DFS Alerts

Defenseman Should See Elite Usage

Brent Burns is already one of the best fantasy assets in the NHL due to his elite usage for the Sharks, but he’s set to see even more minutes and responsibilities with Erik Karlsson out until after the All-Star Break. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Burns approach 30 minutes of ice time, and he will likely work with both the first and second power play units. The matchup against the Panthers is a favorable one, as they rank in the bottom 5 in the NHL in goals allowed.

The St. Louis Blues are in a fantastic road matchup.

The St. Louis Blues visit the Los Angeles Kings tonight and the Kings have been struggling in the new year. The Kings are allowing a 63.99 CA/60 since January first which is the second-worst in the NHL and their 43.82 CF% is the worst in the NHL over those three weeks. This sets up for a great opportunity for the Blues as they’ve had a 54.34 CF% (4th) and 57.47 CF/60 (11th) over the same time frame. We’re going to look at a re-vamped top line with Ryan O’Reilly centering Patrick Maroon and Vladimir Tarasenko. This trio is all on the top power play unit which gives them elite upside as they play the entire game together.

The "second" line on San Jose is in a great spot.

Since January 1st, the San Jose Sharks have a 62.81 CF/60 (5th) and a 54.86 CF% (4th) which are both elite. The Sharks are playing amazing right now and as they head to Florida tonight, they are in a great spot. Roberto Luongo has struggled immensely this season with a 3.23 goals against average and a .894 save percentage, and it’s not like James Reimer has been much better if he starts. Logan Couture is centering Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier on the second line, and with Labanc and Couture playing on the same power play unit they make for an interesting mini-stack if you don’t want to go all-in on this full-line stack.

This sniper has a difficult matchup on a short-slate.

The Colorado Avalanche host the Nashville Predators today and although this is a tough matchup, given that it is just a four-game slate I don’t mind using the best offensive line in the NHL here. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog are still producing the best offensive numbers in the NHL as a line and are definitely in play on a short slate. The trio play on the top power play unit as always which gives them full-game correlation and elite upside.

Cheap goalie draws strong matchup

For whatever reason, Jake Allen and the Blues have struggled on home ice, but on the road Allen has been servicable, going 7-6-2 with a 2.33 GAA and .920 SV%. He made one start against the Kings already this season, allowing just a goal on 26 shots. The Kings are the National Hockey League’s worst offense (2.22 GF/G). This month alone, the Kings have been held to two or fewer goals in seven of their nine games. Allen is a way to differentiate from the likely popular Marc-Andre Fleury.

Edit @ 11:20 – Just a note, Allen has not been confirmed yet as it’s possible Jordan Binnington could get the start. They’re the same price on DraftKings, so it is not too big of an issue with late swap

Shooter has goals in back to back games

Though not priced down as much as he used to be, Vatrano is an affordable option at forward. He has four goals in his last six games and even logged a season-high 18:30 of ice time in the Leafs 3-1 win over Toronto. The return of Vincent Trocheck has energized the Panthers, and Vatrano himself has 11 shots on goal and two goals in two big wins over Toronto and in Nashville. Vatrano and his linemates make for a nice stack in tournaments against the poor goaltending of San Jose.

Two points in return for young defenseman

Colin Miller returned to the Golden Knights’ lineup Saturday night and picked up two assists. Though he is not on the team’s first power play unit, he is on a capable second unit with Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson. Miller has 19 points (2G, 17A) in 37 games which is right on pace for his 41 points (10G, 31A) in 82 games last season. At $3,500 on DraftKings and FanDuel, Miller is a nice route to go cheap on the blue line.

Favorable matchup for red hot winger and line-mates

Viktor Arvidsson has been outstanding all season with an individual CF/60 of 74.6 and HDCF/60 of 15.57. He also has 10 goals in his last 10 games. With Ryan Johansen suspended two games for high sticking, he will skate with line-mates Filip Forsberg and Calle Jarnkrok. Florida has struggled on the road this season and will have likely have James Reimer in net as they are playing their second game in as many nights. Reimer allowed four goals at Montreal his last time out.

