NHL DFS Slate Summary: Saturday, March 30th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders NHL DFS Slate Summary. In this article, we’ll concentrate on the key elements of DFS success while delivering analysis on the upcoming slate of NHL games for DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ll discuss today’s NHL DFS player projections, player correlations and NHL stacking, NHL starting lineups, differentiation tactics using NHL projected ownership, and recommendations on ways to create lineup diversity if entering multiple lineups using LineupHQ.
NHL DFS Picks: Slate Summary for Saturday, March 30th
Slate Overview
You know it’s going to be an interesting slate when three of the teams with the highest implied totals are the Blues, Flyers, and Penguins, not exactly the most dominant offensive teams in the world. They’re joined by five other teams with implied totals of 3.5 or above, with none of the eight exceeding 4.0 goals. So it’s a scenario where there are a lot of teams in good spots, but none in excellent ones.
As you would expect with baseball back in action and MMA on tap, the contests aren’t great. With that being said, it’s important to continue to fill them or they will shrink further. I know overlay can feel good to get for one night, but long term, it’s bad for the ecosystem. No, this isn’t DK telling me to say this; it’s just the reality. So join those contests!
It doesn’t appear we have quite as many pieces of news to monitor today compared to Thursday. For the Maple Leafs, they’ll continue to be without Marner, Reilly, and Liljegren. Alex Nylander (personal fan favorite around here) seems set to return from a brief absence. Thomas Chabot will remain out for the Senators, and Kaiden Guhle will serve his one-game suspension. I don’t see much else of note, but the Discord channel will post any updates.
Top Skaters
Auston Matthews
DraftKings $10,000
Matthews was questionable the other night, but as I mentioned in this preview, I had no concerns about his performance if he was indeed active. He carried through on that with a silly 10 SOG game. He only managed an assist as far as the scoresheet, but the shot volume was enough for him to manage 24+ DK points.
Over his last six games, he has 4 goals, 8 assists, and 39 shots on goal. The thing that stands out in those numbers is only having 4 goals despite 39 shots. That’s around a 10% shooting percentage compared to his season average of 18%+. This could normalize as early as tonight against the Sabres, who will be on the second half of a back-to-back. Overall, Buffalo did a decent job managing their minutes last night, but Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin both played 27+ minutes. That’s a tall order to follow it up against an offensively dynamic Maple Leafs and specifically Matthews.
Other Options
I always have at least two expensive skaters featured here, but tonight, I will give my overall thoughts since I’m not in love with any other top options besides Matthews. It’s tough because some of the other elite players like Pastrnak and Kucherov don’t have bad matchups per se, but they’re not great ones either. And when you’re paying $9,500+, you really need the massive upside and 3+ point bonus, etc. They are very capable of it on any given night (including tonight), but I’m not sure they are a priority.
These are not full-on endorsements, but here’s some rapid fire thoughts on some teams/players.
Kucherov: Not shooting enough right now for this price tag and needs 3-4 assists to have a shot, which is a lot to ask for.
Pastrnak: Always upside, but I respect the Capitals a decent amount. Good GPP play if he’s not going to have any ownership.
Hurricanes 1/PP1: I like the trio of Aho, Guentzel, and Jarvis, but I also have a little more respect for the Canadiens right now than most. Still think they could explode.
Pittsburgh 1: They are in a good spot, but Crosby and Rust are both a little expensive for my liking.