NHL Daily Plays: Wednesday, October 8th
Fall is in the air, leaves are changing colors, the MLB playoffs are ramping up, people are complaining about the possibility of their favorite college football team being snubbed in the rankings, and (most importantly for some) the NHL season is finally upon us. With the DFS industry exploding, this should be the busiest, and potentially most profitable, NHL season for many grinders. If you’ve yet to try out DFS hockey, I highly recommend it and hope that some of the picks to follow will get you headed in the right direction.
We have a four-game schedule on tap to kick things off, so without further adieu, here are the first NHL Daily Plays of the 2014-15 season.
Goalie
Tuukka Rask – Boston Bruins – If you’re new to daily fantasy hockey, thenyou’ll quickly learn that securing a “W” from your goalie is very important. With that said, Boston is the largest favorite of the evening by Vegas standards, and there likely won’t be any extreme value options in net on opening night, which makes Rask my clear #1 option between the pipes. He defeated Philadelphia in all three meetings last season and also posted a ridiculous 22-7-3 record with a 1.67 GAA and .941 Save Percentage in 32 home starts. Unless there is a tremendous price difference between Rask and some of the other top starting goalies in net, don’t overthink this one.
Others: Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick, Carey Price
Forwards
David Krejci – Boston Bruins – Krejci will once again center the Bruins top forward- and power-play lines this season, and while Jerome Iginla will no longer be on his right side, Loui Eriksson will slide onto the top line and offer an element of speed that Iginla could no longer deliver. What’s more, Milan Lucic remains on the left wing. Krejci lit up the Flyers last season, posting a goal, five assists and a +4 rating in their three meetings. He also thrived at the TD Garden last season, where he racked up 15 goals, added 27 assists and posted an incredible +31 in 41 home games. He’s reasonably priced across the industry and is an excellent option at the center position.
Update – Be sure to monitor his status as game-time approaches, as he dealing with an “undisclosed” injury and his status for the game in uncertain at the time of this publication
Radim Vrbata – Vancouver Canucks – Vrbata has been a solid, yet unspectacular fantasy option over the last few seasons, but with the move to Vancouver and onto their top line alongside the Sedins, I expect him to post his second career 30-goal season this year. He has a nice matchup on tap against a Calgary team that allowed nearly three goals per game last season and one that did very little other than bring in Jonas Hiller to sure up their leaky defense. Vrbata’s creative with the puck and a proven goalscorer, so enjoy his discounted price while it lasts.
Anze Kopitar – Los Angeles Kings – Kopitar showed off his talents down the stretch last season and led the Kings to another Stanley Cup title – he also led all players in playoff points along the way (26). He developed an immediate chemistry with Marian Gaborik once the winger arrived in Southern California, and the duo combined to form a very dangerous top forward line for the Kings. Forty two of Kopitar’s 70 points last season came at the Staples Center, and he found the back of the net twice against San Jose last season. He looks to be just now reaching the peak of his NHL career, and I’m expecting a nice start to what will likely be a monster season from the Slovenian (*thanks JulieDuke33).
Max Pacioretty – Montreal Canadians – As the catalyst of the Habs offense last season, Pacioretty racked up 39 goals in just 73 games for Montreal last season, and he also lit up this Maple Leafs team for five goals and two assists in their five meetings. Toronto ranked dead last in Fenwick Percentage last season and didn’t really shake things up during the offseason, so Montreal should have little trouble dictating the pace of this game. Pacioretty will see all of the ice-time he can handle on the wing of both Montreal’s top forward line as well as their #1 power-play unit and, considering Toronto’s abysmal 78.4% penalty kill last season, is a strong bet to kick off the season with a multi-point game. Pair him with one of his linemates, David Desharnais or P.A. Parenteau, to lower the average cap hit.
Value: Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, Tomas Hertl, Reilly Smith, Chris Higgins, Johnny Gaudreau, Brayden Schenn
Defense
Brent Burns – San Jose Sharks – While the Sharks have stated that they’re going to shift Burns back to defense this season, there is still reason to believe that he’ll see time as a forward, thanks to the team’s depth on the blue-line. He posted 22 goals, 26 assists and was a +26 while unloading 245 SOG in just 69 games last season. He’ll anchor the Sharks top power-play unit and is locked into big minutes. Having the ability to roster a potential top-six forward as a defenseman is just too enticing to ignore.
P.K. Subban – Montreal Canadians – As mentioned above, Toronto’s penalty kill was terrible last season, so paying up for an offensive-minded defenseman who logs significant time on the point of the Canadians power-play makes plenty of sense. Subban racked up two goals and four assists in five meetings against the Maple Leafs last season and routinely logged 25+ minutes of ice-time (with nearly 5 minutes per game coming on the man advantage). He won’t come cheap, but there are enough viable value plays to squeeze him into your roster.
Torey Krug – Boston Bruins – Krug had a terrific rookie season for the Bruins (14 goals, 26 assists and a +18 in 79 games) but really showcased his talents in the postseason, where he scored a pair of goals and added eight assists during the Bruins brief 12-game playoff run. He flourished on home-ice, scoring 10 of his 14 goals in Beantown. He racked up 19 power-play points last season and is once again set for a big role on the point of the Bruins top PP unit.
Others: Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara, Dougie Hamilton, Alex Edler, Andei Markov, Slava Voynov, Dennis Wideman, Mark Streit
Value: Stuart Percy, T.J. Brodie, Mirco Mueller, luca Sbisa, Michael Del Zotto, Dan Hamhuis, Morgan Rielly, Alec Martinez, Tom Gilbert, Jake Muzzin
Good luck Grinders and cheers to a fun and profitable 2014-15 DFS Hockey season!