Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane celebrates after scoring his goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oiler,s Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, in Chicago. The Blackhawks won 4-2. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Welcome back hockey fans. Thursday brings us another big slate with 10 games on tap including seven of the Top 10 offenses. There are just two teams(CBJ, STL) playing on a back to back after a small slate last night and three teams(CBJ, ANH, BOS) playing a third game in four nights. Let's jump in and take a look at some of the top plays at each position.
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 lineups 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 - 18.57 DK - 4.64
My top goalie in all formats tonight is easily Andrei Vasilevskiy. Despite coming off a four-goal loss in Vegas on Tuesday, he has been elite all season leading the league with 21 wins and sits third in both GAA(2.18) and save %(.933). The Lightning have also better on home ice and Vasilevskiy has benefited with a 12-1-1 record and .921 save percentage. The Bolts and Vasilevskiy are also the biggest favorites on the slate(-220) as they will face a Senators team that has dropped 13 of their last 16 games while averaging just 1.9 goals per game. He is safe in all formats.
Opponent - VAN
Proj Pts FD - 15.25 DK - 3.58
I am speculating here but after two straight disappointing starts from Martin Jones, it is likely backup Aaron Dell gets the nod on Thursday. In fact, after giving up four or more goals in six straight starts, Dell has outplayed Jones by a mile this season. He has made 12 appearances(nine starts) and sits with an impressive 6-3-1 record with an elite .939 save % and comes into tonight having won his last four starts. If he gets the nod, he would be a nice value play in all formats as the Sharks are big -200 favorites at home to the Canucks who rank 28th in offense. If Jones is back between the pipes, I would only consider him in GPP formats as a low owned contrarian play.
Also Consider: Jonathan Quick(LAK)
Opponent - ANA
Proj Pts FD - 16.85 DK - 4.81
The center position is loaded tonight and I will once again start out by taking the slight discount on both sites with Johnny T. He continued his streak on Tuesday with his fourth straight multi-point effort and now has 14 points over his last 10 games and 42 on the season. He also provides a nice floor with 3.1 shots per game and gets a nice matchup vs. a Ducks team that has dropped three straight while giving up 12 goals against. Fire up Tavares in all formats.
Stack with: Anders Lee, Josh Bailey
Opponent - CBJ
Proj Pts FD - 14.3 DK - 4.25
The Penguins are in a great spot tonight and I will once again side with Malkin who comes at a nice discount from his superstar teammate, Sidney Crosby. They are at home vs. a struggling Blue Jackets team that is playing back to back and their third game in four nights and have dropped three of their last four games while giving up 20 goals against. Malkin has scored in back to back games and has points in eight of his last nine games with 34 shots on goal. He is also safe in all formats.
Stack with: Phil Kessel, Conor Sheary
Opponent - STL
Proj Pts FD - 11.59 DK - 2.89
The Oilers get a tough matchup on Thursday vs. the Blues and their third-ranked defense but get them at the right time as they have struggled a bit dropping three of their last four. I wouldn't consider Draisiatil on FanDuel where his price is too high but think he is an excellent value target on DraftKings as the price has continued to drop and now in the low $5K range. He has been skating down on the third line recently but still skates with McDavid on the top powerplay unit and has points in five of his last seven games with 19 shots on goal.
Stack with: Jujhar Khaira, Ryan Strome, Connor McDavid(PP)
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 15.13 DK - 4.23
Nikita Kucherov is an elite play every night he plays but tonight, at least in cash games, I will be taking the discount and rolling with Patrick Kane. He has really heated up lately with four goals in his last three games and multiple points in three of his last four games and now sits with 34 total points on the season. On top of the huge upside, he also provides us with a high floor with 35 shots over his last 10 games and 113 on the season(3.4 per game). He is a high floor, high ceiling play that is safe in all formats.
Stack with: Artem Anisimov, Nick Schmaltz
Opponent - CAR
Proj Pts FD - 13.19 DK - 3.88
If you are looking to maybe go a bit more balanced with your lineups, targeting the Predators Top 5 offense is never a bad idea. One guy I like to target in all formats is Viktor Arvidsson who skates on the top line and powerplay unit with Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg. He doesn't have near the same upside as Kane, Kucherov, and others but also doesn't come at the same cost. One thing he does provide the same as those players is shot volume as he has 35 over the last 10 games and 112 on the season(3.4 per game). Tonight he gets a plus matchup vs. a Canes team that ranks 20th in defense and is coming off a beat down by the Leafs where they gave up eight goals.
Stack with: Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg
Opponent - STL
Proj Pts FD - 9.83 DK - 2.65
Dipping down into the value range, we find Jesse Puljujarvi(I dare you to try and pronounce it without googling it). Even with the Oilers struggling to score lately, Puljujarvi has had a ton of opportunity skating on the top line with Connor McDavid and last game was promoted to the second powerplay unit giving him even more value. He has tallied six points over his last 10 games along with 30 shots on goal. Jump on board soon as the opportunity will likely have his price rising quickly.
Stack with: Connor McDavid, Milan Lucic
Also Consider: Patrick Laine(WPG)
DEFENSEMEN
Opponent - PIT
Proj Pts FD - 11.96 DK - 3.48
With the huge selection of top plays at the forward position tonight, I will be concentrating on the mid and lower tier for my defense core tonight and it starts with Seth Jones. He is the #1 defensemen in Columbus and getting heavy usage skating over 24 minutes per game, over two minutes of that on the top powerplay unit as well. Jones has scored in two of his last three games with five points over his last 10 games. Most importantly, he has provided a high floor with 12 shots and eight blocks over his last three games and 32 shots and 15 blocks over his last 10. The Blue Jackets are playing back to back tonight but at these prices, he is safe in all formats.
Opponent - STL
Proj Pts FD - 10.15 DK - 3.22
The offensive upside is very limited with Russell but he maintains a very high PTS/$ value with a low salary and elite balance of shots and blocks. Over his last 10 games, he has tallied an insane 40 blocks while adding 19 shots on goal for an average of 4.1 DraftKings/13.8 FanDuel points per game. All things considered, he can also be considered in all formats with that high of floor and excellent salary relief.
Also Consider: Mikhail Sergachev(TB), Colton Parayko(STL)
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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NHL Sheet for tonight:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13hmjocZPUK-Db6lb8Yb-7Smsz9XRsnGfQiUnAOLD6is/edit?usp=sharing