Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS Value Update – April 25

I will mention that 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.

New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers

The big news for Game 4 is that Steve Mason will be returning as the starting goalie for the Flyers after missing most of the first three games of the series with whatever injury the Flyers want to make up. It’s not as if Mason is a saving grace for the Flyers, but Ray Emery wasn’t going to steal games with that .888 save percentage of his so far these playoffs. It does mean a slight downgrade for all Rangers skaters after they had scored 10 goals in the first three games.

The line of Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, and Derek Stepan have combined for four goals and 12 points so far through the first three games, carrying the load so far offensively for the Rangers. It’s curious that Nash is the only one without a goal on that line, yet he leads the entire team in shots on goal with 18 shots. If I was looking to stack a line tonight, it would be that trio.

The Flyers have not had anyone break out offensively as the guys on their top line, Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Scott Hartnell, lead the team with just two points each. There aren’t a lot of guys getting involved offensively at all, as Jason Akeson and Luke Schenn lead the Flyers in shots on goal with eight each. I thought there would be a better game from the team when they went back home but I just didn’t see it.

I’m less bullish on the Rangers than I would be if Emery were back in net for the Flyers. If I were going to stack anyone, it would be the top line from the Rangers. I would take Henrik Lundqvist in net for any DFS games, too.

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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