DFS Alerts

This winger's struggles have been overblown.

Vladimir Tarasenko has been talked about a lot as a struggling player this season. However, his 2 points in 13 December games are the reason that his totals are really down. He has had a bad month, with October, November and January totals being 29 points in 34 games. His goal and point totals down overall, but without that slumping December he’s on pace for similar numbers as the last few years. He’s playing with Ryan O’Reilly who has put up 9 points in his last 7 games as well as Patrick Maroon on the other wing. The Blues visit Anaheim who have been saved by John Gibson this season. Gibson has been as good as it gets, but over the last month St. Louis has a league-best 56.63 CF% while the Ducks have a 19th-ranked 48.83 CF% which certainly gives the underrated Blues an advantage tonight.

This winger is thriving on his new team this season.

The Vegas Golden Knights have been playing at an elite level as of late. Over the last month, they have a 55.84 CF% which is the second-best mark in the NHL and a 66.84 CF/60 which is the best. They’re hosting a Nashville Predators team that is elite, but has given up a lot of Corsi-against as of late. Their 59.38 CA/60 over the last month is the 10th-highest which certainly benefits the Knights tonight. The second line is preferred tonight with Paul Stastny centering Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch. All three of these players have at least a point per game over the last month. They play on the same power play unit which gives them full-game correlation and elite upside.

This team has put their two best players together in a rare occurrance.

Mike Babcock has decided to put Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner together in what is a very rare occurrence. The two will be playing with Patrick Marleau on the Toronto Maple Leafs top line. The Leafs host the Washington Capitals tonight, a team that is coming in on a back-to-back after losing an incredibly high-scoring overtime game against the San Jose Sharks. Marner and Matthews make for a fantastic mini-stack if you choose to leave Marleau off as they play on the top power play unit together. Stacking them with Morgan Rielly may be the better play with PP correlation.

Goalie Turning Back the Clock

Carey Price isn’t old per se, but his form lately has been reminiscent of the Vezina (and Hart) winner in 2015. He has won three consecutive games and hasn’t allowed more than two goals in any of those starts. The matchups were against Columbus, Boston, and Colorado, so not exactly pushovers from an offensive perspective. In his only other appearance against the Coyotes this season, he stopped 36 of 37 shots in route to a win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar effort tonight at home.

Captain Regaining Form

Shea Weber is one of the most valuable players to his team in the NHL. While not all of his value shows up on the scoresheet, he is still a valuable fantasy asset. After a slow start to the year after his return from injury, Weber is beginning to show signs of the Norris Trophy caliber player that he is. He has three points in his last three games, and is beginning to log his usual heavy minutes, approaching 25 a game lately. He’ll tee off against an Arizona team on the second of a back-to-back and should have plenty of opportunities to unleash his shot on the powerplay against a tired opponent.

Blue liner has come alive in January

After just a measly point in 13 December games, Dougie Hamilton has had a far more productive January as the ex-Flame has seven points (4G, 3A) in 11 games while averaging nearly three shots on goal per contest. Dougie even scored last night against his old team before the Hurricanes bowed out in overtime. Dougie’s shot volume gives him a nice baseline and if he keeps the hot streak going, he could easily pay off his sub-$5,000 salary on both DraftKings and FanDuel.

Young center has a goal in back to back games

If you are looking for a deep punt in tournaments at center, have a look at Alexander Kerfoot who has picked up a goal in consecutive games. With names like Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews and John Tavares soaking up ownership at the top tonight, taking a chance on someone like Kerfoot and loading up elsewhere seems like an interesting approach in mass multi-entry tournaments. Kerfoot has 12 points (4G, 8A) in 19 games on home ice despited limited ice time. We have seen the Wild play some horrendous games over the last week so it’s not out of the question for Kerfoot to be involved as the center on the second power play unit.

Ten shots in last two games for cheap winger

Josh Leivo has 10 shots on goal over his last two games as the crafty dangler has benefited from the return of super rookie Elias Pettersson. While a matchup with Carolina is not the most exploitable, the Hurricanes as a team sport one of the worst save percentages in the National Hockey League. Additionally, Carolina played in Calgary last night so the tired legs will be in play, especially as the game wears on. Leivo is dirt-cheap across the industry and makes for a nice source of saving salary in all formats given his shot-making ability.

