DraftKings Fantasy Hockey Cheat Sheet: March 9th

There are six games on the NHL calendar tonight, which is more than we’re used to seeing on a Wednesday night. There are a few teams that come in on a back-to-back and a bunch of injury concerns, which is bound to make it an interesting night on DraftKings.

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Here’s a quick explanation on how to build your lineup an play! You have $50,000 in Salary space, to build a team that consists of 2C, 3W, 2D, 1G and 1 Util. Below you will find how skaters and goalies scoring works!

• Players will accumulate points as follows:

Goal = +3 PTS
Assist = +2 PTS
Shot on Goal = +0.5 PTS
Blocked Shot = +0.5 PTS
Short Handed Point Bonus (Goal/Assist) = +1 PTS
Shootout Goal = +0.2 PTS
Hat Trick Bonus = +1.5 PTS

• Goalies only will accumulate points as follows:

Win = +3 PTS
Save = +0.2 PTS
Goal Against = -1 PTS
Shutout Bonus = +2 PTS

• Goalie Scoring Notes:

Goalies WILL receive points for all stats they accrue, including goals and assists.
The Goalie Shutout Bonus is credited to goalies if they complete the entire game with 0 goals allowed in regulation + overtime. Shootout goals will not prevent a shutout. Goalie must complete the entire game to get credit for a shutout.

Below I’ve listed my top DFS line stacks, defensemen and goalies as well as a few sample DraftKings lineup for tonight.

Centres

John Tavares – @ TOR – $7,700

Tavares hasn’t had the greatest season and his wingers have not produced at all recently, which has limited his fantasy output. He has one goal and one assist in his last two games and tonight he plays in his hometown. It can’t be understated how important it is to play in your hometown and Tavares has registered 24 points (11G / 13A) in 22 career games against the Maple Leafs.

Ryan Getzlaf – @ COL – $6,200

After being held off of the scoresheet for two games, Getzlaf scored on Monday, giving him 10 on the year. Getzlaf’s post All-Star break stretch has been miraculous—picking up seven goals and 14 assists (21 points) in 17 games. Surprisingly, he has performed better on the road than at home this season and has performed well against the Avalanche in his career.

Frans Nielsen – @ TOR – $5,800

While Tavares and his wingers haven’t been great recently, Nielsen and the second line have been red-hot. Nielsen is riding a three-game point streak, picking up one goal and five assists (six points) over that span. He is reasonably priced at $5,800 and draws superb matchup vs. a Maple Leafs team that wasn’t even able to keep the Sabres off of the board.

Value Option: Jori Lehtera – vs. CHI – $3,800

Lehtera scored a goal and recorded five shots in his return to the Blues lineup on Sunday. He rarely shoots that much, so don’t expect to see it again tonight, but as long as he is centring Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz and playing on the top power-play unit, he remains a solid punt option.

Wingers

Filip Forsberg – @ CGY – $6,600

Forsberg is the hottest player in the NHL right now and his $6,600 salary does not reflect that. He has scored an absurd eight goals with five assists (13 points) in his last seven games. He has two hat tricks over that stretch, which has him averaging 7.7 DraftKings points per game. In addition to his stellar play, he and the Predators draws a good matchup tonight in Calgary—the Flames have lost eight of their last nine while giving up 3.56 goals per game on average.

Daniel Sedin – vs. ARI – $6,400

The Canucks have not had a good season by any stretch of the imagination, but Daniel Sedin has 56 points (25G / 31A) in 65 games, which has flown way under the radar. With Henrik out, his owned percentage should remain low, but he has a great matchup and played well alongside Vey and Etem on Monday. Sedin has four goals and eight assists (12 points) in his last 11 contests.

