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 hockey fans. Tonight, we get a nice six-game slate as the playoffs are looming and soem teams have a ton to play for if they want to be a part of the post-season. Let's jump in and take a look at some of the top plays at each position.
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Opponent - CAR
Proj Pts FD - 15.53 DK - 3.88
The playoffs are closing in and it's do or die time for the Panthers who sit seven points back of the final wild-card spot with two games in hand. Tonight, they will turn to Roberto Luongo who has been up and down lately but still holds a .922 save % over his last 10 games with two shutouts. The good news is that he and the Panthers have been much more successful on home ice and sit as -175 favorites as they face the Hurricanes who have already been eliminated from playoff contention and sit 23rd overall in offense. Combine that with the nice discount on both sites and we can roll out Luo safely in all formats tonight.
Opponent - BUF
Proj Pts FD - 20.28 DK - 5.07
The Leafs will turn to McElhinney tonight on home ice where the Leafs are huge -290 favorites vs. the Sabres. He is coming off a loss in his last start vs. the Jets but has been playing very well recently going 7-1-1 in his last 10 games played with an elite .948 save % and two shutouts. The only issue here is that the backup tender is an expensive option on DraftKings which should help make him an under-owned GPP play but on FanDuel you can consider him as a salary relief option in cash games if you plan on loading up at other positions.
Opponent - BUF
Proj Pts FD - 16.96 DK - 4.83
After missing a month due to injury, Matthews returned to the lineup and picked up right where he left off. He enters tonight's game with a six-game point streak(seven points) and also tallied 18 shots on goal. What I like most tonight is that while both McDavid and MacKinnon are higher priced on both sites they have tougher road matchups while Matthews will be on home ice with a near elite matchup against the Sabres 29th ranked defense. All things considered, Matthews is my top center of the night and safe in all formats.
Stack with: William Nylander, Patrick Marleau(PP)
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 16.11 DK - 4.71
These two teams have already played three times in the month of March and have scored a combined 20 goals making this matchup tonight an excellent candidate to game stack. From a PTS/$ perspective, Eichel is one of the top options overall tonight and he comes in red hot after a five-assist effort against the Predators and a three-game point streak and over his last 10 games, he has 11 points with a whopping 40 shots on goal. The Leafs sit just outside the Top 10 in defense but allow the fourth-most shots on goal per game so fire up Eichel in all formats, especially on DraftKings under $7K.
Stack with: Zemhgus Girgensons, Jason Pominville
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 12.72 DK - 3.7
There are only six games tonight but the center position is loaded from top to bottom and my favorite value play on both sites is Saskatoon, Saskatchewan's own Brayden Schenn. He centers the top line with Tarasenko and Schwartz and has been very consistent lately with eight points in his last 10 games with 33 shots on goal while skating over 20 minutes per game giving him a high floor and ceiling. The Blues got shutout in Arizona on Saturday night but return home tonight to face a Capitals team that goes from a sixth-ranked defense on home ice to a 27th ranked defense on the road making Schenn a target in all formats.
Stack with: Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Scwartz
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 13.68 DK - 4.03
The young up and coming superstar is currently in the midst of his longest pointless drought of the season and that combined with all the intriguing options could leave him under-owned tonight. Despite the drought, he still sits second behind Alex Ovechkin with 42 goals on the season and averages three shots per game giving him a high floor as well. He and the Jets travel to Ottawa tonight and get a good spot for him to snap out as the Senators are losers of seven of their last eight games while giving up 32 goals and rank 30th overall when looking at home defense. I don't think we need to pay up for Laine in cash games but he makes a very high upside GPP play tonight.
Stack with: Nikolaj Ehlers, Paul Stastny
Opponent - EDM
Proj Pts FD - 13.47 DK - 3.9
A player that we should be targeting in all formats tonight, especially on DraftKings, is Zach Parise. He comes in hot with points in six straight and seven of his last eight games giving him upside for GPP's and over his last 10 games, Parise has averaged over three shots per game giving him a high floor as well. On top of that, the Wild will be fully motivated as they try to hold on to a playoff spot in the West and get a strong matchup tonight vs. the Oilers who have dropped four straight allowing 17 goals and rank 28th on defense for the season.
Stack with: Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund
Opponent - COL
Proj Pts FD - 6.93 DK - 2.01
With all the top options that we will want to jam into our lineups tonight, we are going to need a couple punt plays. Enter Tobias Rieder who came over to the Kings in a trade with Arizona and has been skating on the second line with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli as of late. He doesn't get a ton of ice-time as he doesn't get out there on the powerplay but he comes with a punt price and has recorded points in three of his last five games giving him upside. The matchup isn't the greatest as the Avs are fighting for a playoff spot and rank 14th defensively but could be fatigued tonight playing on a back to back and third game in four nights.
Stack with: Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Carter
DEFENSEMEN
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 11.05 DK - 3.05
With all the tremendous plays at the forward position, I will be turning to a full value approach tonight on defense. It starts with Colton Parayko who may not have a ton of upside with just three points in his last 10 games and 35 on the season but he does give us a very high floor and a mid $4K price on both sites making him a nice PTS/$ value for cash games. Looking at those last 10 games, he has recorded multiple shots and blocks together in six straight and seven of his last eight games. He is a lock in cash games for me tonight and with the matchup vs. the Caps who are much worse defensively on the road, I will also consider him in GPP formats.
Opponent - STL
Proj Pts FD - 9.73 DK - 2.83
Niskanen falls under the same umbrella as Parayko for me as he also doesn't provide a ton of upside but has a high floor at a value price. The good news is that he has recorded three goals and five points in his last 10 games to go along with 25 blocks and 13 shots for an average of 3.2 DraftKings/11.3 FanDuel points per game.
Also Consider: Morgan Rielly(TOR) in GPP formats.
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NHL sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1f9tcZ-1AQYzkNFdWn15ZP2az_GNdUiJtLCC4i8Ip5Hw/edit?usp=sharing