NHL Daily Plays: Tuesday, March 24th
What’s up Grinders! After a tremendous weekend in Las Vegas for the Draftkings World Hockey Championship, I’m back in action Tuesday breaking down the eight-game slate in the NHL tonight. Despite my poor performance in the DKWC, I had a blast meeting the contestants and enjoying the incredible experience that a live final has to offer for us Grinders.
With that said, there’s only a few great matchups to target tonight, which means it will be extremely important to choose your players wisely, as there will be little room for error. Let’s take a look at some of the players I’ll be targeting throughout the league tonight:
Goalies
Make sure to check the RotoGrinders Starting Goalies Page to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting prior to puck-drop
Jimmy Howard – Detroit Red Wings – Currently in the midst of yet another injury-plagued and inconsistent regular season, Jimmy Howard and the Red Wings will look to get back on track against a struggling Arizona Coyotes team that has had troubles scoring all season long. The Coyotes are in the midst of an 8 game losing streak and have only scored 7 goals during that span. Howard has been slightly better on home ice this season, and his reduced price in addition to his favorable matchup makes him the safest option on the board for me tonight.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning – If you’re looking for value in net tonight, consider taking Vasilevskiy, who has been a very serviceable backup to starter Ben Bishop this season. Tampa Bay has been one of the league’s best defensive teams at home this season, allowing just over 2 goals per game. Vasilevskiy remains a bargain throughout most of the industry, and in a game in which his team should be able to dictate the pace, he should receive the necessary goal support to earn a cheap victory tonight.
Defense
Disclaimer: Kris Letang, Shea Weber, Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Alex Pietrangelo, Drew Doughty, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are elite fantasy defensemen and are always in play.
Niklas Kronwall – Detroit Red Wings – After experiencing a prolonged scoring drought throughout much of the season, Kronwall is finally starting to turn things around offensively with 40 points on the year. His price has dropped significantly, but Kronwall is a force on Detroit’s top power play unit and will be taking on an Arizona team that ranks 26th in the league in penalty kill percentage. He is a player that is capable of carrying you to the top of a GPP with a plus matchup and I’m expecting another big game from the veteran blue-liner tonight in the absence of Pavel Datsyuk.
James Wisniewski – Anaheim Ducks – Another veteran blue-liner that has had his fair share of struggles offensively this season is James Wisniewski, who will have a great opportunity to breakout for the Ducks against his former team tonight in Columbus. Revenge narratives aside, the matchup for Wisniewski is very favorable as the quarterback of Anaheim’s top power play unit that will be up against the league’s 25th worst penalty kill percentage. Similar to Kronwall, Wisniewski can be had for a very modest price, and he should be very active in a game that could be very high scoring.
Top Value Plays: Nick Leddy (NYI), Derek Pouliot (PIT)
Center
Disclaimer: Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Johansen, and Jeff Carter are elite fantasy centers and are always in play.
Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning – Entering tonight’s game with 9 points in his last 10 games, few players throughout the league are as hot has Stamkos has been recently. His 40 goals are good for 2nd in the NHL and he also ranks in the top 10 in points and shots on goal this season. In addition to his strong play of late, Stamkos has been a beast at home this season where head coach Jon Cooper likes to matchup his best pure goal scorer against the opposition’s weaker defensive lines. In a game where I expect the Bolts to dictate the pace and force Florida to play a wide-open style of game, “Stammer” should have no problems getting involved in the scoring mix tonight.
Henrik Zetterberg – Detroit Red Wings – The center position is extremely thin tonight, leaving few options to choose from outside of those listed in the disclaimer above. Enter Henrik Zetterberg, who has stepped up in a big way for Detroit in the absence of Pavel Datsyuk; entering tonight’s game with 10 points in as many games for the Wings. Unsurprisingly, the veteran playmaker leads the Wings in points and shots, and he should have no problems paying off his moderate price tag tonight against an Arizona team that is among the worst defensive teams in the NHL.
Top Value Plays: Jori Lehtera (STL), Mike Ribeiro (NSH)
Wing
Disclaimer: Alexander Steen, Vladimir Tarasenko, Zach Parise, Filip Forsberg, Max Pacioretty, Kyle Okposo, and Rick Nash are elite fantasy forwards and are always in play.
Corey Perry – Anaheim Ducks – With 3 goals in his last 2 games, Perry now has 50 points in 59 games this season for the surging Anaheim Ducks. After being bounced around throughout Anaheim’s top 3 lines recently, he’s now back alongside playmaker Ryan Getzlaf, making up one of the league’s best duo’s over the past several seasons. Perry is a player that has no real weaknesses and is a pest to play against; using his big body and speed to put himself in great scoring opportunities night after night. He won’t come cheap, but in a game that could feature plenty of goals, there’s a good chance Perry will be heavily involved in Anaheim’s scoring tonight.
Radim Vrbata – Vancouver Canucks – Brought in to help shore up Vancouver’s scoring woes from a season ago, Vrbata has done just that with 27 goals this season for the Canucks. He has 9 points in his last 10 games for Vancouver despite being moved to the team’s second line, but he remains on the top power play unit where much of his production has come this season. Vrbata should be active on the man advantage tonight against a Winnipeg team that is the most penalized team in the NHL. He also likely won’t see much of Winnipeg’s top line at even strength, making Vrbata an excellent mid-range salary play tonight in both cash games and GPPs.
Filip Forsberg – Nashville Predators – Another talented forward in the midst of a breakout campaign is Forsberg, who can be had for a relative bargain tonight given his production this season. Despite being on Nashville’s third line at even strength, Forsberg is still firing shots on net; ranking 9th in the league in shot attempts per game over the past 30 days. Digging deeper into the numbers and you’ll notice the rookie has an extremely low 92.9 PDO over the past month, which means a breakout is imminent, especially since he’s been shooting the puck at a higher rate than he has all season. A home matchup against Montreal may seem daunting on paper, but the Habs have struggled in the puck possession department bigtime recently and have been allowing close to 32 shots on goal per game, making Forsberg a relatively safe option for me tonight with his cheap price tag across most of the industry.
Top Value Plays: Victor Arvidsson (NSH), Josh Bailey (NYI), Jonathan Drouin (TB), Teemu Pulkkinen (DET)