Justin Faulk Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Sebastian Aho, Justin Williams, and Nino Niederreiter need a win tonight to avoid the Tampa Bay Lightening in round one of the playoffs. Carolina has played well down the stretch while posting a 66.69 CF/60 over the past month and generating 14.01 HDCF/60 during that span. If you want to pair defenseman with this top line, look to Justin Faulk for power-play correlation.

The Carolina Hurricanes host the Detroit Red Wings tonight. Detroit is playing their second game in as many nights. Carolina ranks first in shots on goal per game (41.1), high danger scoring chances for, and hold the NHL’s best xGF/60 (3.3). We seen them break through against Chicago the other night, and I expect Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, and Michael Ferland to continue dominating puck possession, and create high danger scoring chances in this matchup. Detroit ranks fourth in GA/60(2.93). We expect to see career back up goalie Jonathan Bernier in net, giving Carolina another bump. Aho, Teravainen, and Ferland all skate on the team’s top power-play unit, and Justin Faulk is the blue liner you want as an addition, as he currently sees the most ice time on the first power play unit.

There might be a few more exciting names to target on the blue-line, but with salary obviously in consideration, Justin Faulk is one of my favorite options to target. He's admittedly been quiet lately, but that has more to do with Carolina's struggles than his poor play (they've scored just five goals during their four game losing streak). I expect them to snap out of their funk tonight as they visit a Detroit team that just lost at home to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night and who should be more concerned about making trade deadline deals this weekend as opposed to fighting for two points on the ice. Faulk's fantasy value comes from his dominance as the quarterback of the Hurricane's top power-play unit and that should bode well for him this evening as Detroit has posted an ugly 71.1% penalty kill since the All-Star break. Faulk burned them for three assists in their first two meetings this season and possesses a much higher upside than the other defensive options in this price range.

The New York Islanders are not only atrocious defensively (ranking 30th overall in CA/60, and 31st in HDCA/60 and SCA/60), they have also struggled big time when short-handed, toting the leagues 30th ranked penalty kill, which certainly opens the door for both of the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman. Justin Faulk is the more talented player, but Noah Hanifin is the top point-per-dollar play on defense, and you really cant go wrong with either one in cash games. If you are stacking the Hurricanes in GPPs, Faulk plays with the top line, while Hanifin skates on the second unit.

The Carolina Hurricanes should dominate this weak Vancouver Canucks team playing on consecutive nights, putting both the moderately priced Justin Faulk and inexpensive Noah Hanifin in play tonight for either cash games or tournament play. The Canucks are a below average defensive team (ranking 22nd overall in HDCA/60 and 28th overall in SCA/60) and they can definitely be exploited on the road. On top of that, Vancouver has also struggled while short-handed this year, ranking 26th overall on the penalty kill and 28th overall on the road. Defense is not a loaded position tonight, so I will be looking to the Hurricanes defense options more often than not when building my lineups this evening.

If you're looking for an under the radar line stack to target in tournaments tonight, consider taking the top line of Carolina which features Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, and Elias Lindholm. Known more for their defensive abilities, this line found great chemistry towards the end of last season and also receives top power play minutes for the Hurricanes. They draw a juicy matchup at home against one of the league's worst teams in Ottawa who allow the second most shot attempts, the second most scoring chances, and own the second worst adjusted xGA/60 on tonight's slate. Carolina meanwhile has generated the most shot attempts, and the second most scoring chances among home teams on tonight's slate. All featured on Carolina's top power play unit, expect this trio to be very busy on the man advantage tonight against an Ottawa penalty kill that ranks 29th in the NHL this season.

In what has been a somewhat embarrassing season for the USA Olympian, Justin Faulk has shown signs of life in January, particularly over the last two weeks as he has picked up a goal and four helpers while taking 20 shots on goal during this five game stretch. While Carolina's offense has struggled to find the back of the net for most of the season, the situational spot is one to target tonight as Vegas is playing their third game in four nights. Moreover, Vegas has not been the same strong defensive team on the road as they have been at home, and Faulk checks in under $5,000 on both FanDuel and DraftKings. Paying up for Brent Burns has been a must this month, but given the tough spot against the Ducks tonight, using some of that extra salary on forwards could be beneficial, especially in tournament lineups.

If looking for a high volume shooting defender at a mid-tier price, take a look at Faulk this afternoon. Sure, the Flames are white hot right now, but they are deep into their travel schedule and playing an afternoon game in an early timezone. Faulk is getting the puck to the net in volume right now with 19 shots reaching the net in his past five games. Always sporting a respectable 5v5 iCF/60 for a blueliner, Faulk gets a matchup enhancement with his role on the top power play unit. Carolina has been outstanding on the advantage this year while Calgary has struggled a bit while shorthanded with scoring chances and shot attempts allowed from high-danger areas, opening the door for Faulk and the top unit to continue performing well.

If you're looking for an under the radar line stack to target in tournaments tonight, consider taking the top line of Carolina which features Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, and Elias Lindholm. Known more for their defensive abilities, this line found great chemistry towards the end of last season and also receives top power play minutes for the Hurricanes. This bodes well for the underrated trio, who should be very busy on the man advantage tonight against a Washington Capitals team that ranks 22nd in penalty kill percentage this season. Without home ice advantage, this line shouldn't see much of superstar forward Alex Ovechkin throughout much of tonight's game, allowing Staal, Aho, and Lindholm to focus on generating offense against one of the many weaker defensive lines of Washington.

With Ryan McDonagh ruled out for tonight's contest against Carolina, Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers could be in a lot of trouble. As it stands, they already sport the National Hockey League's worst xGA/60 (2.89) at 5-on-5. After an eight game pointless streak, Faulk came alive on Sunday to pick up two helpers. Carolina has good depth on defense, so Faulk's minutes aren't as heavy as they used to be, but his price has also seen nosedive reflective of that. Carolina should find three goals minimum tonight, and if they do, Faulk figures to be involved.