Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) skates during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Welcome back for another night of NHL action with DFSR. Tuesday brings us another big slate 11 games on the schedule including some excellent matchups for DFS as eight of the top 10 offenses and eight of the bottom 10 defenses are in action. Let's jump right into the picks for tonight.
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 - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 18.87 DK - 4.72
My top goalie pick for tonight comes directly from the top of the salary. Carey Price is back in elite status after a very up and down December through February. In nine starts since the calendar flipped to March, he has gone 7-2 with a sub 2.00 GAA and impressive .939 save percentage. The matchup isn't perfect as the Habs draw the Stars and their 11th ranked offense but they have now been eliminated from playoff contention and have scored two goals or less in eight of their last 12 games. The Habs are also not the biggest favorite tonight which should help steer some ownership in other directions. The Price is right in all formats!
Opponent - FLA
Proj Pts FD - 14.19 DK - 3.55
For tournaments, I will be looking to go a bit off the board and take a big risk in hopes of a big return. This marks the first time since starting DFS writing that I have mentioned McElhinney and for good reason. He has been a backup for his entire career and only finished with a winning record once in 12 years(more than 5 starts). Tonight, however, I am not worried about his past as he gets a very opportunistic situation with Frederik Andersen going down last game. McElhinney gets the start at home vs. the Panthers who are another team with little to play for down the stretch even though they aren't completely mathematically eliminated. What I like the most is the fact the Panthers rank 25th offense and take 31+ shots a game while the Leafs allow 31+ shot per game. This creates a very high floor and ceiling.
Also Consider: Anaheim Ducks Goalie(Bernier or Gibson if he starts in his first game back)
Opponent - FLA
Proj Pts FD - 14.05 DK - 4.08
I have yet to see a line on the Leafs/Panthers game but I think it's safe to say the Leaf's will be favorite in a game that could hit the over. This makes it a great spot to get Auston Matthews into your lineups once again. He enters tonight's action tied with the Jets Patrik Laine in rookie points(61) but the big difference between the two is the fact Matthews is playing a huge role in the Leafs playoff push. He has bounced back nicely after hitting the rookie wall and now has points in five straight games. He makes an excellent stand-alone option in your cash games tonight and can be paired with Nylander for even more GPP upside.
Stack with: William Nylander
Opponent - VAN
Proj Pts FD - 15.53 DK - 4.44
The Regina, Saskatchewan native has been blazing hot lately as the Ducks try and close out the Pacific Division and home ice through the first two rounds of playoffs. He is coming off a monster four assist game vs. a tough Rangers team and two games before that had three assists vs. the Oilers. Over his past 10 games, he has tallied a whopping 17 points pushing his season total to 66 in just 69 games. Tonight the Ducks get a much more favorable matchup vs. the Canucks who are dead in the water when looking at the playoffs and come in with the 23rd ranked defense. Fire up Getzlaf in all formats.
Stack with: Rickard Rakell, Patrick Eaves
Opponent - SJ
Proj Pts FD - 10.42 DK - 2.99
He is much more than a fun name to say and is a great target in daily fantasy tonight. First of all, he comes in with eight points over his last 10 games including three powerplay goals and 25 shots on goal. He skates on the Rangers second line with Nash and rookie Vesey who have helped the team to a Top 5 ranking in the offensive category. The matchup may look a little risky but if you haven't been paying attention, the Sharks have been on a huge slide lately. They have lost six straight games and have allowed a whopping 13 goals against in their last two games.
Stack with: Jimmy Vesey, Rick Nash
Opponent - LA
Proj Pts FD - 13.5 DK - 3.93
If you are like me and taking the discount at center and rostering Matthews over McDavid, don't think you have to avoid the entire line. Draisaitl skates on McDavid's wing and is providing elite value at right around that $7K price tag on both sites. In his second full season with the Oilers, he has blown his career numbers out of the water. He has topped last season's 51 points with 70 so far this year to go along with 160 shots(133 all last year). The shooting % has also increased nearly 3%. Confidence comes in many forms and playing with one of the best players in the world can give you a huge boost. Draistail comes into tonight's action red hot with a seven-game point streak including six multi-point efforts. He is safe in all formats.
Stack with: Connor McDavid, Patrick Maroon
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 15.63 DK - 4.5
We are definitely going to want a piece of the Habs offense tonight as they welcome the Stars and their awful 28th ranked defense into the Bell Centre. The Habs open as -175 favorites and are projected to score over three goals which make sense as they have scored three or more in each of their last four wins. Patches has gone through a bit of a dry spell here in March(5 points in 11 games) but it shouldn't last too much longer as he is still firing the puck at an elite rate(37 shots last 10 games). Because of his recent slump, he may also come with lower than normal ownership, especially on a large slate.
Stack with: Alexander Radulov, Phillip Danault
Opponent - PHI
Proj Pts FD - 12.59 DK - 3.74
Hoffman is a little too pricey on FanDuel for cash games but is definitely safe in all formats over at DraftKings. He provides a very high floor with his elite shot volume where he ranks 15th overall in shot attempts per 60 minutes. He has converted those attempts into 203 shots this season for an average over three per game. He is much more than just a cash game player, however, as he comes in hot with 11 points in his last 10 games and now gets a matchup vs. the defensive lacking Flyers who rank 24th in that category. Sorry Flyers(my fav team), I am picking on you again!
Stack with: Jean-Gabriel Pageau
DEFENSEMEN
Opponent - SJ
Proj Pts FD - 10.72 DK - 3.17
While I will be picking on the struggling Sharks tonight, that is not the reason for this pick at all. I have wrote about McDonagh a few times over the past few weeks and will continue to do so if his price doesn't start to rise. What I like most is the consistency he provides with shot volume and shot blocking. This gives him a high floor for cash games but he also gives you offensive upside(40 points this season) which gets a slight boost against the aforementioned Sharks.
Opponent - NJ
Proj Pts FD - 7.42 DK - 2.16
From a PTS/$ perspective, Morrissey is a great play in all formats at punt prices tonight. He has seen an uptick in ice time lately with injuries to Trouba and Byfuglien. Trouba was back on Saturday and assumed his 29 minutes per game but Morrissey was still out there for 23 minutes last game. Byfuglien traveled with the team to Jersey so it is likely he is back tonight but unclear how hard they will push him. Morrissey doesn't provide much offensive upside(20 points on the season) but has been very consistent with a balance of shots and blocks.
Also Consider: Noah Hanifin(CAR)
Hockey is back and with it comes 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.
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View Comments
In the same page, tor goalie definitely more gpp!
My concern with the Toronto goalie IS the fact that the defense in front of him is NOT that great. You could make a case to double load up on that game because you know Toronto can score and Florida based on recent trend CAN score, they go 3 lines deep. Panthers aren't mathematically out but can still play spoiler
I love this contrarian gpp pick Chris. Toronto goalie is gonna be super low owned for reasons like Dominic said. Poor defense is the main one ya but if he gets the win and gets a pile of shots against them he could help win u some serious dough. If it's safety you're looking for them, price and Bob are great choices. Great work as always Mr. Durell