Daily Fantasy Hockey Playoff Preview: 04/11/18

Each day of the NHL Playoffs, Dylan and Brock will be collaborating on a full preview of that night’s playoff action. Dylan will break down each game from a Daily Fantasy Hockey perspective, giving you some of his favourite targets. Brock will provide his Daily Fantasy Notebook after morning skates, including Projected Lineups, Injury Updates, Goalie Rankings and DFS Value Plays. Enjoy playoff hockey and the best time of the year!

By: Dylan Berthiaume

Penguins vs. Flyers [Game 1]

The Penguins’ top-end talent is so spread out across their top nine that powerplay stacking them has become the recommended play in DFS this season, and that should certainly ring true for the entirety of this series. The Penguins finished the 2017-18 regular season with the league’s top powerplay, converting on 26.2% of their opportunities. Inversely, the Flyers had the third worst penalty kill in the league and the worst among playoff teams, killing off just 75.8% of their penalties. Much of that was driven by an abysmal .812 shorthanded SV% from Brian Elliot ($7,200), who is expected to get the call tonight. If you’re looking to stack the Penguins at all this series you’re going to want to own as much of that top powerplay unit as possible.

While the Flyers do not have the depth to match up against the second and third lines of the Penguins, their top line is as strong as any in the league and their production will go a long way in deciding the outcome of this series. Michael Raffl ($4,000) is expected to occupy the right-wing slot alongside Claude Giroux ($6,700) and Sean Couturier ($6,300), a spot that’s more commonly been filled by Travis Konecny ($4,900) this season. Most DFS players would feel a lot more comfortable stacking Philadelphia 1 with Konecny, but Giroux and Couturier are the drivers of this line’s production and their numbers haven’t waivered with Raffl. Their 55.83 CF% and 61.54 GF% with Raffl are right on par with their season-long averages, and their 32 scoring chances per 60 with Raffl is actually a touch above their rates without him. Don’t let Raffl deter you from using what’s been a very reliable line stack all season long; take advantage of the value he adds to this build.

Jets vs. Wild [Game 1]

The Jets come into the series as the heavy favourite having defeated the Wild 3-1 in their season series, outscoring them by a total of 14-10 in the process. The two teams have not played since the Jets acquired Paul Stastny ($5,200) on February 26^th. Acquiring Stastny allowed the Jets to balance out their offense and roll three potent lines, drastically changing how opposing teams need to match up against them. As a result, the line matching for game 1 becomes harder to forecast, but with the last change at his disposal you can expect Paul Maurice to avoid matching his top line against Minnesota 1 as much as possible. The matchups will likely play out much differently in Minnesota, but with all of this in mind the Jets’ top line of Kyle Connor ($6,000), Mark Scheifele ($6,600), and Blake Wheeler ($6,600) becomes the premier stacking target in tonight’s contest. The three of them average over 30 scoring chances per 60 together and their production should be unimpeded so long as their up against the depth of the Wild.

I would advise against stacking the Wild until the series heads back to Minnesota where Bruce Boudreau can better control the line matching. This is a series that’s inevitably tilting in the Jets’ favour, and I would be much more inclined to stack Winnipeg 2 in the first two games of the series before I consider playing the Wild’s top line in Winnipeg. The Jets’ blueline offers a plethora of decent value plays, but as always, Dustin Byfuglien ($5,400) holds the highest ceiling tonight as he mans the point on the top powerplay unit.

Golden Knights vs. Kings [Game 1]

Regardless of where the games are played in this one, you can expect Vegas and LA’s top lines to be hard-matched against each other for the duration of the series. Both are as reliable defensively as they are offensively, and as a result I’m expecting this matchup to be a wash at 5v5. Each line will have to rely on their powerplay time for the bulk of their production which is always much less reliable on a game-to-game basis than 5v5 production, especially when considering both teams possess elite penalty-killing units. On a whole, the Golden Knights and Kings project to be one of the lowest-scoring series of the first round, and it would be wise to avoid them all together.

