrick Kane line with Crawford in GPPs while picking apart the top power play unit from the ‘Hawks in 50/50s.
| Top RW Value | Top LW Value | Top C Value | Top D Value | Bargain Bin |
| Jason Pominville(MIN)$9520 | Patrick Sharp(CHI)$12,596 | Mikael Granlund(MIN)$9044 | Niklas Hjalmarsson(CHI)$5200 | Ben Smith(CHI)$6316 |
New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins
The first game between these teams, an overtime win for the Rangers, was one where the problems for Pittsburgh showed through. The Rangers essentially have three scoring lines while the Penguins, depending on whether they have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the same line or not, have either one or two. The result was that the “third’ line of the Rangers, with Derick Brassard and company, scored two of the three Rangers goals and were three of six Rangers players with a 55-percent corsi rating or higher.
The line-matching game was very apparent in Game 1. Early on, the Crosby line was sent out against the Brassard line. Coach Dan Bylsma tried his best to get away from the match-up later in the game but it still ended up working in favour of the Rangers, as the result showed. Also, Evgeni Malkin’s line, when it was together, was sent out as often as possible against the Rangers’ fourth line. When that wasn’t going on, they were sent out against Brad Richards’ line (which resulted in one goal for James Neal).
These games should mostly be high scoring, something along the lines of a 4-3 game or in that neighbourhood. That makes me want to stay away from both goalies in this game and just focus on the lines that might be able to get good match-ups today. The Rangers third line isn’t a bad GPP option, either.
| Top RW Value | Top LW Value | Top C Value | Top D Value | Bargain Bin |
| Lee Stempniak(PIT)$6996 | Benoit Pouliot(NYR)$7630 | Derick Brassard(NYR)$6788 | Kris Letang(PIT)$8441 | Daniel Carcillo(NYR)$5390 |
Good luck!
