Frank Vatrano Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

The Florida Panthers may not be the first team you look at when choosing your line-ups for this afternoon. This is the exact reason that Aleksander Barkov makes for a decent play here this evening as he has found the score sheet 15 times over the last 10 games while skating on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Frank Vatrano. Barkov also gets to log a lot of ice time on the team’s top power play line that has seen him grab five of those 15 points when the team has had the extra attacker. Their opponent tonight is the Los Angeles Kings who have admittedly had enough problems of their own as evidence of giving up 33 goals over their last 10 games. This should be more than enough if you want to stray from the bigger names like Sidney Crosby, John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron this evening.

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.

At $2,500 on DraftKings, Keith Yandle is the automatic play of the night in cash games, and even in tournaments it will be tough not having max exposure to the veteran blue liner who sees time on the team's top power play unit. Do not make the mistake of not playing him in your head-to-head lineups.

Besides the obvious play on the pricing error with Yandle, another source of salary relief from Florida is Nick Bjugstad who made his return last time out. After his first game in five weeks, Bjugstad logged just under 13 minutes of ice time, taking three shots on goal and blocking a shot. Nick is a cheap forward to open up salary elsewhere.

**Edit @ 11:15 - Nick Bjugstad will not be on the top line. Instead it will be shot-making Frank Vatrano alongside Aleksander Barkov and Evgeni Dadonov. Vatrano is an interesting tournament option. Remember though, Florida is often juggling their lines**

It appears Frank Vatrano will skate on the third line rather than the second line tonight, so he is no longer the slam dunk value on FanDuel ($3,200) that he was earlier. Vatrano is still a skater that can do things on his own, so if looking for a low-owned tournament punt, give him a roll of the dice in your crazy Florida stacks.

Nick Bjugstad, who seems to bounce from the bottom-six to top-six over the course of the season is set to skate with Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Huberdeau on the second line. Bjugstad is cheap on both DraftKings ($4,600) and FanDuel ($4,700), but should only be utilized in second line stacks.

The Florida Panthers face the New York Rangers tonight. While both of Florida’s top lines are in play once again, Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Frank Vatrano tend to always garnish less ownership. I’ll take the salary discount and lower ownership in tournaments. New York has struggled with puck possession (CA/60 of 61.19). The Rangers Henrik Lundqvist gave up five goals the other night before getting pulled. Whether it’s Lundqvist or Alexandar Georgiev in net, Florida will have opportunities to put the puck in the back of the net. Keith Yandle is the defenseman you want, as he is the power-play quarterback on the first unit, along with Huberdeau and Trocheck.

The Florida Panthers will welcome in the New York Islanders tonight. While both of Florida’s top lines are in play, Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Frank Vatrano tend to always garnish less ownership. I’ll take the salary discount and lower ownership in tournaments. Florida’s possession numbers remain strong, CF/60 of 59.79. While New York carries a CA/60 at 63.17. Keith Yandle is the defenseman you want, as he is the power-play quarterback on the first unit, along with Huberdeau and Trocheck.

If you're looking to differentiate your lineup from the masses that will likely be rostering Florida's top line in tournaments tonight, consider taking the second line from Florida which features Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Frank Vatrano. After a slow start to the year, Trocheck has come on strong in recent games and now has 12 points over his past 10 games. Also featured on Florida's top power play unit, Trocheck and Huberdeau should have no problems improving upon their team lead in power play points against an Islanders penalty kill that ranks dead last in the NHL and has surrendered six power play goals in as many games.