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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 Tuesday!
We are back at it with a massive 12..err… I mean, 11 game slate tonight (Ottawa vs. New Jersey was postponed because of the Senators having 10 players in COVID protocols.)
Outside of Edmonton and Washington, there are not too many must-play spots on this slate, or is there? I am really fond of one team tonight that may get lost in the shuffle with everyone wanting to pay up for the Caps and Oiler studs tonight.
In a rare feat tonight, eight out of the eleven games on the schedule have 5.5 over/under projections and there are zero 6.5’s. I find this odd because each of the teams in the top 10 in goals scored and the top 5 in G/GP is on this slate. Something I have been doing with some success when it comes to building lineups for large slates lately has been identifying three teams I want to focus all my builds around (having at least 2 in each) and then filling in with my value stacks. I will go over my core three below and then go into the value stacks/teams I want to use around them. Hopefully, this will help you get a path to success on Tuesday.
NHL DFS: Goaltenders
Cash Game Goalie:
Jack Campbell (vs Nashville)
Campbell is the clear number one goalie for me on this slate. I may even use him in tournaments on Tuesday and break my rule of playing goalies over $8K. Campbells is near $9K on FD, but there is enough value on this slate to make up for it, even on his own team (more on that later). In his last five starts, Campbell has been nearly unbeatable. Campbell is allowing just 1.6 goals per game and making over 31 saves per game. Toronto is top 10 in the league in shots allowed, so we should see this trend continue tonight. Nashville is allowing over 18 DKFP per game in their last ten while only scoring 2.2 goals per game and taking nearly 32 shots per game. Everything sets up for Campbell to have a monster game on Tuesday.
Other Options: Jordan Binnington ( vs Arizona) – DO NOT USE IN GPP’s! Arizona has been putting up 3.6 G/GP in their last five and Binnington has been bad in his last two starts. This seems like a “get right” spot, but Arizona is averaging less than 30 SOG in that same 5 game stretch. Binnington seems safe for the win in this game and could easily make 25 saves and allow only 1 goal but the upside here is capped by the opponent. Jacob Markstrom ( @ Philadelphia) – Philly has made goalies look good lately by scoring just 2.5 goals per game and allowing 31 saves per game in their last 10.
GPP Goalies:
Anton Khudobin ( vs Detroit on the second night of a B2B)
Khudobin is risky because did not practice on Monday because he was sick (non-COVID) but should be available on Tuesday. Detroit has been friendly on goalies of late (except for Monday night) because they have been peppering the net with shots. Over their last five, the Wings’ have been averaging 35.4 shots on goal per game while scoring 3 goals per game. There is risk in this play, but unlike Binnington the upside with Khudobin is great.
UPDATE: Jake Oettinger is now the expected starter for Dallas. While I am not as high on him as I was Khudobin, I will have exposure to him in tournaments tonight.
Igor Shesterkin ( vs Montreal )
Shesterkin has been allowing goals over his past 5 starts, but he has been making plenty of saves to make up for that. Enter the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal does not score much (12 goals in their last 5) but they do shoot the puck, A LOT. Montreal is top 5 in the league in shots on goal and the Rangers are a sieve on defense allowing 33.6 SOG per game. Shesterkin is expensive on FD, so he is a DK play only for me, while Khudobin is super cheap on FD making him the better play there.
Other Options: John Gibson (vs Washington) – I still think people are sleeping on the Ducks and Washington will be popular making Gibson a perfect GPP play. Gibson is also cheap industry-wide. Juuse Saros (@ Toronto) – For the same reasons I like Gibson, I like Saros. I believe Toronto will be a popular team to stack ( I plan on stacking them myself) but they have shown they can lay a dud with the best of them. They are also another team who peppers the goalies, most shots on goal in the league this season. Ilya Sorokin ( @ Florida) – Cheaper than he should be tonight and might also get overlooked against the Panthers tonight. I went over his stats for Monday’s slate, but in short, he has been a brick wall lately.
NHL DFS: Slate Overview
Teams to build around:
First, I want to say I will not be a full fade on Edmonton on Tuesday, but they are not a team I want to build around. I think there is enough value on the slate that we can fit one-off’s of Draisaitl or McDavid and pair them with cheaper options on defense or with guys like Kailer Yamamoto up front to make it work. I do on the other want to build around their opponent.
Winnipeg Jets (vs Edmonton)
Winnipeg has the highest projected goal total on this slate (3.8) and it is easy to see why. Edmonton has been allowing 4 goals per game in their last 10 and 32 shots on goal. It’s easy to see why Winnipeg carries such a high projected goal total now. The Jets are also an easy team to stack around as well with only Kyle Connor priced over $7K on either site. Combining all those factors makes them my top team to stack tonight. Andrew Copp has arguably been their best player of late with six assists in the team’s last five games to go along with eight SOG.
