Craig Smith Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Craig Smith, Kyle Turris, and Calle Jarnkrok come in as a very cheap line stack on a night where there is a lot of high priced line stacks to pay up for. Injuries have plagued the Nashville Predators all season, creating slightly more ice time and opportunities for Nashville’s second line. On top of that, on home ice this line is typically matched up against the opposition’s weaker lines, and gets the most offensive zone faceoff’s. With Kyle Turris back last game, you get two-thirds of the team’s top power play unit. Adding either defensemen Roman Josi, or Ryan Ellis gives you power-play correlation, and multiple ways to differentiate your lineup. Josi is my preferred option if salary is available.

Eeli Tolvanen — the Nashville Predators top prospect — made his season debut over the weekend and put up a goal and an assist playing on the top line with Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala. Tonight, he is expected to be on the second line with Calle Jarnkrok and Craig Smith. While this is certainly a downgrade with regards to his linemates, he is still an elite prospect that could help carry this line. They take on the Buffalo Sabres who despite their previous winning streak have an NHL-worst 43.81 CF% over the last three weeks.

With Antti Raanta injured again, Adin Hill will get the call tonight against a Nashville team that should bounce back off a home loss. While Arizona has been respectable defensively, much of that can be attributed to the play of Raanta. Nashville has been a bit of a mess with their injuries, and not having a true top-six center hurts some of Smith's value, but his price is down across the industry and he could do some damage on the power play. The last time these two teams met, two weeks ago, the Predators were coming off a tough loss in San Jose. The Coyotes edged the Predators 2-1 behind a career-high in saves (44) from second string goalie Darcy Kuemper. Neither he nor Raanta will play tonight. Smith is a cheap shooter who has a good chance of finding the back of the net tonight. A case can be made for other cheap Nashville skaters as well like Kevin Fiala and Nick Bonino.

After several subpar seasons for Craig Smith, the longtime Predator nearly matched his career-high in points (52) last season with 51 points including 25 goals. While Smith will never see a bevy of minutes, he is not shy about shooting the puck. In fact, last season against the Minnesota Wild, Smith fired 23 shots on goal in five games but failed to find the scoresheet. His price has come down after going pointless in three consecutive games, so tonight is a good spot to take advantage on DraftKings ($4,300) and FanDuel ($5,100) as the Predators play their best hockey on home ice and should be good for three-plus goals against a Minnesota team that is mediocre on the road.

The Nashville Predators will host the New York Islanders tonight. The Pred’s second line is almost free, and provide huge upside in this matchup. The Islanders were one of our favorite teams to pick on last year, and they lost superstar John Tavares in free agency. Nashville’s second line featuring Craig Smith, Kyle Turris, and Kevin Fiala has a HDCF%(Percentage of high danger scoring chances) of 61.54 when they are on the ice together. This suggests that their one goal as a line so far is a result of bad luck. They also get a large percentage of the teams offensive zone face-offs. Look for this line to go under the radar tonight, and at their low salaries, they can be paired with other high priced lines. You can pair them with defensemen Roman Josi or Ryan Ellis. Josi being my preferred option is salary is available.

The Nashville Predators top line may have the higher ceiling, but they are also much more expensive, which is why I am leaning towards their underrated second line this evening. Led by Craig Smith, this trio remains moderately priced industry wide, and they have multi-goal upside tonight at the KeyBank Center. The Buffalo Sabres are not necessarily a weak defensive team overall, but their goaltending is definitely sub-par, which is why they have allowed the third-most goals against per game in the National Hockey League this season (3.24), and the ninth-most goals against per game this month (3.43). By no means am I saying to fade Nashvilles top line tonight, they are definitely in play, but the Preds second line is the better point-per-dollar play once again. With P.K. Subban skating with the teams top line on the number one power play unit, you will want to pair either Roman Josi, or Ryan Ellis with the Predators second line on the second power play unit.

If you're looking for an under the radar stack tonight, consider Nashville's second line which features Craig Smith, Kevin Fiala, and newly acquired Kyle Turris. Back home where they play their best hockey, this trio draws a sneaky good matchup against a Winnipeg Jets team that will be playing on tired legs following a tough loss to Washington last night. Despite shoring up their penalty kill this year, Winnipeg continues to take too many penalties for their own good. This bodes well for the second line of Nashville, who have combined for 25 power play points at home this season and won't be tasked with shutting down Blake Wheeler or Patrik Laine with home ice advantage on their side.

After a rough road trip , Nashville's second line which features Craig Smith, Kevin Fiala, and newly acquired Kyle Turris are primed for a major bounce back game tonight against the Stars. Back home where they play their best hockey, this trio draws a sneaky good matchup against a banged up Dallas Stars team that will be playing on tired legs following a disappointing loss to Ottawa last night. This bodes well for the second line of Nashville who have combined for 25 power play points at home this season and won't be tasked with shutting down Tyler Seguin with home ice advantage on their side.

Returning to Ottawa where he spent the majority of his career, Kyle Turris and the second line of Nashville will look to get back on track following a rough loss to Toronto last night. Despite their recent struggles, Nashville's second line which features Craig Smith, Kevin Fiala, and newly acquired Kyle Turris are primed for a major bounce back game tonight against a weak Ottawa defense that allows the most shot attempts on home ice and own the league's second worst adjusted xGA/60 over their past 15 games. Narratives aside, this trio draws a fantastic matchup against an undisciplined Senators squad that continues to take too many penalties for their own good and ranks 28th in penalty kill percentage this season. This bodes well for the second line of Nashville who have combined for 36 power play points this season.

Getting exposure to some of the top offenses will be expensive tonight, so finding a secondary line stack will be key, and the Nashville Predators second line is at the top of my list this evening. The New York Islanders are the worst defensive team in the National Hockey League (sitting 30th in CA/60, 31st in both HDCA/60 and SCA/60), and the Predators second line should find success tonight at the Barclays Center. In cash games, I plan on rostering at least one and possibly two members from this underrated line (my preferred order is Craig Smith, then Kevin Fiala and Kyle Turris), and I will definitely be stacking this moderately priced line in GPPs.