NHL Grind Down: Friday, November 6th
The RotoGrinders NHL Grind Down article will give you an in-depth analysis into the NHL schedule. This article will break down the numbers for every single game and give you analysis on which trends you can exploit. While matchups are a major factor in daily fantasy hockey there are plenty of other factors to consider such as injuries, salaries, and more.
The analysis should point you in the right direction, but it is still up to you to decipher the information and make your own selections. Hockey is an extremely high variance sport. The best choice is not always the right choice but following the trends will win you money over time.
Remember, these writeups are done prior to lineups being released, so make sure to check our Starting Lineups page to ensure the recommended options are playing.
Note: As always, if you want to try a new DFS site, be sure to click through a RotoGrinders link and use our DraftKings promo code and FanDuel promo code to receive the best perks in the industry.
Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:00 PM EST
| Detroit Red Wings | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Jimmy Howard |  | Jonathan Bernier | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-5 | 2-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 2.58 | 19.00% | 81.80% | Team Stats | 2.17 | 3.17 | 14.30% | 76.20% |
Detroit will head to Toronto for part #2 of the new-found rivalry against the Maple Leafs and their old head coach, Mike Babcock. Detroit coasted to an easy 4-0 victory over the Maple Leafs on the opening night of their NHL season, but it’s been a bit of a roller coaster for them since. They’ll enter tonight’s game on the heels of back-to-back impressive victories and there’s definitely a lot to like from them tonight against a Toronto team that’s allowing 3.17 goals per game this season. Detroit’s top line of Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader and Dylan Larkin is not only reasonably priced across the industry, but they just continue to supply the bulk of Detroit’s scoring. Zetterberg leads the way with 3 goals and 11 assists through the first 12 games, but Larkin remains dirt cheap on some sites and last year’s 1st round pick has now scored in back-to-back games. Gustav Nyquist joins Zetterberg and Abdelkader on the Wing’s #1 power-play unit as is off to yet another fine start (5 goals and 4 assists) making him also a very nice option against Toronto’s subpar 76% penalty kill. With Mike Green still watching from the press-box, Niklas Kronwall is set for as much of a workload as he can handle and holds the reigns as the point-man on the top PP unit. Alternatively, Danny DeKeyser is much more off the radar, but the talented 25 year-old continues to develop into a top pair defenseman and has now scored a goal and dished out two assists in Detroit’s last two games.
The Maple Leafs snapped a six game losing streak on Monday with a 4-2 win over Dallas, but got right back to their losing ways on Wednesday against Winnipeg. The Maple Leafs have been unable to fill the offensive void left behind by the Phil Kessel trade and are averaging just 2.17 goals per game on the young season. They were shutout by this Detroit team in their only other meeting this season and there’s just not a ton to love from Toronto from a fantasy standpoint. However, they finally appear to be healthy and this fairly young and inexperienced Detroit team has been prone to defensive miscues. If I’m targeting anyone from Toronto, it’s a prerequisite that they must get a healthy dose of playing time on the power-play. This puts guys like Tyler Bozak, Joffrey Lupul, James van Riemsdyk and Nazem Kadri into play today. With that said, it’s been two defenseman that lead this hockey club in points thus far, and both Dion Phaneuf and Morgan Rielly look like the strongest plays from Toronto tonight. Both players are averaging over 22 minutes of ice-time per game and soak up nearly all of the available time on the point of the power-play.
Elite Plays
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin, Niklas Kronwall
TOR: Morgan Rielly (where he’s still cheap)
Secondary Plays
DET: Tomas Tatar, Teemu Pulkkinen, Danny DeKeyser
TOR: Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, Tyler Bozak, Dion Phaneuf
Dallas Stars at Carolina Hurricanes – 07:00 PM EST
| Dallas Stars | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Kari Lehtonen |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-3 | 5-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.54 | 2.85 | 29.50% | 78.00% | Team Stats | 2.17 | 2.83 | 11.60% | 79.30% |
The Dallas Stars enter tonight’s game with the best record in the Western Conference and will look to keep things rolling tonight as they head to Raleigh to battle the Hurricanes. This is a battle between two teams with very different styles as Dallas likes to push the action while Carolina will do everything in their power to clog up the neutral zone and try to grind out two points. However, just ask the Boston Bruins how easy it is to slow down the lethal Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin line. With 20 points through the first 13 games of the season, both Seguin and Benn lead the NHL in points this season and are terrific options tonight. It looks like Jason Spezza will replace Patrick Sharp on that top line, and that’s obviously terrific news for Spezza’s fantasy outlook. While I doubt Carolina will have any success in slowing them down, we know they’ll receive a ton of defensive attention which does at least open the door for Patrick Sharp to still be fantasy relevant on the team’s second line. After a surprisingly effective rookie season, John Klingberg has shown no signs of slowing down offensively. He’s already scored two goals and added 11 assists and has the luxury of manning the point on Dallas’ very dangerous #1 power-play unit.
