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Welcome to the NHL DFS Man Advantage for the 2021-22 season.
If you are new to my articles, NHL, or WinDaily Sports then I will tell you that my articles are not going to give you the chalk plays or the obvious plays. I try to dig in and find ways for you to build lineups for GPP contests. I will always point out those top plays to help you build cash but that is not the point of this article.
Big Monday!
We have a nice split slate on Monday night with three games at 7 pm, one 8:30 game, and two 10 pm games. Early on we have two of the top offensive teams in the league with Colorado and Washington. In the third 7 pm start, New Jersey hosts Ottawa.
We have Dallas at home for Arizona in what I expect to be one of the lowest-scoring games on the slate, two spots where I could see using both goalies. In the two 10 pm starts we have Pittsburgh making their first visit to Seattle to play the Kraken and Bruce Boudreau makes his coaching debut in Vancouver as they host Los Angeles on the second night of a road back-to-back.
NHL DFS: Goaltenders
Cash Game Goalie:
Jake Oettinger ( vs Arizona)
Oettinger is not ideal for GPP’s on Monday because Arizona does not shoot the puck enough, but he is perfect for cash. Oettinger does not give up much, only seven goals in his 5 starts this season and he has a .951 save %. Arizona is dead last in the NHL in shots per game (25.4) and goals (1.8) so Oettinger’s upside is limited, but the win bonus is pretty much a lock which is what makes for a safe cash game play.
Other Options: Tristan Jarry ( @ Sea), Ilya Samsonov ( vs Anh)
GPP Goalie:
Thatcher Demko ( vs Los Angeles)
Vancouver has a new coach, but that doesn’t change the fact their defense is a sieve and will give up plenty of shots on goal. Los Angeles is also one of the top teams in shots on goal this season but has one of the league’s worst shooting percentages. Demko has not been bad he just gets no support from his team. During his last five starts, Demko has allowed just 2.6 goals per game and has a .916 save %.
Other Options: Cal Petersen ( @ Van), Scott Wedgewood ( @ Dal), Martin Jones ( vs Col)
NHL DFS: Slate Overview
Teams to build around:
Most people will start with the Capitals and the Avalanche as teams to build around and those people would be smart to do so. I plan on focusing on the Caps and Avs as well when building on Monday, but they aren’t the only teams you can build around.
Looking at Washington first, the top line is the place to start, as it is with most teams. Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov are now back with Tom Wilson on the top line with the Caps getting healthy. After that, there isn’t much I want to use. Wilson doesn’t see PP1 time anymore, he has been replaced by the returning TJ Oshie. Upon his return this weekend, Oshie played 16 minutes but only recorded one blocked shot. It was more important to see he can handle his usual minutes than what he did productivity-wise.
Now that we know Oshie can play his usual allotment of minutes we can use him in confidence. Also on the top unit is Conor Sheary and John Carlson. Outside of using Carlson on defense, both Nick Jensen and Martin Fehervary are cheap options who rack up those key ancillary points.
Colorado Avalanche:
The Avs are a deeper team in my opinion, but that depth relies on the health of Nazem Kadri and Cale Makar returning on Monday night. If we see one or both are active for Monday’s game in Philly then this team becomes the top team on the slate for me. If not, then they are tied with Washington because of their lack of depth after the top unit. Colorado’s top line of Landeskog/MacKinnon/Rantanen is the only real line stack I would run in the absence of Kadri. On defense, they have more depth that with Makar out we can still look at using. Namely, Samuel Girard and Devon Toews, but outside of them, Erik Johnson is a fairly reliable point man for those SOG/BS categories.
Penguins go hunting for Kraken!
I truly do try to avoid being a homer and writing up the Penguins weekly, but on this slate, it’s kind of hard not to. Seattle has been playing better of late, but Pittsburgh is far and away the superior team and with Crosby starting to heat up they will only improve offensively. As I mentioned, Sidney Crosby is starting to get his game back after missing all of training camp, the preseason, and the beginning of the season. Crosby is a point per game player so far in 11 games this season, and he has nine of those eleven points in his last five games.
