Alex Pietrangelo Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

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.

If you're looking for a complete line stack in a great spot at home with everything to play for, turn to the top line of the Blues which features Tarasenko, Schwartz, and Schenn . Despite their recent struggles, Tarasenko has quietly put together another fantastic offensive season for the Blues. A matchup against a potent Washington team may seem risky, but the Capitals will be playing on the tail end of back to back games on the road after clinching their division in Pittsburgh last night and have surrendered the most high danger scoring chances over their last 25 road games. With home ice advantage on their side, look for head coach Mike Yeo to get his most talented line in prime offensive zone faceoffs and matched up against one of the weaker lines of Washington throughout tonight's contest.

Alex Pietrangelo has been on a tear as of late. Over his last 10 games, he has picked up four goals and 13 points which is insane for a defenseman. He has also gotten 24 blocks and 34 shots for a 5.9 DraftKings points average. Tonight the St. Louis Blues are in Vegas to take on the Golden Knights, which is a fairly difficult matchup. However, with how well he's been playing he is still worth paying up for.

Pietrangelo has cooled off just a bit after a scorching hot start to the season, but the Norris Trophy candidate will still hop over the boards tonight owning eight goals and 27 assists in 49 games this season. He's logging well over 25 minutes of ice-time per game on a nightly basis for Mike Yeo and runs the show as the quarterback of the Blue's top power-play unit that finally looks to be starting to click (5 for 13 in their last five games). Tonight, he'll face a Buffalo team that sits in last place in the Eastern Conference and who has surrendered an ugly 3.31 goals against per game this season to go along with a sub-par 78.3% penalty kill. His combination of shot volume (180 SOG) and shot suppression abilities (107 blocked shots) provide him the high floor you should be seeking in cash games, and the plus matchup solidifies his multi-point upside.

If you're looking to pick on a struggling team on the tail end of a back to back, consider taking the top line of the Blues, which features Paul Stastny, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Ivan Barbashev. With 25 points in as many home games this season, Tarasenko has quietly put together another fantastic offensive season for the Blues. They draw a fantastic matchup against a weak Ottawa Senators team that allows the most scoring chances among road teams on tonight's slate. Also featured on the top power play for St. Louis, Stastny and Tarasenko should be very busy on the man advantage tonight against an Ottawa penalty kill that ranks 29th in the league and has surrendered nine power play goals in eight games this month.

The Sabres enter the night a well disciplined team, but one that has struggled to suppress shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger shot attempts while shorthanded. Pietrangelo plays the point on a dangerous St. Louis power play and should also benefit from a 5v5 matchup that sees him able to jump into the rush more frequently thanks to a meek Buffalo attack. If you are using Corey Crawford in net and do not want to use Oliver-Ekman Larsson in a highly favorable spot against him, Pietrangelo is a natural replacement.

The Sabres enter the night a well disciplined team, but one that has struggled to suppress shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger shot attempts while shorthanded. Pietrangelo plays the point on a dangerous St. Louis power play and should also benefit from a 5v5 matchup that sees him able to jump into the rush more frequently thanks to a meek Buffalo attack. If you are using Corey Crawford in net and do not want to use Oliver-Ekman Larsson in a highly favorable spot against him, Pietrangelo is a natural replacement.

When looking for the top defenseman to roster, I generally look at special teams, especially on a short-slate. Of the six teams hitting the ice this evening the Montreal Canadiens (seventh-most minor penalties in the National Hockey League this season) and the Edmonton Oilers (12th most minor penalties overall) are the two most penalized teams. The Canadiens (sitting 28th overall on the PK) and Oilers (29th ranked PK) are also struggling to kill off those penalties, which puts both John Klingberg and Alex Pietrangelo atop our list in all formats. Neither defenseman comes at a bargain, but they both have multi-point upside with their plus matchups on deck.

We have a few stud defensemen in play tonight, but I will be focusing heavily on two in particular, one from each price tier. At the top end, Alex Pietrangelo is the main attraction. The St. Louis Blues offensive rearguard plays in all situations (averaging a ridiculous 26:22 minutes of ice time per game), and I think we see him break through tonight on the power play against a Calgary Flames team that struggles while short-handed (Flames rank 27th overall on the penalty kill). In the value tier, Noah Hanifin once again draws my interest. Hanifin does it all for the Hurricanes, and he continues to see more time on the power play. Considering his inexpensive price tag across the industry, Hanifin is easily the top point-per-dollar play on the blue line this evening.

Did I mention I liked the St. Louis Blues this evening? Its not a case of if we should roster Blues, but how many. Alex Pietrangelo is my favorite target, outside of the Blues number one line of course, and he is also my top overall play on defense tonight. The Coyotes are not just a defensive disaster, they also own one of the National Hockey leagues worst penalty kills (28th ranked PK), giving Pietrangelo ample opportunity to pay off his hefty salary tonight. The 27-year-old defenseman has been a force for the Blues this season, producing 15 points and 54 shots on goal in 16 games, while averaging over 26 minutes of ice time per contest. Whether you are playing cash games or GPPs, Pietrangelo should be your number one choice on the blue line.