This line should dominate possession from puck drop

The St. Louis Blues will host the Ottawa Senators tonight. Ottawa has been a team we have picked on all year. Although they only allowed one goal last night, I will be going back to the well tonight. Ottawa ranks fourth worst in CA/60 among road teams since the first of the year (62.95). The Blue’s line combinations remain a bit in limbo tonight as they are banged up with Perron missing tonight’s game and Steen listed as a game time decision. We will have to monitor this situation in pre game warm-ups, but I expect the Blue’s top line of Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly and Patrick Maroon to stay together. All three skaters remain together on the team’s top power-play unit along with Alex Pietrangelo.

Great matchup for this stack against struggling road team

Patrice Bergereon, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak draw a great matchup tonight against the New York Rangers. This line has as much upside as any line in the league every single night. The Rangers have allowed 14.44 HDCA/60 since the first of the year. That is the most HDCA/60 for road teams on tonight’s slate. Torey Krug is the power-play quarterback you want to pair this stack with if you’re adding a defenseman.

Veteran playmaker looks for big night in Sin City

Paul Stastny has 14 points (6G, 8A) in 19 games in his first season with the Vegas Golden Knights. Recently, he has taken over top power play duties as William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault are in a deep slump. Stastny is moderately priced across the industry and could be in for a big game against a Penguins’ team that played last night. Vegas as a team is averaging the most scoring chances per 60 minutes on home ice, so look for Stastny, Alex Tuch and Max Pacioretty to have a big night at palatable ownership levels.

Rookie goalie looks to follow-up strong start

Carter Hart was brilliant last time out against the Boston Bruins, stopping 39 of 42 shots faced. While the Flyers have been awful this season, they are in a nice stretch here winning three of four games. They draw a favorable spot tonight as Montreal was in Columbus last night. Additionally, Antti Niemi figures to get the call as Price went last night. Montreal is averaging the fifth-most shots per game (33.2 SF/G) so the volume will be there again for Hart. Hart is a low-owned option at a cheap tag in tournaments.

Overpriced massively on DraftKings ($8,200) because of his recent stretch and the Flyers’ woes, Antti Niemi enters the tournament conversation on FanDuel at just $7,700, on a night where cheap goalies are hard to find. After getting pounded by the Lightning for six goals on New Year’s Eve, Antti Niemi has turned back the clock, winning three straight starts and scoring 40, 28 and 49.6 Fantasy Points in his last three outings.

Cheap center viable in all formats

While unlikely, it is still possible the Blues will not see the same sort of ownership levels we saw last night in Carolina’s top line. The Hurricanes were flat all night and played their most awful game of the season by far. Meanwhile, St. Louis has been trending upward recently as they have sported a positive expected goal differential for more than a month. Schenn who checks in around $5,000 on DraftKings and FanDuel makes for an excellent tournament play with his affordable linemates Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. Ottawa’s defensive shortcomings are no secret despite their success over the last week.

Edit @ 10:55 – The Blues’ lines are a huge question mark tonight as David Perron was not at the morning skate. Tentatively, the team’s top line is Pat Maroon, Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko with the second line being Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn and Alex Steen. This is a situation you will have to monitor as Steen has not been taken off injured reserve yet

Ekholm to Anchor the Predators This Evening

With both Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson being priced into the next stratosphere maybe taking a look down the list of defensemen is the thing to do here. With Ryan Johansen out of the Nashville line-up the Predators will look to their back line more than ever for a little bit of scoring. This is where Mattias Ekholm comes in as he has racked up 14 of his 36 points over the last 11 games. Even with Ryan Johansen out for tonight’s game it still looks like the Predators can handle the Panthers on home ice this evening.

Bruins to Take Advantage of Rangers Weak Penalty Kill

It seems like every week I can write up either Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak or Brad Marchand for this segment. They are that good. Pastrnak leads the team with 27 goals and 55 points while Marchand’s 34 assists leads the team. Meanwhile all Bergeron has done is find the score sheet 40 times in the 32 games he has been healthy for. Today though, we have an extra bonus as the Bruins have scored 11 power play goals in their last 10 games. Obviously this trio has been at the root of that scoring but couple that with the fact that the Rangers have given up a league leading 11 power play goals over the last three weeks and you almost can’t help but put them into your line-ups this evening.