While much of the star power on either team should be mitigated in this series, there are some decent value stacks to be found on both rosters. Most notably, the Kings’ second line has posted solid even strength production since the return of Jeff Carter ($5,800), averaging nearly 30 scoring chances per 60. They offer tremendous value at just $12,600 for the full build on DraftKings, and Carter’s presence on the top powerplay unit brings added compatibility to a full stack featuring either Dion Phaneuf ($4,000) or Drew Doughty ($5,200).

By: Brock Seguin

Injury Updates

In

– Jacob Trouba (undisclosed) will be back in the Jets lineup for Game 1.

Game-Time Decision

– Derick Brassard (lower-body) will be a game-time decision for Game 1.
– Jared Spurgeon (hamstring) will be a game-time decision for Game 1.
– Jake Muzzin (upper-body) is doubtful for Game 1.
-Alex Iaffallo (upper-body) is expected to be on the Kings first line for Game 1.

Out

– Ryan Suter is out indefinitely following ankle surgery.
– David Perron (undisclosed) will not be available for Game 1.
– Luca Sbisa (undisclosed) will not be available for Game 1.

Projected Lineups

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

Philadelphia Flyers

LW C RW JAKE GUENTZEL Rating: 76.8#67 LW SIDNEY CROSBY Rating: 84.3#5 C BRYAN RUST Rating: 74.5#65 RW CARL HAGELIN Rating: 72.6#109 LW EVGENI MALKIN Rating: 85.1#3 C PATRIC HORNQVIST Rating: 79.7#13 RW CONOR SHEARY Rating: 73.4#97 LW DERICK BRASSARD Rating: 76.2#77 C PHIL KESSEL Rating: 78.9#17 RW TOM KUHNHACKL Rating: 68.2#211 LW RILEY SHEAHAN Rating: 70.6#232 C ZACH ASTON-REESE Rating: 73.0#92 RW DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS BRIAN DUMOULIN Rating: 73.3#66 LD KRIS LETANG Rating: 81.6#5 RD OLLI MAATTA Rating: 73.5#60 LD JUSTIN SCHULTZ Rating: 76.0#40 RD MATT HUNWICK Rating: 71.7#113 LD JAMIE OLEKSIAK Rating: 71.7#101 RD

LW C RW CLAUDE GIROUX Rating: 80.8#8 LW SEAN COUTURIER Rating: 79.0#38 C MICHAEL RAFFL Rating: 71.6#122 RW OSKAR LINDBLOM Rating: 72.2#123 LW NOLAN PATRICK Rating: 73.1#142 C JAKUB VORACEK Rating: 77.3#30 RW TRAVIS KONECNY Rating: 75.2#96 LW VALTTERI FILPPULA Rating: 69.7#251 C WAYNE SIMMONDS Rating: 75.2#53 RW SCOTT LAUGHTON Rating: 69.2#201 LW JORI LEHTERA Rating: 68.6#268 C MATT READ Rating: 70.3#154 RW DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS IVAN PROVOROV Rating: 75.9#35 LD SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE Rating: 79.6#7 RD TRAVIS SANHEIM Rating: 70.8#144 LD ANDREW MACDONALD Rating: 72.1#93 RD BRANDON MANNING Rating: 71.6#122 LD RADKO GUDAS Rating: 72.9#75 RD

