Mark Scheifele Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Ottawa has been one of the worst defensive teams all season long. They own a league worst GA/60 at 3.18, and CA/60 of 66.66. Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Kyle Connor all play together on the team’s top power-play unit and should have no problem finding the back of the net tonight against this porous Ottawa team. Dustin Byfuglien is an elite play in all formats and correlates on the top power-play unit with all three forwards.

*Update as Byfuglien is out Trouba is the play at Defense

Mark Scheifele and the Winnipeg Jets will host the Anaheim Ducks whom are giving up the second most high danger scoring chances in the league (12.87 HDCA/60). Scheifele and line-mates Blake Wheeler, and Kyle Connor all correlate on the team’s top power-play unit along with defenseman Jacob Trouba. This talented line stack has multi-goal upside against defensively challenged Anaheim team tonight.

The injury to Nikolaj Ehlers has done wonders for Kyle Connor as he has grabbed nine goals and four assists over the last 12 games. Not that he wasn’t a good player before moving up to the top line with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler as he now has 22 goals to go along with 19 assists in the 51 games he has suited up for. A lot of folks are wondering what is wrong with Patrik Laine and the answer could very simply be that Connor was the straw that stirred the drink on the team’s second line. The Jets are an impressive 19-6-2 on home ice which makes Connor a very lucrative play on home ice this evening.

While everybody is talking about Patrik Laine and his goal-scoring surge, his teammate Mark Scheifele is just two goals behind him with 21. While his 23.6 percent shooting percentage is bound to come down, for now we can ride this train. Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers have made up the Winnipeg Jets top line and they've been on fire with both Scheifele and Wheeler in the top 8 in points right now. Tonight they visit a Los Angeles Kings team that is not the team that we've become accustomed to seeing. They're dead last in the NHL with just 25 points and while their goals against per game are still middle-of-the-pack, Jonathan Quick has struggled with a 3.34 GAA and .892 SV%.

Other than a recent 7-1 drubbing of the Flyers, the first line for the Jets has been seeing a borderline absurd amount of ice time. Mark Scheifele has eclipsed the 25 minute mark in three of his last five games. Blake Wheeler isn't far behind. Both of these two also form an elite number one power play unit, while even-strength linemate Nikolaj Ehlers drops to the second line with the man advantage. They face a reeling Chicago team who will be starting Cam Ward in net. Ward's numbers are abysmal, with a 3.91 GAA and .888 SV%. Play these Jets with confidence tonight.

Mark Scheifele never seems to get the credit he deserves compared to other elite centers. Look at tonight's slate for example. He could see lower ownership than Crosby, MacKinnon, Matthews, or Tavares, but he is second only to MacKinnon on that list. He is on fire lately with five goals in his last four games, including a three assist game in the only one he didn't score in. You can pair him with his even strength linemates Nikolaj Ehler and Blake Wheeler, or go slightly more contrarian by including power play linemates Patrik Laine or Kyle Connor.

We all knew that Laine was a decent player but scoring 13 goals in the last seven games in outright ridiculous. Yes, I know that five of them came in one game but that still makes for eight goals in six games which would still be second in the league over that time frame. The beauty of all of this is the fact that 10 of those goals have come at even strength so it’s obvious that while opponents have been busy with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler on the top line, Laine has been left with plenty of room on the ice. The Devils will also give him a few shots at the net as they have given up four or more goals in each of their last four games.

Since November 1st, Blake Wheeler has 13 points in just 7 games, despite scoring just one goal this is the best points per game average over the last three weeks. He's playing with Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers on the Winnipeg Jets top line. The one tough thing is that they are on the road and visiting Calgary which could keep their offence down a bit. David Rittich has been a huge life saver for the Flames this season with Mike Smith turning into complete garbage, so that is a bit of a concern. However, with how hot this line has been they are worth targeting in ownerships at low ownership.

Mark Scheifele is one of the best centers in the NHL, but doesn't seem to get the same type of attention that the likes of Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Nathan MacKinnon receive. I'm not implying he's quite at that level, but he's not far off. So far this year, Scheifele has 20 points in 17 games, including 15 points in 11 games at home. He's been looking for his own shot more frequently lately and has 4 goals in his last 3 games.

Blake Wheeler isn't scoring at a rate he is used to, with just 3 goals in 16 games, but his 23 points certainly make up for it. A big reason for the lack of goal-scoring could be as simple as his low shooting percentage. He is shooting just 6.8 percent — a near 4 percentage point drop from his career 10.7 percent shooting percentage. His shots per game are down about 0.25 shots per game compared to last season and his career averages, but I expect things to turn around as he gains some confidence back. This top line made up of Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele is in a solid spot as the Winnipeg Jets host the Washington Capitals — a team on the tail-end of a back to back and the 22nd ranked possession team with a 48.09 CF%.