Copp skates on the top line with Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers who both started slowly but have been playing their best hockey recently for the Jets. Connor skates on line 2 with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler, which is my preferred stack but either one should prove fruitful tonight. Lastly, this is not a team to look at power-play stacks. Edmonton has one of the stingiest penalty kills in the league, so stick to 5v5 lines.
Defenseman to pair (in order of preference): Neal Pionk, Nate Schmidt, Brendan Dillon, Logan Stanley
New York Rangers (vs Montreal)
Now let’s talk about the Rangers offense and potentially facing Sam Montembault tonight for the Canadiens. Jake Allen as of writing still listed as out with a concussion. If Montembault starts it will be all systems go with the Rangers tonight. Unlike with the Jets, I want plenty of exposure to the Rangers’ power-play tonight. In their last eight games, the Rangers have scored seven power-play goals and the Canadiens have allowed 17 power-play goals (2nd most in the league). Also unlike the Jets, this will be an expensive stack to build around, luckily we have plenty of value. Three players on this unit cost at or over $7k and Chris Kreider is in the mid to high $6K range.
I want to start my builds with Artemi Panarin who has five points in his last five games and has 14 shots on goal. The Bread Man is also the cheapest of the big three on this unit as well. After Panarin, we go to Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox. If you are using the Rangers as your top stack, those are the three must-haves for me. You can use Kreider to change it up if you are doing multiple lineups, as well you can with Ryan Strome who has been almost equally as hot as Panarin. Strome has a goal and four assists in his last five to go with his 13 SOG. I would sub out Zibanejad for Strome since he also skates with Panarin on L2. Kaapo Kakko has shown some good form lately with his only two points on the season coming in his last five games as he skates with Strome and Panarin on L2 and is min priced on DK.
Defenseman to pair with: Fox (already mentioned), Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba
Toronto Maple Leafs ( vs Nashville)
As mentioned, I don’t mind throwing a dart with Saros tonight in large-field tournaments, but I prefer to stack the Leafs on this slate. Unfortunately, it appears the Leafs have put Nick Ritchie back on the top line and taken Ondrej Kase off that line. Kase had played well in his short stint besides Auston Matthews and unless we get news he will play there again tonight he is a non-factor. Instead, Ritchie becomes the Leafs’ value forward to use tonight. He will be seeing time with Matthews and Mitch Marner. Toronto is another expensive stack, like New York, that we can pair with the Jets and then find a two-man value stack to finish out our lineups. Toronto’s second line of John Tavares centering William Nylander and the value play of Alex Kerfoot is also in play.
Defenseman to pair with: Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie
Value Stacks:
While the top of the Capitals lineup has been great, their 3rd line has been one of the hottest going over the last week. Both Daniel Sprong and Connor Sheary have put up points as well getting shots on goal. Sheary has points in back-to-back games and sees time on the top power-play. As for Sprong, he is coming off a multi-point game on Sunday. Both Martin Fehervary and Dmitry Orlov make for good cheaper defensemen plays as well.
Staying in that same game, Trevor Zegras is coming a 3 point game against Vancouver on Sunday and pairs nicely with Mason McTavish for a power-play 1 stack. Zegras also works with Nicolas Deslauriers or preferably (if you have the salary) Sonny Milano who has been the hottest player on this line. Another way to go is to stack the Duck’s top line of Adam Henrique, Ryan Getzlaf, and Troy Terry with the Jets and some other value. You can always swap out one of them (Henrique would be my choice) for a defenseman as well. Hampus Lindholm plays on power-play one, but both Cam Fowler and Jamie Drysdale make great options as well.
Buffalo PP1 with Jeff Skinner or Rasmus Asplund with Arttu Ruotsalainen. You can use a cheap defenseman for a 3 man or leave out a dman for a two-man. In that same game, the Penguins’ 2nd/3rd lines or PP2 can be used with the big lines above. Any combination of Evan Rodrigues, Jason Zucker, Kasperi Kapanen with either John Marino or Mike Matheson make for cheap two or three-man stacks. These five guys have contributed the bulk of the Pens offense the last two weeks or so.
Quick Hits:
Minnesota 3 is a good value line and if you have the salary. Both Matt Dumba and Jared Spurgeon are good pay up defensemen
Calgary PP2 has been really good for us lately with my favorite pieces being Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube.
It is hard to sleep on the Carolina Hurricanes on any slate, especially tonight. Vegas has been better of late, but I still love stacking up the Canes. Anywhere from line 1 to line 3 works for me tonight. Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast work as cheap plays with upside as do Ethan Bear and Brady Skjei on defense.
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