NHL Grind Down: Friday, October 9th

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. No sport has more variance than hockey. 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.

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Winnipeg Jets at New Jersey Devils – 07:00 PM EDT

Winnipeg Jets New Jersey Devils
Article Image Ondrej Pavelec Article Image Cory Schneider
Record Record
43-26 32-36
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.72 2.49 17.80% 81.80% Team Stats 2.15 2.55 19.30% 80.60%

The Jets got off to a nice start to the season last night; winning 6-2 against the Bruins at the T.D. Bank Garden Arena. With little time to rest, they’ll take the short trip south to battle the much less intimidating New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. The Jets picked up goals from all four offensive lines last night, but I wouldn’t read into that too much as it’s still highly probable that a disproportion of their scoring going forward comes from one of their top two scoring lines. Despite not getting a crack on the power-play last night, grabbing exposure to either power-play unit looks appealing tonight considering the Devils ugly 80.6% penalty kill last season. Dustin Byfuglien isn’t a cheap defensive option, but his upside in this matchup is through the roof making him a top-tier option on the blue-line.

The Devils were a fantasy wasteland for the vast majority of the 2014-15 season, and after doing very little other than changing GM regime’s, things here still resemble a land fill. The Jets may be on the second half of back-to-back games, but that effect should be negligible this early in the season and there’s simply not a ton to love from the Devils at this point in the season. Michael Cammalleri racked up 27 goals to lead the team last season and remains one of their few bright spots offensively, and they brought in Kyle Palmieri from Anaheim as a young player to build around. With an expanded offensive role, Palmieri should be able to top his career high of 31 points. Even on a short night, there are better options for me than this rebuilding Devils team.

Elite Plays

WPG: Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien
NJD: None

Secondary Plays

WPG: Mathieu Perreault, Nikolaj Ehlers, Tobias Enstrom, Ondrej Pavelec, Michael Hutchinson
NJD: Michael Cammalleri, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac

New York Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EDT

New York Rangers Columbus Blue Jackets
Article Image Henrik Lundqvist Article Image Sergei Bobrovsky
Record Record
53-22 42-35
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 3.02 2.28 16.80% 84.30% Team Stats 2.77 3.02 21.70% 80.20%

The Rangers dampened the mood in the Windy City on opening night, walking away with two points from the Blackhawks on the night they raised their 2014-15 Stanley Cup banner to the United Center rafters. After back-to-back seasons of deep runs into the Stanley Cup Finals, the Rangers are certainly a major threat to be hoisting the cup come early next summer. We know that Rick Nash is the most dangerous offensive weapon, and while I wasn’t overly high on him in the opener thanks to the very tough matchup, I’ll have plenty of exposure to him today as he takes on his former team the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nash lit the lamp on 42 occasions last time, and Columbus not only struggled mightily on the penalty kill last season (80.2%) but also allowed the over three goals per game. He was joined by Derrick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello on the top line in the opener, which is an obvious boost to both of their fantasy outlooks. Derek Stepan spent the majority of the 2014-15 season centering Nash, but Alain Vigneault has shuffled things up and he now finds himself surrounded by Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes on what is a very capable complimentary scoring line. Ryan McDonagh is the back-bone of this defensive unit and a solid option tonight and Keith Yandle playmaking ability and power-play expertise makes him a dangerous offensive force from the Blue line as well. If Columbus doesn’t show they’ve improved their penalty kill over the off-season, both players could have nice nights.