Kyle Okposo – @ TOR – $5,900

Okposo was held off of the scoresheet last night vs. the Penguins, but he has two goals and four assists (six points) in his last four contests. Over that span he has averaged 5.4 FPPG and stacking the Islanders in Toronto is a safe play, albeit probably a popular one. If you stay away from Tavares, an Okposo-Nielsen stack leaves you with $5,471 Avg. Rem./Player—plenty enough to surround them with a high-end supporting cast.

Craig Smith – @ CGY – $4,700

Smith has been picking up points in bunches on a line with Forsberg and Mike Ribeiro. Ribeiro doesn’t shoot enough to warrant constant daily fantasy consideration, but Smith has five goals, six assists (11 points) and 5.0 DraftKings points per game in his last seven contests. He is red-hot and a sub-$5,000 salary offers a tonne of value on the wing.

Value Options: Nikita Soshnikov – vs. NYI – $3,400

The Maple Leafs have had a terrible season, but right now they’re getting to look into the future with a handful of Marlies on the roster. Soshnikov has averaged 14:44 TOI in his first five NHL games and is currently skating on the top-line with Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov as well as on the top power-play. The line was dangerous vs. the Sabres on Monday and Soshnikov’s 3.2 shots per game offers him a stable floor it is nearly impossible to find at $3,400.

Defensemen

Shea Weber – @ CGY – $6,100

Weber has found the scoresheet in all four games since returning to the lineup on March 1st. Weber has two goals, four assists and 6.5 FPPG over that span and is an elite blueline option in Calgary this evening. Roman Josi also offers a tonne of upside, but Weber comes $900 cheaper than his defence partner.

Sami Vatanen – @ COL – $5,200

Vatanen’s season is very similar to Getzlaf’s. A terribly slow start but red-hot production in the last month. Vatanen has registered three goals and 11 assists (14 points) in his last 16 games, which is 38 percent of his season production in 24 percent of the games. It is hard to stack in Anaheim because of the balance of their top-3 lines, but their blueline offers a lot of stability and consistency.

Travis Hamonic – @ TOR – $4,600

Hamonic is a stable daily fantasy option because of his propensity to block shots at a high rate. He has averaged 3.7 DraftKings points in his last nine games on the back of one goal, four assists, 24 shots and 20 blocks. Those peripheral numbers are outstanding and make his a very stable blueline option with an extremely digestible price tag.

Value Option: Dan Hamhuis – vs. ARI – $3,100

With all of the trade deadline and no-trade clause stuff out of the way, Hamhuis has shifted his focus back to hockey and has picked up goals in back to back games and comes in riding a three-game point streak. He logs massive minutes, especially with Chris Tanev out and has seen a massive uptick in power-play time recently (4:46 and 3:28 PP TOI) in his last three games.

Goalies

Thomas Greiss – @ TOR – $8,000

Greiss currently leads the NHL in SV% (.930) and ranks sixth in GAA (2.20), so we’ve seen his salary rise to $8,000. With Jaroslav Halak getting injured last night, Greiss is expected to start tonight in Toronto. He has lost his last two starts while stopping 57 of 62 shots (.919 SV%) and makes for an excellent option vs. the lowly Maple Leafs. However, he is fairly expensive and will likely have a really high owned percentage given the matchup.

John Gibson – @ COL – $7,700

Gibson was in goal when the Ducks’ winning streak came to an end on Monday, but it was to no fault of his own. He turned aside 31 of 32 shots (5.2 FP) in the shootout defeat and comes into Wednesday at 4-0-1 with a 1.74 GAA and .932 SV% in his last five contests. Tonight he faces an Avalanche team that has lost three of five while averaging 2.80 goals per game.

Jacob Markstrom – vs. ARI – $6,600

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a tonne of faith in Markstrom, but your options are limited tonight and Markstrom makes for a solid value option. He is coming off of a 32-save performance in Saturday’s win, but is 4-6-1 with a 2.87 GAA and .900 SV% on home ice. Markstrom’s matchup is solid, but it’s bordering on great if the Coyotes are without Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who is listed as questionable.

Sample Lineups