The key to daily fantasy hockey, regardless of the websites users choose to play on, is that pricing dictates viability. Vladimir Tarasenko, for example, carried a salary over $8,000 less than two weeks ago. On Friday, his price was under $6,000. Regardless of the matchup, Tarasenko should be in cash-game lineups as long as he remains at that cost.
Part of the pricing battle is finding discrepancies between sites. Here are some players – for either cash games or tournament plays – to use tonight in DFS.
Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit – Centre)
FanDuel – $7,300
DraftKings – $5,700 – Use On DraftKings
Of late, the Detroit Red Wings have been using both Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on their top line. In Friday’s practice though, they were split up, with Datsyuk skating alongside Justin Abdelkader and Tomas Tatar while Zetterberg was skating with Gustav Nyquist and Riley Sheahan at centre.
It’s important to understand what the split of Datsyuk/Zetterberg means. Before, teams could focus on that one line. With the new combinations, there’s no clear line to target. At the very least, the Datsyuk line should get a handful of easier matchups, and that’s important when playing the Vancouver Canucks. Datsyuk’s DraftKings value is underprice by several hundred dollars, and he could be a nice low-ownership option in cash game.
The latest set of matchups for Sportnet’s Pick ‘n Play were released yesterday on Sportsnet.ca, and they are for Saturday’s Detroit-Vancouver game. With Nyquist having new linemates, he seems to be a lock against his opponent, Nick Bonino.
Mats Zuccarello (NY Rangers – Left Wing)
FanDuel – $6100
DraftKings – $4700 – Use On DraftKings
One problem with the Rangers when it comes to DFS is that their top three lines are fairly balanced. That makes it difficult to pinpoint which players to use, because outside of Rick Nash, the market share of goals is spread out: Nash has 23 goals, 11 more than Martin St. Louis, who is second on the team with 12 goals. Between St. Louis and the next eight New York forwards in goals scored, there is only six goals of separation.
With a team that spreads scoring so much, it’s important to find the cheapest values to minimize potential losses. Mats Zuccarello is skating alongside Derick Brassard and Nash, which is a line that is getting a lot of offensive zone starts of late. With the Buffalo Sabres having played Friday, and Zuccarello relatively cheap on DraftKings, he’s a solid, cheap cash game play. His line is also stackable in tournaments.
Scott Hartnell (Columbus – Left Wing)
FanDuel – $6,600
DraftKings – $5,100 – Use on DraftKings
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been turning over their lineup for most of the year, largely due to injuries. In their latest game, Scott Hartnell was skating alongside Ryan Johansen and Jeremy Morin (Morin, by the way, makes a decent punt play in tournaments). The most important thing to know about this is that the top line got the lion’s share of offensive zone starts in their most recent game. With the team going into Arizona, that could give them good matchups regardless of the defensive pairing that the Coyotes use.
When Johansen and Hartnell are on the ice together, they control 48.7 per cent of the shots at five-on-five. It’s a good amount above the team average of 46.2 per cent, and with the offensive zone starts, it could be even better against Arizona.
I would rather use Hartnell-Johansen-Morin as a stack in a large tournament, but Hartnell is in a good spot to succeed when including his power-play time.
Michael Stone (Arizona – Defence)
FanDuel – $3,000 – Use On FanDuel
DraftKings – $3,700
Stone isn’t having a great offensive season with just eight points in 36 games so far. It’s a fair drop off from last year when he had 21 points in 70 games.
One thing Stone has going for him is playing on the second power-play unit for Arizona. He’s a defenceman who has a good shot, and the skill to run a good secondary unit. With Columbus ranked just 20th in the NHL in penalty-kill efficiency, it’s a decent matchup Saturday for the Coyotes’ power play. Stone is a good option as a punt play in tournaments.
Antti Niemi (San Jose – Goalie)
FanDuel – $10,000
DraftKings – $8,000 – Use on DraftKings
The San Jose Sharks have really turned around their season since a rough start. Since November 1, the Sharks sport a 53.1 per cent possession rating, good for sixth in the league. Over that span, the Sharks are 14-7-3.
On the flipside, since that time, the St. Louis Blues are 18th in puck possession, a long ways away from where they have been in recent years, and managed a record of 6-5-1 in December. With the Blues having played Friday, and considering how the teams are playing relative to each other over the last couple of months, Niemi makes a great low-ownership play in tournaments, and a risky start in cash games.
Don’t forget to register for Sportsnet’s Fantasy Hockey Pool. It’s a salary cap-style game, with new rosters every week, and features both weekly and grand prizes.
*Some stats courtesy of Hockey Analysis, Hockey Reference, and War On Ice.
