Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), from Russia, pauses on the ice in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Hello and welcome to a nice little four game slate today in the NHL. We have no teams playing in back to back games so it should make for an exciting night of hockey. We have some nice picks for you today, so let's get started shall we?
Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get access to our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.
If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 18.34 DK - 4.59
I love me some Jones tonight and I'm personally not even considering anyone else on this short slate this evening. Him and the Sharks defeated the Montreal Canadiens at home by a score of 2-1 on Friday evening and they haven't played since then. A few days rest never hurts anyone especially when it comes to hockey and their grinding schedule. So let me see here, Jones stops 30 out of 32 shots as he out dueled Carey Price who is the best goalie on this planet, and now he welcomes Mike Condon and the Senators to town, who just gave up 8 goals against Pittsburgh? As Professional poker player Scotty Nguyen would say, "I'm All in Baby." Jones has won 3 of his last 4 starts, and 5 of his last 6 while allowing only 8 goals during that span. Ottawa is ranked 23rd on Offense, so all of this makes Jones a terrific play in every single format this evening. Start him with confidence.
Also Consider: Braden Holtby
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 13.14 DK - 3.9
Finally Maple Leaf fans I'm giving your #1 pick some love. I have personally never mentioned Matthews here but the time has come on this short slate. We all know that he can have great games, but earlier in the season he would disappear for a few games before appearing again for another game or two. But have no fear my friends, it looks like Matthews has found some consistency as he has a goal in 3 of his last 4 games, and he fired 10 shots on goal in his last 2 games. On the season the rookie has 11 goals, 8 assists, and a whopping 89 shots on goal. Wow that's awesome for a rookie. Tonight the Leafs welcome Minnesota to town, and even though the Wild are ranked #1 in the league on Defense, they allow 30.5 shots a game, which means that there is a good chance that regression is coming soon, maybe as early as tonight. Matthews is usually a tourney play only for me, but on this short slate he is a great play in all formats as he plays on one of Toronto's top 2 lines and their #1 PP unit.
PP Stack With: Nazem Kadri, William Nylander, Leo Komarov
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 9.49 DK - 3.06
Today is a day to save some money at the center position and spend up at winger. Here we have Saku's younger brother Mikko who the system doesn't mind from a points per $ perspective. I like focusing on a team's 2nd line when they are the visiting team because the home team gets the last line change which means that they can put their checking line against the visiting team's top scoring line which with Minnesota it is obviously Parise, Coyle, and Staal. This will give the 2nd line a ton of room to skate, and Koivu has a goal in each of his last games, and he plays on the #1 power-play unit, the #1 penalty kill unit, and he sees 20 minutes of ice time per game. The Maple Leafs have the 3rd worst defense in the league and we definitely need to get some exposure to the Wild today, and at this price Koivu will be in every single one of my lineups. Start him with confidence.
Stack with: Michael Granlund, Jason Zucker
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 16.59 DK - 5.69
Little Joe has a high projected point total today and with good reason. Like I stated earlier, Ottawa's defense is lacking slightly to put it nicely, and Pavelski sees a ton of ice time on the top line and the #1 power-play unit. Little Joe scored a goal and added an assist with 5 shots on goal last game against Carey Price and the Habs, so just imagine what he could do this evening against Mike Condon and the Sens. The stud winger has 8 goals, 15 assists and 82 shots on goal already this season, and what keeps his floor even higher is the fact that he has blocked 27 shots as well, which is pretty impressive for a small dude who plays forward. So this is very simple. He has a very high floor, and a crazy high ceiling because he is a pretty darned good hockey player, so he is a must play in all formats. Moving on.
Stack with: Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau
Opponent - BOS
Proj Pts FD - 11.54 DK - 3.52
Yes I could have wrote up the magnificent Alex Ovechkin here and everything would be just peachy. But that would be a cop out in my opinion. Alex the Great hasn't been himself lately, and even though he can explode on any given night, I'm presenting to you one of his line-mates instead, who the system absolutely loves from a points per $ perspective today. Johansson scored 2 goals in his last game, which means he will stay on the top line with Backstrom and Ovechkin today. The Bruins have the 4th ranked defense in the league, but if the Capitals' top line gets going they cannot be stopped. I like this line as a tourney stack, but I also think that with this low price and opportunity that Johansson deserves consideration in cash games also.
Stack with: Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom
Opponent - CAR
Proj Pts FD - 14.44 DK - 4.37
I don't have too much love for the Ducks today, mainly because of the fact that Carolina isn't as bad as years past as evident by their 10th ranked defense and #1 penalty kill. But Perry and Getzlaf together always offer fantasy appeal no matter who their opponent is, and we lack high quality options today. Perry has 2 assists and 7 shots on goal in his last 2 games while he was on the ice for an average of 21 minutes. He's too cheap to not at least consider today for your cash game lineups, and if you think the Ducks can score a few goals on Cam Ward, then a power-play stack is your cup of tea.
PP Stack with: Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 9.75 DK - 3.13
Brent Burns is an obvious choice here but he is so terribly expensive. We always try and find the best value at the cheapest price possible and today Spurgeon stands out above the rest. He plays on the #1 power-play unit for Minnesota, and he kills penalties as well. He has 2 assists, 6 shots, and 6 blocked shots in his last 2 games so he looks pretty safe for cash games at this price. He only has 1 goal this year and doesn't shoot a lot by rule, so his upside isn't too high, but like I said Toronto is ranked 29th on defense, so I wouldn't call you crazy if you considered him there as well. If it's safety you're looking for though, then Spurgeon is your man today.
Also Consider: Brent Burns
Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get accessto our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.
If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.
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