The Hurricanes saw their three game winning streak come to an end on Sunday against Tampa, and they’ll have their hands full again tonight against the high-flying Dallas Stars. The bump in pace here is a slight bump for the Hurricanes, but this is a very solid Dallas team and the fantasy upside in this Hurricanes lineup is quite limited. The Hurricanes have only scored more than three goals once in a game this season and their 2.17 goals per game ranks them 28th in the league. The newly acquired Kris Versteeg has been one of the few brightspots for this team upfront, as he’s already scored a pair of goals and dished out a team high eight assists. He’s joined by Eric Staal on the top power-play unit, and with Dallas sporting just a 78% penalty kill thus far, their the only two Carolina forwards i’m considering for cash game use. Justin Faulk posted an impressive 49 point season last year and the 23-year-old is off to another strong start this season with four goals and three assists in the first 12 games.
Elite Plays
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Jamie Benn, John Klingberg
CAR: Justin Faulk
Secondary Plays
DAL: Patrick Sharp, Valeri Nichushkin, Cody Eakin, Alex Goligoski
CAR: Eric Staal, Kris Versteeg, Victor Rask, Ryan Murphy
Chicago Blackhawks at New Jersey Devils – 07:00 PM EST
| Chicago Blackhawks | New Jersey Devils | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Cory Schneider | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-5 | 6-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.54 | 2.46 | 19.60% | 82.30% | Team Stats | 2.25 | 2.50 | 22.70% | 75.70% |
Chicago coughed up a 5-2 lead to ultimately fall 6-5 against St. Louis in their last game, and that can’t be good news for their opponent tonight, the New Jersey Devils. We should see an inspired effort from the defending Stanley Cup Champions and it’s hard to see Chicago not leaving New Jersey with two points. The Blackhawks won both meetings between these teams last year and remain one of the strongest puck possession teams in the league by Corsi standards. The Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith injuries are a big blow to the Blackhawks, but they still have plenty of firepower that deserves your fantasy attention. Patrick Kane has been on fire to start the season, and with 8 goals and 10 assists in 13 games, he’s an elite option tonight. By virtue of playing alongside him, his line mates of Artem Anisimov and Teuvo Teravainen are well worth consideration as well. With Jonathan Toews not really needed to play a shutout down role tonight against a somewhat punchless Devils offense, his fantasy sees a nice boost. With Marian Hossa out of the lineup, the impressive Artemi Panarin will join him on the top line and represent one of the best values on the board on some sites (ie: FanDuel). On defense, Brent Seabrook has been on fire since the Duncan Keith injury. He’s now picked up points in seven straight games and has racked up three goals and seven assists over that span. He’s the top option from Chicago’s blue-line, but Trevor Daley should be on your radar as well.