Edit @ 1:45 – Leivo will be skating with Horvat as Sven Baertschi will be on the Pettersson and Boeser line

This center seems to have new wingers every other week.

Nobody seems to really stick on Connor McDavid’s wing for very long, though Leon Draisaitl has had a lot of success there. Tonight Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi will be there which is a pretty solid trio. The CF/60, CA/60 and CF% of the Edmonton Oilers and their opponents — the Detroit Red Wings — are very similar so I’m just going with McDavid being the reason why Edmonton should win this game as he’s so far and ahead the best player in this game. Nugent-Hopkins plays on the top power play unit with McDavid so they make for an interesting mini-stack, but the full stack is definitely a viable play.

This team is somehow in the playoff hunt with a plethora of injuries.

The Arizona Coyotes have had a plethora of injuries this season. Some are healthy again like Alex Galchenyuk, but many remain on the shelf or are out for the season like Nick Schmaltz and Antti Raanta. Despite their lack of scoring as a team, the line of Galchenyuk, Jordan Weal and Conor Garland is an interesting play tonight. Galchenyuk and Garland are on the top power play unit with Clayton Keller, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jakob Chychrun which benefits them and makes them a decent mini-stack if you don’t want to include Weal. The Coyotes power play is nothing special ranked 19th, but they face the 29th ranked penalty kill of the Ottawa Senators which is encouraging.

This winger has flown under the radar this season.

Due to the success of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm as the Calgary Flames top line, Matthew Tkachuk’s season has flown under the radar. However, he sits 14th in NHL scoring, tied with Lindholm with 57 points in 50 games. Now, his line isn’t the best so this is a pure tournament play as a line stack with Mark Jankowski and Sam Bennett playing with him. The Flames generate a lot of offensive opportunities with an 8th-best 59.08 CF/60 and dominate possession with a 5th ranked 52.88 CF%. Tkachuk plays on the top power play unit so he’s an interesting one-off play as well.

Risky netminder a worthy target in tournaments

For as bad as the Senators have been, Craig Anderson has been somewhat serviceable on home ice as he often gets goal support. In fact, Ottawa’s 3.44 goals per game on home ice ranks eighth best in the National Hockey League. Anderson sports a 11-5-2 record, 3.09 GAA and .918 SV% at the Canadian Tire Centre and a matchup with the Arizona Coyotes is not intimidating as the visitors are averaging the fourth-fewest goals per game (2.63 GF/G). Anderson should see his usual volume and could be in line for a nice performance in what amounts to a coin flip game. Take a chance with the wily veteran.

Cheap center viable in all formats

While he hasn’t shown much upside with the Coyotes, Derek Stepan draws a nice matchup tonight in Ottawa against everyone’s favorite team to target against. The Coyotes have been playing better as of late, going 5-1-1 over their last seven games and Stepan has been a factor as he continues to log a bevy of minutes. Stepan had five shots on goal last time out to go along with two assists in the Coyotes’ 4-2 win in Toronto. Stepan makes for a secondary cash game target and a worthy target in tournaments either as a line stack or power play stack.

Veteran forward showing signs of life

James Neal had scored 20-plus goals in each of his last eight seasons, even when missing a bunch of games. However, in his first season with the Flames, Neal has been a bust, collecting just 12 points in 48 games. However, Neal has shown signs of life recently with four points in his last five games while taking 13 shots on goal. Given the Carolina Hurricanes’ goaltending woes, it would not be a surprise to see Neal take a couple shots and find the back of the net. In one of the best game environments of the night, Neal is a way to save salary and load up elsewhere.

Goalie Has Been Unbeatable at Home

Marc-Andre Fleury (MAF) has been somewhat shaky on the road this year, but has been dominant at home in front of Vegas’ raucous crowd. MAF has just four regulation losses in 22 starts at home and boasts a 2.13 GAA and .926 SV%. He’ll face the Wild tonight and is the largest favorite on today’s slate at -170. He’s expensive, but he’s by far the safest bet at the goalie position.