Columbus got off to a disastrous start to the 2014-15 season and subsequently fell short of grabbing an Eastern Conference playoff spot, but their scorching-hot finish opened some eyes around the league and foreshadows that this team may be ready to take another step forward this season. They made a big splash during the off-season trading for the battle tested Brandon Saad who looks to be slated to join Ryan Johansen and Nick Foligno on what should be a dynamic top scoring line. The Blue Jackets do have solid forward depth behind their top line, but for fantasy purposes, all eyes should remain on Foligno/Johansen/Saad. Jack Johnson headlines the Blue Jackets defense once again this season, and after breaking the 40-point plateau for the second time in his career last season, he’s a nice option as the quarterback of their #1 power-play unit. He’s joined on the blue-line of that power-play by Ryan Murray who has been plagued by injuries thus far during his young career, but considering his 2nd overall draft selection in 2012, there’s plenty of upside to be excited about.

Elite Plays

NYR: Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Keith Yandle
CBJ: Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad, Ryan Johansen

Secondary Plays

NYR: Derick Brassard, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Henrik Lundqvist
CBJ: Cam Atkinson, Jack Johnson, Sergei Bobrovsky

Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings – 07:30 PM EDT

Toronto Maple Leafs Detroit Red Wings
Article Image Jonathan Bernier Article Image Jimmy Howard
Record Record
30-44 43-25
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.51 3.13 15.90% 80.50% Team Stats 2.82 2.57 23.80% 80.90%

The Red Wings will kick of the 2015-16 season by welcoming their former coach Mike Babcock back to Joe Louis Arena tonight in what should be a fairly emotional meeting for both sides. The Maple Leafs played fairly well in a tough 3-1 (EN goal) loss to the Canadians on opening night, and should once again be fired up for their new coach when they hit the ice this evening. Despite losing to Montreal, Toronto actually outshot the Canadians 37-30, played pretty solid on the defensive end, and could have walked away with two points with a bit better luck. Toronto should be an improved team this season, but the playoffs still look like a long shot and the loss of Phil Kessel leaves behind quite the scoring void. James van Riemsdyk lit the lamp in the opener and he and his linemate (Kadri and Boyes) will be leaned on heavily to keep producing offensively. Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak team-up on the second forward line (and power-play unit) and have also proven to be very capable in the offensive end. On defense, Morgan Reilly and Dion Phaneuf both soak up nearly all of the time with the man advantage and are the two guys worth targeting against Detroit’s subpar penalty kill.

The Red Wings will start the season without Pavel Datsyuk, but after an undefeated preseason, they look poised to get out of the gates quickly for new coach Jeff Blashill. The absence of Datsyuk is tough to overcome, but the wings have several new faces this season that should help fill the void left behind. The two most notable additions are Brad Richards up-front, and finally the right-handed trigger man on defense they’ve desperately needed in Mike Green. On offense, grizzled vets like Henrik Zetterberg, Brad Richards and Johan Franzen and surrounded by a solid core of talented young forwards that puts three balanced scoring lines at Coach Blashill’s disposal. The Wings proved to be solid at 5×5 situations last year, but their real strength in the past has been on special teams, and with the Maple Leafs owning an ugly 80.5% penalty kill last season, it makes sense to target guys on their power-play that happened to score the most power-play goals in the NHL last season.

Elite Plays

TOR: James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Mike Green

Secondary Plays

TOR: Brad Boyes, Joffrey Lupul, Dion Phaneuf, Morgan Reilly
DET: Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Jimmy Howard

Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders – 07:30 PM EDT

Chicago Blackhawks New York Islanders
Article Image Corey Crawford Article Image Thomas Greiss
Record Record
48-28 47-28
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.68 2.27 17.60% 83.40% Team Stats 2.99 2.73 18.70% 78.00%

It was an emotional season opener for the Blackhawks as they raised their sixth Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters and were a dis-allowed goal away from pulling even with the New York Rangers late in the third period. They’ll head east to take on another New York based team tonight in the first half of a home-and-home series, and will once again have their hands full. There is no denying the offensive firepower that lies within the top two forward lines of this Chicago team, but facing another NHL super-star in John Tavares should once again relegate the Toews/Hossa line to defensive duty as Coach Quenneville locked them up against Tavares every chance he could in their meetings last season. While that doesn’t eliminate that top line from consideration today by any means (specially considering the Islanders’ woes on the penalty kill last season), it does open the door for the Kane/Anisimov/Panarin to take some chance in the offensive zone. Both Panarin and Teravainen lit the lamp in the opener and both youngsters look like nice value options on the wing of their respective lines. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook will continue to rack up huge minutes of ice-time and soak up the lions-share of power-play time, so they’re the defenders to target if you choose to attack this ugly 78% penalty kill from last season.