The Devils are one of the least fantasy friendly teams in the league, and tonight’s matchup against an angry Blackhawks team is a daunting one. Mike Cammalleri and Adam Henrique are off to fine starts this season, but with Jonathan Toews opposing them, they’re much better suited for GPP use. With that said, I’ll be avoiding the Devils all together in cash games tonight and don’t really see too much GPP upside here either. They have actually won six of their last eight games, but they’re still averaging just 2.25 goals and 25.6 SOG per game this season and are the slowest paced team in the NHL (88.1 CP60). With 11 other teams in action tonight, there are better options on the board.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Artem Anisimov, Artemi Panarin, Brent Seabrook
NJD: None
Secondary Play
CHI: Teuvo Teravainen, Trevor Daley
NJD: Mike Cammalleri, Adam Henrique, Lee Stempniak, Damon Severson
Pittsburgh Penguins at Edmonton Oilers – 09:00 PM EST
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Ben Scrivens | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-4 | 5-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.25 | 1.83 | 13.20% | 89.70% | Team Stats | 2.77 | 3.15 | 22.20% | 80.00% |
The Oilers are banged up, thin on defense, and had the wind let out of their sails in their last game with Connor McDavid potentially lost for the season; so you’ll likely want plenty of exposure to the Penguins tonight. The Oilers have struggled mightily defensively in recent seasons, and with them allowing 3.15 goals against per game thus far in 2015-16, things are clearly no different this time around. Don’t over think this one; Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are both elite plays at center, and their line mates (Pascal Dupuis, Patric Hornqvist, David Perron and Phil Kessel) are all very nice players to target as well. Kris Letang won’t come cheap on defense, but his upside is through the roof in this matchup and he also offers exposure to the Penguins loaded #1 power-play unit.
It’ll be a sad moment in Edmonton tonight as the Oilers will hit the ice without phenom Connor McDavid for the first time since he was lost for a significant period of time with a shoulder injury. His absence from the lineup has a ripple effect over this whole team and almost entirely ruins Todd McLellan’s hopes for a balanced scoring attack. With that said, Jordan Eberle appears to be ready to make his season debut which takes some of the sting out of the McDavid injury in the short term. Eberle joined Taylor Hall and the impressive looking Leon Draisaitl on the top forward line in practice yesterday, and if those lines stick, they’re three three forwards you’ll want to target tonight. With that news, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fantasy value takes a big hit. With Justin Schultz also having been bitten by the injury bug, there’s simply not much (if any) appeal to any of the Oilers defensemen here. The Penguins offense takes most of the headlines around the NHL, but they happen to own the league’s best defense through the first 12 games of the season (1.83 GA/G).
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Kris Letang
EDM: Taylor Hall
Secondary Play
PIT: Pascal Dupuis, David Perron, Chris Kunitz
EDM: Jordan Eberle, Leon Draisaitl
New York Rangers at Colorado Avalanche – 09:00 PM EST
| New York Rangers | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Henrik Lundqvist |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-2 | 4-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.00 | 1.83 | 13.80% | 88.60% | Team Stats | 2.75 | 3.00 | 20.40% | 80.50% |
The Rangers head to Colorado with a three game winning streak and the lead in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve rattled off three straight wins and the matchup tonight against a Colorado team that’s not only dead last in the NHL by Corsi standards, but who also are playing in the second half of back-to-back nights is simply too good to ignore. It’s been an oddly quiet start to the season for Rick Nash, but the sniper racked up a career high 42 goals last season and it’s only a matter of time before he erupts. With that and his slightly discounted asking price in mind, he’s my top option at LW tonight (although you’ll need to check his status as he reportedly injured his back yesterday and is now questionable). His line mates Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello oddly enough are both off to very strong starts, as each player enters with 10 points through the first 12 games. While those are the three guys i’ll be targeting in cash games, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider team up to create a very capable source of secondary scoring and both players see a healthy dose of playing time on the power-play. Keith Yandle remains one of the best puck moving defenseman in the NHL and should thrive in this matchup that hints towards a massive puck possession advantage for the Rangers. He’s already picked up seven points this season and joins Ryan McDonagh as fine fantasy options tonight from the Rangers blue-line.
It’s been a somewhat ugly start to the season for Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche, and traveling back to Colorado after a late game last night to face a very tough New York Rangers squad is certainly not going to be easy. Nathan MacKinnon, Jarome Iginla and Gabriel Landeskog have all jumped out to strong offensive seasons, but this is not the ideal spot to be targeting Colorado in your cash games. Not only are the Rangers a deep and physical hockey team, but they’re backed by Henrik Lundqvist in net and are tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the best defense in the NHL to start the season (1.83 GA/G). It’s not a busy night on the ice, but with eleven other teams to choose from, there are definitely safer cash game options on the board.
Elite Plays
NYR: Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard, Derek Stepan, Keith Yandle
COL: None
Secondary Play
NYR: J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, Ryan McDonagh
COL: Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Jarome Iginla, Erik Johnson, Francois Beauchemin