Each day throughout the NHL season I am going to be recommending players to target in your DFS lineups with the focus on tournament lineups (with DraftKings prices). I will try to avoid posting the obvious plays on a given night — for example Tyler Seguin is an automatic play for me every day he plays.
[Play Daily Fantasy Hockey On DraftKings Tonight!]
There are six games in the NHL tonight.
C – Jason Spezza ($5,900) – DAL
The first place Stars continue their road trip tonight versus the Carolina Hurricanes. While the Canes are a solid team defensively I will have a hard time being convinced to fade the Stars big guns. Winger Ales Hemsky remains out of the lineup which has left Lindy Ruff to juggle his lines a bit. Spezza, who skated on the top line against Boston and notched two points, will remain on that line tonight. I am not sure if there is any line in the NHL that can rival the talent that the Stars have on their current first line. I will have plenty of shares of Tyler Seguin ($8,700), Jamie Benn ($8,000) and Spezza tonight. Seguin is the most expensive player on the slate tonight and Benn is tied with Patrick Kane for second most expensive. That is why I absolutely love Spezza tonight who has five goals and seven assists this season. His price tag is a steal. Stacking him with one of the stars other big guns will help with cap relief. Another Dallas Stars player I like tonight is C –Mattias Janmark ($3,000).
C – Leon Draisaitl ($2,800) – EDM
Jordan Eberle is returning tonight from his shoulder injury and will be making his Oilers season debut. It’s too bad Eberle is not on DraftKings tonight….oh well. Draisaitl is playing center on the first line tonight with Hall and Eberle on his wings vs the Pittsburgh Penguins. Draisaitl has seven points in three games this season since being recalled from the AHL. He is playing over nineteen minutes a game so far with an average of 3:29 on the power-play. Draisaitl will likely be a popular play tonight but at this price it is too hard to pass up the potential value he could bring.
C – Nazem Kadri ($5,000) – TOR
The Leafs coach Mike Babcock has continuously praised Kadri for his play this season despite his point totals not necessarily reflecting that. Kadri has a career shooting percentage of 11.6% but this season he has just one goal on 48 shots. He is shooting at a 2.8% clip. That number will not last that low for long. He has been unlucky this season that he hasn’t been able to find the back of the night more this season. This matchup versus Detroit may be when he finds his scoring touch. Petr Mrazek gets the start in net tonight for the Wings who give up 31.1 even-strength shots per 60 minutes. Only five teams are worse than the Wings in that regard.
RW – Jakob Silfverberg ($4,400) – ANA
The Ducks are playing host to the Blue Jackets. It is likely that Curtis McElhinney will get the start in net for Columbus as Bobrovsky played last night in their 3-2 victory over the Kings. If McElhinney is indeed in net the Ducks despite their scoring troubles this season are an attractive option. Silfverberg is another player who has had scoring this season. He has zero goals on 28 shots. He is getting time on the power-play and should log around eighteen minutes of ice time in a favourable matchup against the Blue Jackets.
Other forwards I like tonight: S. Crosby ($7,800), E. Malkin ($7,200), C. Perry ($6,900), M. Zuccarello ($5,200), D. Brassard ($5,100), V. Rask ($4,400), T. Teravainen ($4,000), R. Sheahan ($3,500), B. Bennett ($2,600)
D – Justin Faulk ($5,600) – CAR
Faulk will be given the complicated task of playing against the Seguin line tonight. Faulk is an excellent defensemen who has the capability to be a major offensive force from the blueline without being a liability defensively. Faulk will likely have to block a shot or two tonight facing the offensive dynamo in the Stars. Faulk has scored all four of his goals on the PP this season. Faulk should certainly get a chance to capitalize on the power-play tonight against Dallas who ranked 20th in penalty killing.
Other defenseman I like tonight: J. Klingberg ($5,200), K. Yandle ($5,000), M. Rielly ($4,300), D. DeKeyser ($2,900), B. Pesce ($2,600).
G – Frederik Andersen ($7,000) – ANA
Andersen has been excellent this season despite the Ducks poor showing as a whole. Andersen will look to continue that success against the Blue Jackets who are on the second leg of a back-to-back. The Ducks are currently biggest favourite tonight betting wise. They are listed at the time of this posting as -163 favourites on Pinnacle.
G – Henrik Lundqvist ($8,000) – NYR
The Rangers draw a favourable matchup on the road against the struggling Avalanche. The Avs are coming off a 4-2 defeat to the Coyotes last night and will be starting backup goalie Reto Berra tonight in net. Vegas, just as I do, likes the Rangers chances to get the win on the road tonight as they are -155 on Pinnacle. It is hard to pass up an elite goalie in this situation. I will be certainly be rostering Lundqvist tonight.
Hope this can be a help to you guys tonight, let’s have a great night in DFS! Feel free to comment and ask questions below or on Twitter (@XNSports, @doshjaniels). Best of luck!
Featured Image Credit: By Robert Kowal (Flickr: Henrik Lundqvist) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
