Daily Fantasy Hockey Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 3/12/17

Hello my fellow hockey fans and welcome to another day of NHL action at DFSR. There is one early game today, but we will be focusing on the  four game main slate which starts at 7 pm et. Washington is the only team playing in a back-to-back situation and Washington and Anaheim are playing their third game in four nights. Let's look at some of the top plays from the projection system, 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

Antti Raanta FD - $8300 DK - $8100
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 16.85 DK - 4.21

Today's slate has GPP only written all over it and let's start with Raanta who is about to face the Red Wings and their lowly 26th ranked offense. Carey Price and Braden Holtby are in action today, but their situations are far from ideal. Regardless, those two are usually very popular, so this should keep Raanta's ownership at a minimum today. The Rangers' tender did allow four goals against Carolina last game, but he won three starts in a row before that, to go along with a shutout two games ago in Tampa Bay against a solid Lightning team. The Rangers are a small favorite today (-125) on the road and I think that they take care of business against a poor Detroit squad. Fire Raanta up in your GPP lineups.

Also Consider: Cam Talbot (Edm)

CENTERS

Nicklas Backstrom FD - $7100 DK - $6900
Opponent - ANA
Proj Pts FD - 12.83 DK - 4.06

Like I said above, this feels like a GPP only slate today and if we play our cards right we can take down a large tourney or two. We need to look for guys who have huge upside potential and for me it starts with Backstrom at the center position. The star swede is pointless in his last two games, but as I've stated before, star players are very rarely held off of the scoresheet for three games in a row. What makes this pick more enticing is the fact that he scored a goal on four shots and added two assists on February 11th against the Ducks. It looks like the Capitals separated him and Ovechkin from the top line, but they are still together on the #1 powerplay unit. Anaheim is a tough matchup, but with his monster performance against them last month, I believe that Backstrom is a solid GPP play today.

Stack With: T.J. Oshie , Marcus Johansson

Joe Thornton FD - $5300 DK - $5000
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 9.25 DK - 3.01

Here we have another boom or bust pick, but big Joe has a juicy matchup against the Stars and their 29th ranked offense and their league worst 30th ranked penalty kill unit. Thornton is actually on a three-game point streak with a goal and three assists. He only averages one shot on goal per game, but even at his age, he is still an elite playmaker and he plays on the top line and the #1 PP unit in San Jose. The Sharks should score a few goals today, so make sure you get some exposure to them and for me, it starts with this guy and his cheap prices on both sites.

Stack with: Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau (PP,) Logan Couture (PP)

WINGERS

Jamie Benn FD - $8200 DK - $6800
Opponent - SJ
Proj Pts FD - 15.47 DK - 5.01

Most of the star players have tough matchups today, so that means that they should be lower owned than normal. Benn is one of my favorite GPP plays today. He and the Stars are about to face the Sharks who will be playing their fourth game in six nights. That is a lot of hockey in a short time period and San Jose will also most likely be starting their backup goalie today because their starter (Jones) played yesterday in a 3-1 loss against the Predators. Benn is having another solid year for the Stars. He was held pointless last game, but before that, he was on a seven-game point streak with five goals, five assists and a whopping 24 shots on goal. What I like most about Benn today is the fact that he has been reunited with Seguin and Spezza on the top line for the Stars. Boom or bust seems to be a common occurrence today, but we need to be contrarian in GPP's and for me at the winger position, it starts with Benn.

Stack with: Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza

Chris Kreider FD - $5900 DK - $5500
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 9.81 DK - 3.03

If there is any kind of safety at all today, I suppose we can put this guy in that category because of the soft matchup he has. The Red Wings are not only bad offensively, but they also own the league's 26th ranked defense. Kreider has two goals (1pp,) an assist and 12 shots in his last two games and three goals in his last three games. He plays on one of the top two lines for the Rangers as well as their #1 PP unit. Look for a few goals to be scored in Detroit today and lock Kreider into your tournament lineups.

Stack with: Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan

DEFENSEMEN

Ryan McDonagh FD - $5400 DK - $5000
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 9.34 DK - 2.94

When choosing my top defenseman for my GPP lineups, I look for a guy who has a soft matchup, logs a ton of ice time and plays on his team's #1 PP unit. Enter McDonagh who checks off all of those boxes. He has two assists, seven shots and four blocks in his last three games which isn't flashy, but it gets the job done. He averages around 25 minutes of ice time per game for the Rangers and he has monster upside today against a weak Detroit squad.

Also Consider: Kevin Shattenkirk (Wsh)

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.