The only team playing a back-to-back tonight is the New Jersey Devils. With their matchup against Minnesota, though, it’s almost irrelevant. Neither team looks like it should put up many goals tonight.
Today is a big GPP day over at DraftKings, as they have their second big NHL GPP of the year going tonight, the $50,000 Face Off ($27 entry). It’s not often these types of games come along for NHL DFS, so I heartily recommend those who can afford it to take part (of course, always stay within your means).
St. Louis is naturally a monster favorite tonight, with Washington and Nashville also being pretty heavy favorites. For cash games, goaltenders should come from one of those three games. There are a couple of players who will be in very fortuitous positions tonight, and they’ll be in the bargain plays section. Using one or two will make the rest of a cash game lineup pretty easy to assemble, meaning it’s not a bad night for stars-and-scrubs.
Play Daily Fantasy Hockey on DraftKings Tonight!
As always, check Left Wing Lock for goalie confirmations.
Players will be in order of perceived value, by position, and there should be enough to mix-and-match for each type of game available on Draft Kings. Some positions might only have a few plays, some might have several. It all depends on the day, the matchups, and the price.
Remember: players are in order of value, not necessarily in cost. Just because Sidney Crosby is $8000 one day doesn’t mean he’s a better value than Andrew Shaw at $4000.
Cash Games
| Center | Wing | Defense | Goalie |
| Tavares (NYI) – $7200 | Benn (DAL) – $6300 | Visnovsky (NYI) – $3600 | Elliott (STL) – $8600 |
| Lehtera (STL) – $3100 | Schwartz (STL) – $5800 | Daley (DAL) – $4300 | Rinne (NSH) – $8800 |
| Backstrom (WSH) – $6000 | Okposo (NYI) – $6300 | Bouwmeester (STL) – $3400 | Miller (VAN) – $8200 |
| Sedin (VAN) – $4000 | Hornqvist (PIT) – $8100 | Bieksa (VAN) – $3400 | |
| Seguin (DAL) – $8500 | Neal (NSH) – $6800 | Martin (PIT) – $3100 | |
| Ribeiro (NSH) – $3900 | Sedin (VAN) – $5400 | ||
| Malkin (PIT) – $8000 | Hertl (SJS) – $4000 | ||
| Thornton (SJS) – $5200 | Boedker (ARI) – $4000 | ||
- Both Tavares and Benn have prices and matchups that make them nearly unavoidable tonight. Ditto for Jori Lehtera.
- There are a lot of good values all over the place tonight, and that makes avoiding really expensive players like Malkin, Crosby, Hornqvist, Seguin, and Ovechkin easier. Not saying it’s necessary to do so, just saying it’s not necessary to roster an uber-expensive player in a good matchup.
- As usual on big slates, there is not much need to spend at defense, there are enough good matchups/options for under $4K.
- The goalies to target tonight are all fairly similarly priced, which makes the decision a bit tougher. Go with the near-sure win with Brian Elliott, or goalies that may face more shots like Rinne and Miller.
Guaranteed Prize Pools/Tournaments
| Center | Wing | Defense | Goalie |
| Tavares (NYI) – $7200 | Okposo (NYI) – $6300 | Visnovsky (NYI) – $3600 | Luongo (FLA) – $7700 |
| Lehtera (STL) – $3100 | Tarasenko (STL) – $7800 | Bouwmeester (STL) – $3400 | Halak (NYI) – $6900 |
| Seguin (DAL) – $8500 | Schwartz (STL) – $5800 | Brodin (MIN) – $3200 | Kuemper (MIN) – $7000 |
| Gagner (ARI) – $3900 | Benn (DAL) – $6300 | Jones (NSH) – $2900 | |
| Sedin (VAN) – $4000 | Boedker (ARI) – $4000 | Daley (PIT) – $4300 | |
| Backstrom (WSH) – $6000 | Sedin (VAN) – $5400 | ||
| Johansson (WSH) – $4800 | Ovechkin (WSH) – $9000 | ||
| Crosby (PIT) – $9200 | Hornqvist (PIT) – $8100 | ||
| Bjugstad (FLA) – $4100 | Huberdeau (FLA) – $3200 |
- The New York Islanders will be tough to get away from tonight. It’s a good matchup at even strength and ditto for the power play.
- Lehtera’s price makes the second line for St. Louis very stackable for a good price.
- For as good a matchup as it is tonight for Dallas, it’s also a good one for the Arizona Coyotes against Dallas. The Stars are allowing the second-most goals per game overall, and are a bottom-10 team in unblocked shot attempts allowed (via War On Ice).
- It’s also a good night matchup for the Florida Panthers. The Sharks seem to struggle on Eastern Conference swings, and they haven’t been too solid defensively this year.
Slim’s Pickins (bargain plays)
Jay Beagle (WSH-C, $2500) – Beagle has been the newest replacement to the top line wing beside Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin.
Patrick Eaves (DAL-W, $2500) – Like Beagle, Eaves is in a very good situation playing on the top line in Dallas alongside Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.
Simon Despres (PIT-D, $2600) – Olli Maatta’s surgery has pushed all defensemen up a spot in the chart, and Despres hasn’t been shy of racking penalty minutes either.
Good luck!
