NHL GPP Plays: Tuesday, March 1st
Every Tuesday and Thursday I am going to give you my top tournament plays for all Daily Fantasy Hockey GPPs (guaranteed prize pool). GPPs are a general term used across the industry for your big money tournaments.
GPPs are very different from your cash games and you use a different strategy with them. In our GPPs we are not interested in safe plays, since GPPs are all about UPSIDE. We want players who can explode, as all-or-nothing type players can become GPP gold, and your value players are just as important as your star players. You need your players to have huge nights in order to take down these big tournaments.
My goal is to provide players who will be under-owned and have that big game upside you are looking for. I will also try to find as much value as I possibly can. Now, let’s get to the NHL GPP plays!
GOALTENDERS
Make sure to check the RotoGrinders Starting Lineups page prior to game time, to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting.
Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues – Tonight is a tough night for GPP goaltenders. I don’t really want to pay up for guys like Semyon Varlamov and Roberto Luongo, and I don’t see much upside in punt options like Cam Ward and Cam Talbot. However, I do plan to have some exposure to the moderately priced Jake Allen. He’s never a goalie I feel comfortable starting in my cash game lineup, but on the road in a game where he should see 25-plus shots, I am willing to roll the dice in tournaments. Allen has been solid of late, allowing two goals against in three of his last four starts and I think the Blues come in to Ottawa and take care of business.
Other Goalies To Target – Semyon Varlamov, Roberto Luongo, Cam Ward, Cam Talbot
FORWARDS
Ryan Spooner, Boston Bruins – Despite a very productive season thus far, Spooner continues to be highly under-owned in tournament play. The Calgary Flames are the top team to pick on tonight and that means all the Boston Bruins are in play this evening. The Flames have been a disaster on defense and in goal for most of the season and that should continue in Boston tonight. Centering the Bruins’ third line and top power play unit, Spooner has multi-point upside at a discounted price across the industry. With everyone on Boston’s top two lines, Spooner makes for a great contrarian play in this plus matchup on home ice.
Mika Zibanejad, Ottawa Senators – The Ottawa Senators are another team looking towards 2016-17 and with the St. Louis Blues in town, I don’t see Ottawa being popular in GPPs. Zibanejad scored a hat trick in his last game against the Calgary Flames and he will continue to center the Senators’ top line and number one power play unit, with Kyle Turris being shut down for the season. The match-up is not ideal, but the 22-year-old Swede is inexpensive and he has plenty of upside with the amount of ice time he will see, and with the fact that he is playing with two very talented wingers.
Sam Reinhart, Buffalo Sabres – The Buffalo Sabres are a tricky team to figure out on offense. I expect them to score tonight, but I am having trouble pin-pointing exactly where it will come from. Sam Reinhart is not only seeing a decent amount of ice time at both even strength and with the man advantage, but he is also skating alongside the Sabres’ best scorer in Evander Kane. Reinhart is very reasonably priced and I love his upside in this matchup tonight.
Charlie Coyle, Minnesota Wild – The Colorado Avalanche continue to be the league’s worst team in terms of possession, and as a result they have allowed the most scoring chances and the third-most scoring high-danger scoring chances against this season. Coyle is currently skating on the Minnesota Wild’s top line and number one power play unit, making him a tremendous value play in tournaments.
Other Forwards To Target – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Leon Draisaitl, Mike Ribeiro, Mark Scheifele Matt Moulson, Lee Stempniak, David Pastrnak, Troy Brouwer
DEFENSE
Matt Niskanen, Washington Capitals – With John Carlson once again out due to injury, Niskanen becomes the top dog on the blue line for the National Hockey League’s best offense. The Pittsburgh Penguins are playing great hockey these days, but they will be playing in consecutive games and that gives the top team in the Eastern Conference a huge edge. Niskanen and the Capitals offense are sneaky tonight as I think they will fly under the radar.
Other Defensemen To Target – Alex Pietrangelo, Johnny Boychuk, Andrej Sekera, Zach Bogosian, Dmitry Kulikov, Ben Hutton