There should be plenty of excitement in the air tonight when the Islanders open up their new arena against the defending Stanley Cup champs. The 2014-15 season was their best in recent memory and their roster remains largely unchanged from the squad that posted a 47-28-7 record last season. Tonight’s battle will obviously be a tough one for the Islanders as both of these two teams found themselves ranked in the top five by Corsi standards last season. There’s no doubt that Chicago will be doing it’s best to match the defensively stout Toews line as often as possible against John Tavares (along with Anders Lee and Ryan Strome), but Jack Capuano can not only utilize the last line change to create favorable matchups, but he also has the luxury of rolling out three very talented scoring lines. On defense, both Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy have emerged as top-pair defenseman, and with them soaking up a ton of the time with the man advantage, they’re fine options. The Islanders will have plenty of more appealing fantasy matchups in the near future, but on just a five game slate, they definitely can’t be ignored tonight.

Elite Plays

CHI: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith
NYI: John Tavares, Anders Lee, Kyle Okposo

Secondary Plays

CHI: Marian Hossa, Teuvo Teravainen, Artem Anisimov, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford
NYI: Ryan Strome, Frans Nielsen, Mikhail Grabovski, Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk

Arizona Coyotes at Los Angeles Kings – 10:30 PM EDT

Arizona Coyotes Los Angeles Kings
Article Image Mike Smith Article Image Jonathan Quick
Record Record
24-50 40-27
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.01 3.26 20.00% 76.70% Team Stats 2.66 2.40 19.00% 80.90%

The Los Angeles Kings took four of the six meetings between these two teams last season, and with Arizona doing very little to improve themselves during the offseason, the future doesn’t look so bright for Coyotes this season. Only the Buffalo Sabres posted less than Arizona’s 56 points last season, and they were at least rewarded with Jack Eichel in the 2015 NHL draft. Upfront, both Mikkel Boedker and Antoine Vermette have moderate offensive upside, but the only real fantasy weapon on this team is defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The 24 year-old defenseman is the building block for this team and he racked up 23 goals and 20 assists during the 2014-15 season. With the Kings being the best team in the league last season by Corsi standards (55.3 CF%) and having one of the games most lopsided home-ice advantages, OEL is the only player on my radar here.

The Kings were embarrassed by the Sharks on opening night…. And that doesn’t bode well for the Coyotes. Los Angeles is an obvious heavy favorite in this meeting and both of their top two scoring lines should be heavily targeted. The Coyotes owned the league’s second worst penalty kill in the league last season and only Edmonton and Buffalo allowed more goals than their 272. Don’t overthink it, target the top two lines as well as Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin as you see fit. With an excellent chance at a “W”, Jonathan Quick (or perhaps Jhonas Enroth) is a nice cash game goalie play.

Elite Plays

ARI: None
LOS: Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick

Secondary Plays

ARI: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
LOS: Milan Lucic, Tanner Pearson, Jake Muzzin, Dustin Brown

About the Author

jmbwngfn
John Britt (jmbwngfn)

One of the top baseball and hockey analysts in the DFS industry, John Britt is a family man hailing from St. Louis, Missouri. A proud graduate of the University of Missouri, John’s passion is hockey but he excels at multiple DFS sports. He has been nominated multiple times for awards for his written work in both baseball (best MLB series) and hockey (3x NHL Writer of the Year nominee) and is now the Lead Editor at RotoGrinders. John can be found on Twitter at the username JMBWngFn.