Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS Value Update – March 21

Anton Khudobin
Jerome Miron USA TODAY Sports

I will mention that I generally do not pick two players playing against each other in the same game for a daily fantasy hockey lineup. The same applies for a goalie and a player from opposite teams. You might see two players among the “value picks” from opposite teams, but that doesn’t mean you should take them both. No matter the value, you’re also likely cannibalizing points, so any gains made below a certain price point – the point where production and cost intersect – can be lost if production declines overall as well.

There are many things that determine value: The player’s history (both short and long-term), the price, recent production, opponent, line matching at even-strength, power play time and injuries are just some of the factors to consider. The “Top Value” doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest player, either.

Finally, as far as goalies go, it’s the one position I’ll pay through the nose for if I really like the match-up. The same applies for back-ups with good match-ups. In a given night, with a full slate of games, I won’t have more than three different goalies across all my lineups, usually two. I’ll name the goalies I like specifically in the match-ups they appear in.

Here is today’s slate of games (and DraftStreet values). Reminder: check Left Wing Lock for up-to-the-minute information on starting goalies.

Games are color-coded as follows:

Green means stack for GPPs. Yellow means targets for cash games. Red means value plays only.

New York Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets

The Rangers have really been a feast-or-famine team of late: In the team’s last four wins, the Rangers have scored 19 goals (4.75 goals for/game); in the team’s last four losses, New York has scored four goals (one goal for/game). When a team is so streaky like that, it really makes it difficult to rely on them in DFS.

In their last six games, the Rangers have scored just one power play goal (5.3-percent). On the bright side, they have also just given up one power play goal in return over that span.

Columbus was in Montreal last night and took a tightly-contested game 3-2 from the Canadiens. In Columbus’ last four games where they were on the second of a back to back, the team has managed a 2-2 record. What’s even more important about those four games is that none of the contests had more than six total goals scored. This would indicate that the Jackets focus on defense when they are playing tired. This might be conducive to success but it’s definitely not conducive to monster DFS nights for them or their opponent.

The teams have played three games against each other so far this year; the first two were a pair of 4-2 wins for either side and the third a shootout win for the Blue Jackets. When games are so obviously close, it’s tough to go with either of the goaltenders. I will be picking away at some value skaters for 50/50 games and that’s about it.

Top RW Value

Top LW Value

Top C Value

Top D Value

Bargain Bin

Chris Kreider

(NYR)

$8439

Mats Zuccarello

(NYR)

$8570

Ryan Johansen

(CBJ)

$9048

James Wisniewski

(CBJ)

$8869

Boone Jenner

(CBJ)

$6789

author avatar
Michael Clifford
Michael Clifford was born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and is a graduate of the Unviersity of New Brunswick. He writes about fantasy hockey and baseball for XNSports and FantasyTrade411.com. He can be reached on Twitter @SlimCliffy for any fantasy hockey questions. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');