NHL DFS Slate Summary: Thursday, March 21st
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 Thursday, March 21st
Slate Overview
Happy March Madness Day to all who celebrate. I’ve got golf on the extra monitor, have the bracket and survivor pools filled out, and am ready to pretend to work at my real job throughout the day. NHL may be an afterthought for many, but not for us. There are 11 games, although in reality there are a few teams that can be ignored while two jump to the top of the priority line.
Well, it appears we’ve (once again) reached the portion of the season where playing the Sharks means uber-chalk and lots of goals allowed. Earlier in the year, they could at least rely on their goaltending to bail them out. Now that their two best netminders are gone, it’s been a free-for-all against them. Nashville was the latest to take advantage by putting up a snowman, and before that they gave up 15 goals combined to the Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, and Penguins… I rarely start the article talking about one team this much, but since the entire slate essentially revolves around them, I think it makes sense.
The Lightning are the team with the privilege of trying to boost their season-long stats tonight. Their implied team total is the highest at 4.4 goals. The Canucks check in close behind at 4.2 goals, then it’s a large gap to the Hurricanes and Oilers at 3.8/3.7. I’d expect the ownership for Tampa Bay to be sky-high, and for good reason.
There does appear to be a flu or illness bug going on as many players appear to be game-time decisions for tonight. None (so far) have been extremely impactful, but definitely stay tuned to the Discord for any additional updates. The Hurricanes might be without several of their forwards, which is valuable given their high implied team total.
Let’s get into it and good luck to all of your brackets!
Top Skaters
Nikita Kucherov
DraftKings $9,600
It doesn’t take a “Kucherov whisperer” to see this one coming. Kucherov is in a tremendous spot and has the highest raw projection on the slate. I’ve already covered the matchup above, so just a few tidbits on #86. The assist totals have been absurd lately with 8 in his last 3 games and 18 in his last 10 games. The ONLY negative I see (besides ownership) is that his shot volume has seen a steep dive lately. In his last 5 games, he has a total of 6 shots, something he’s normally capable of matching in a single game. That being said, a multi-point game seems like a near certainty and a typical 4+ explosion doesn’t feel unreasonable. Fade at your own risk.