After Crosby, there is Jake Guentzel who himself is coming off a hat-trick in the Pens’ last game on Saturday night. Evan Rodrigues is the last piece on Pittsburgh’s top line. Rodrigues is benefitting from more ice time and time with some of the top players on this team with a team-high 26 shots on goal in their last five games. Seattle is 28th in the league in goals-against (3.46 P/G), but they don’t allow many shots on goal. Pitt should be able to get their fair share of shots as the third-ranked team in the league averaging over 35 per game.
Looking past the top line, Pittsburgh’s second and third lines are also in consideration as some good value. Both Teddy Blueger and Kasperi Kapanen have been productive of late and are seeing over 15 minutes of ice time as third-line players. Jeff Carter isn’t much of a value piece, but he is the fifth man on the top PP unit as well as the second-line center. On defense, Kris Letang is coming off a three-point performance on Saturday and is the point man on the top PP. After Letang, Brian Dumoulin and Mike Matheson are two cheap pieces who get those ancillary points I mention all the time.
One of our favorite teams to use here at WinDaily!
I must first state that I am an avid Penguins fan and a New Yorker so it is my duty to hate everything about the Devils. Now, with that out of the way this team has been a good DFS team whenever they play and especially on Monday. New Jersey has served us well so far in the early part of this season I will be going back to them on this slate.
Their top line is a great stack tonight, but also a semi-expensive stack and with teams like Colorado, Washington, Pittsburgh having the better and more consistent top lines we are looking at the Devils for value on Monday. And we are in luck, New Jersey offers probably the best value on this slate in their second and third lines. I particularly love their second line with how hot it has been recently. In his last five games, Andreas Johnsson has 3 goals and 4 assists as well as 11 shots on goal. Almost equally as hot is Jesper Bratt with six points in the last five and 17 shots on goal in that span. Dawson Mercer centers this line but has not been too hot lately, but Tomas Tatar has four points in his last five and plays on the second power-play unit. Tatar is also significantly cheaper than Mercer on DK (FD has him priced up) and will get exposure to the third line.
On defense, the standout pay-up option is Dougie Hamilton. I will never discourage you from playing him, but there are good cheap options on this team as well. Damon Severson plays on that aforementioned second power-play unit, and Ryan Graves is on the top pair with Hamilton seeing nearly 20 minutes of TOI while picking up three points in his last five. Jonas Siegenthaler is min priced on DK and near min price on FD and is a guy who gets those always important SOG/BS points.
Some overlooked top lines:
Two other top lines that have been productive of late are the Dallas Stars and Ottawa Senators. Both of these lines are in solid matchups tonight and should go completely overlooked. All three of Tkachuk/Norris/Batherson have been point per game players for Ottawa in their last five and New Jersey has allowed nearly five goals against per game in their last five. Looking at the point men for Ottawa, Thomas Chabot is the high salary low ownership dman on this slate while I would rather pay down for either Nikita Zaitsev or Artem Zub.
As for Dallas, the combo of Pavelski/Hintz/Roberston have put up 12 goals and 12 assists combined in their last five with each of the three forwards scoring over a point per game in this stretch. Arizona should not present much of a problem for this unit on Monday. On defense, Miro Heiskanen is the pay-up option, while Esa Lindell and Ryan Suter are your value choices.
Value time!
Anaheim 1 and 2 are both fairly priced on this slate and Washington’s goalies don’t scare me
While I think Petersen will be good tonight, Vancouver 1 is a solid line that isn’t priced as high as it should be
I may really like Demko tonight, but Los Angeles 2 has been money of late and I will probably have some in my non-Demko builds
Seattle 2 is in play as well against Pittsburgh as a contrarian late-night hammer. Brandon Tanev revenge game? Probably not but he is still a good play.
Thanks for reading this article on the NHL DFS Man Advantage for today. Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up-to-date info and help directly from our pros! Head over to Twitter and give the @WinDailySports account and me (@MVecchio81) a follow! W cover all things Fantasy Sports and make sure to check out WinDailySports.com for more money-making content.
