Daily Fantasy Hockey Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 3/6/17

Hello, hockey fans and welcome to a nice little four-game Monday slate in daily fantasy NHL. The Sharks are the only team playing a back to back with the Lightning and Jets playing a third game in four nights. There are some nice matchups to exploit 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.

GOALIES

Braden Holtby FD - $9700 DK - $8500
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 19.94 DK - 4.98

From a safety perspective, this is an easy choice today. The Capitals are the best team in the NHL and Holtby has been elite between the pipes this year. He has won his last five starts and hasn't lost in regulation time in his 14 starts. The Vezina trophy candidate leads the entire league with a GAA of 1.91 and eight shutouts and the Capitals are listed as -240 favorites today according to Vegas. Holtby will be very popular, so you can possibly look elsewhere for your tournament lineups, but fading him in cash games is very risky.

Also Consider: Tuukka Rask (GPP)

CENTERS

Patrice Bergeron FD - $7200 DK - $7300
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 17.39 DK - 5.57

This French Canadian star center is nominated every single year for the league's best defensive forward. Well, this year he has been on a mission from an offensive standpoint as well.  Bergeron had two assists last game to go along with six shots on goal and in his last five games, has two goals, six assists and 21 shots on goal. The matchup isn't great against the 10th ranked Senators defense but on a small slate, it is going to be hard to fade the consistency and upside that Bergeron brings to the table.

Stack With: Brad Marchand, David Backes

Nicklas Backstrom FD - $6800 DK - $7100
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 12.17 DK - 4.08

Any time the Capitals play, especially when on home ice, we need to find a way to get exposure to their top line. Ovechkin is ridiculously expensive, so pivoting to Backstrom who centers "The Great Eight" on the top line and the #1 PP unit is an optimal play. The Swedish star is having one of the best years of his career. He scored a powerplay goal last game and has two power-play goals to go along with six shots on goal and five blocked shots in his last three games. He is in the race for the points lead with 65 total points so far this season. The Dallas Stars will be in trouble today as they own the league's second-worst defense. Backstrom is a great play today in all formats.

Stack with: Alexander Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie

WINGERS

Nikita Kucherov FD - $8000 DK - $7800
Opponent - NYR
Proj Pts FD - 17.55 DK - 5.73

Stamkos who? Just kidding Steven, you are a great player, but the Lighnting are becoming Kucherov's team since you've been injured. Just watch a Tampa Bay game and tell me that this guy isn't good. This young Russian superstar in the making is on an impressive six-game point streak. In those six games, Kucherov has seven goals and seven assists to go along with 27 shots on goal. He is currently matchup proof so play him with confidence in all formats today.

Stack with: Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson

Mathieu Perreault FD - $5200 DK - $4500
Opponent - SJ
Proj Pts FD - 9.01 DK - 2.83

This isn't an easy matchup for the Jets but they've been scoring goals left and right lately and Perrault happens to play on the top line with two very talented players in Patrick Laine and Mark Scheifele. Perreault took awhile to get 100% after he was injured earlier in the season, but he's fully healthy now and he's been putting up some good numbers lately. He's on a seven-game point streak with three goals and eight assists. He is simply way too cheap on both sites considering his recent production, so fire him up in all formats today.

Stack with: Patrick Laine, Mark Scheifele

Also Consider: Patrick Marleau (SJ)

DEFENSEMEN

Note: Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson are great plays as always, but let's dig a little deeper into the lower tiers from a salary perspective at the defense position.

Dustin Byfuglien FD - $6000 DK - $6100
Opponent - SJ
Proj Pts FD - 16.1 DK - 4.99

There is very little value to be had in the lower tier at the defense position today. On that note, certain guys are hard to fade and big Buff is one of them. Like I said earlier, San Jose is a tough matchup, but I still believe that the Jets will score at least a couple of goals today and look for this guy to be right in the middle of the action. Much like Brent Burns, Buffy is pretty much another forward on the ice. He has four assists, eight shots and three blocks in his last two games and is on a seven-game point streak with two goals, seven assists, 28 shots and eight blocks. See what I mean? He's very hard to fade today and he makes a great play in all formats.

Matt Niskanen FD - $4500 DK - $4700
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 10.42 DK - 3.32

Competition is healthy because it drives players to be better. That's exactly what is happening in Washington with Matt Niskanen. He lost his job on the first PP unit when Kevin Shattenkirk came to town, but that didn't mean that he stopped playing his heart out. Like I said with Backstrom, we need exposure to the Capitals today as they face the Stars and their awful defense and Niskanen comes at a discount. He has three assists, eight shots and three blocks in his last three games while averaging 21 minutes of ice time. He makes a fine play in all formats this evening.

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.