Winnipeg Jets vs. Minnesota Wild

Winnipeg Jets

Minnesota Wild

LW C RW KYLE CONNOR Rating: 77.4#30 LW MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 80.4#27 C BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 82.2#7 RW NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 76.4#39 LW PAUL STASTNY Rating: 74.7#103 C PATRIK LAINE Rating: 82.4#5 RW MATHIEU PERREAULT Rating: 74.6#106 LW BRYAN LITTLE Rating: 73.3#135 C JOEL ARMIA Rating: 70.9#137 RW ANDREW COPP Rating: 71.8#132 LW ADAM LOWRY Rating: 74.2#117 C BRANDON TANEV Rating: 71.0#134 RW DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS JOSH MORRISSEY Rating: 73.7#51 LD JACOB TROUBA Rating: 78.3#25 RD JOE MORROW Rating: 71.2#133 LD DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN Rating: 79.9#19 RD BEN CHIAROT Rating: 70.6#154 LD TYLER MYERS Rating: 74.8#52 RD

LW C RW JASON ZUCKER Rating: 78.2#22 LW ERIC STAAL Rating: 79.9#29 C NINO NIEDERREITER Rating: 75.1#55 RW ZACH PARISE Rating: 76.2#45 LW MIKKO KOIVU Rating: 73.8#125 C MIKAEL GRANLUND Rating: 77.9#51 RW JORDAN GREENWAY Rating: 72.0#128 LW MATT CULLEN Rating: 70.8#222 C CHARLIE COYLE Rating: 71.9#194 RW MARCUS FOLIGNO Rating: 70.4#169 LW JOEL ERIKSSON EK Rating: 70.6#230 C DANIEL WINNIK Rating: 70.6#148 RW DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS JONAS BRODIN Rating: 73.6#58 LD MATHEW DUMBA Rating: 77.3#30 RD CARSON SOUCY Rating: 72.2#99 LD JARED SPURGEON Rating: 77.7#26 RD NICK SEELER Rating: 71.9#109 LD NATE PROSSER Rating: 69.5#145 RD

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Los Angeles Kings

Vegas Golden Knights

Los Angeles Kings

LW C RW JONATHAN MARCHESSAULT Rating: 81.8#15 LW WILLIAM KARLSSON Rating: 80.5#24 C REILLY SMITH Rating: 78.8#19 RW JAMES NEAL Rating: 74.4#76 LW ERIK HAULA Rating: 75.1#101 C ALEX TUCH Rating: 73.9#79 RW TOMAS TATAR Rating: 72.7#103 LW CODY EAKIN Rating: 69.7#250 C RYAN CARPENTER Rating: 71.5#208 RW TOMAS NOSEK Rating: 69.4#196 LW PIERRE-ÉDOUARD BELLEMARE Rating: 69.6#253 C WILL CARRIER Rating: 70.6#146 RW DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS NATE SCHMIDT Rating: 75.6#37 LD BRAYDEN MCNABB Rating: 73.3#66 RD DERYK ENGELLAND Rating: 72.1#103 LD SHEA THEODORE Rating: 76.0#34 RD JON MERRILL Rating: 69.1#168 LD COLIN MILLER Rating: 75.8#42 RD

LW C RW ALEX IAFALLO Rating: 70.9#152 LW ANZE KOPITAR Rating: 82.4#13 C DUSTIN BROWN Rating: 78.6#21 RW TOBIAS RIEDER Rating: 71.1#148 LW JEFF CARTER Rating: 79.4#36 C TYLER TOFFOLI Rating: 75.0#57 RW TANNER PEARSON Rating: 74.7#63 LW ADRIAN KEMPE Rating: 71.4#210 C TREVOR LEWIS Rating: 71.5#125 RW KYLE CLIFFORD Rating: 69.8#188 LW NATE THOMPSON Rating: 68.1#276 C TORREY MITCHELL Rating: 69.0#174 RW DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS OSCAR FANTENBERG Rating: 72.2#95 LD DREW DOUGHTY Rating: 81.5#7 RD ALEC MARTINEZ Rating: 75.1#39 LD CHRISTIAN FOLIN Rating: 71.1#120 RD DION PHANEUF Rating: 72.7#84 LD PAUL LADUE Rating: 73.9#61 RD

Goalie Rankings

✅ – Confirmed
????️ – Probable
????️ – Projected

Value Plays