By: Michael Clifford
It was a very important week in the world of daily fantasy hockey, as the NHL announced a partnership with DraftKings on Monday. The partnership will see DraftKings be the official daily fantasy site of the NHL, and will include things like official NHL contests for trips to the Winter Classic, the All-Star Game, and the NHL awards.
Needless to say, the partnership between the NHL and DraftKings is an important milestone in the industry. It helps give some legitimacy to those people who might still worry about the legality – and morality – of such a game. It will also give DraftKings even more visibility around the league with the marketing that they’re already doing.
In honour of the announcement, here are some teams (and specific players) to look at in large tournament play tonight on DraftKings. These tournaments are sometimes known as Guaranteed Prize Pools (GPPs), and will be the format that DraftKings will use for their official NHL contests.
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New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning – Stack TBL
Tampa Bay is at home tonight to the New York Islanders, with the Islanders playing their second game in as many nights. With Jaroslav Halak coming off a shootout win last night against Florida, it’s either he plays two nights in a row – which is good news for Tampa Bay – or they are forced to go with backup Chad Johnson. Johnson hasn’t looked very good in his six games this year with an .889 save percentage.
There are two ways to go about stacking the Lightning tonight. Either stack their first line of Vladislav Namestnikov, Jonathan Drouin, and Steven Stamkos, or stack the top power-play unit with Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula, and Ryan Callahan. The first is cheap, as Namestnikov is minimum price ($2,500) and Drouin isn’t much more expensive ($4,000). The second is much more expensive with Filppula at $5,000 and Callahan at $6,000 – Stamkos is $7,800 – but it also helps geting a lot of exposure to the Islanders penalty kill that is third-worst in the NHL by percentage (74.1-percent). New York also gives up the most unblocked shot attempts per minute at 5 on 4 (via War On Ice).
Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal Canadiens – Stack MTL
The Flyers are much in the same boat as the New York Islanders on Saturday, in that they’re playing their second game in as many nights (though Philadelphia was at home yesterday). That means either a tired Steve Mason or a rested Ray Emery. Either option isn’t very good for the Flyers.
Montreal has had a very poor power play so far this year, as they are one of three teams operating under a 10 per cent conversion with the man advantage (along with Minnesota and Buffalo).
There are a couple of reasons why Montreal’s power play can succeed tonight:
1. The Flyers have a pretty poor penalty kill, much like the Islanders: Philadelphia is at 75.5-percent for the season on the kill, 25th in the NHL. They’re also giving up the fifth-most unblocked shot attempts per minute in the NHL.
2. Montreal has changed their power play with the addition of Sergei Gonchar. The first unit now has a defensive pairing of P.K. Subban and Tom Gilbert. With both being right-handed shots, Subban is on his off-side, and is in the Steven Stamkos-Alex Ovechkin area at the top of the circle. That’s a prime position for Subban to succeed.
With the Canadiens having had a few low-scoring games this month, their prices are fairly low. Subban’s price has gone down of late (from $5,700 to $5,000 this week), while Tomas Plekanec ($5,300), Alex Galchenyuk ($4,300), and Brendan Gallagher ($4,700) can be stacked for under 30 per cent of the total budget.
Ottawa Senators at Calgary Flames – Stack OTT
It’s still a pretty small sample, but the Senators control 52.3 per cent of shot attempts at 5 on 5 when Mike Hoffman and Curtis Lazar are on the ice together (via Hockey Analysis). Just watching their recent games it’s clear that those two along with Mark Stone have some pretty good chemistry together. That trio has eight goals in their last five games, though Hoffman is the only one that gets power play time.
Being Ottawa’s unofficial fourth line, Hoffman, Lazar and Stone should get very nice in-game matchups tonight. When picking against Calgary, it’s ideal to avoid the pairing of Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie, as they suppress shot attempts at a rate better than Shea Weber and Roman Josi, for example. If Ottawa’s trio gets matched against the Deryk Engelland/Ladislav Smid pairing, it’s a big plus-matchup for them.
To succeed in GPPs, it’s necessary to take high-variance chances, and the Ottawa trio is certainly that. They are relatively expensive, but are still just over 26 per cent of the total budget.
Be sure to check out the Sportsnet fantasy games available on Sportsnet.ca. There are two specific games that offer both weekly prizes and grand prizes:
· Sportsnet Pick ‘N Play – This game pits two NHL players who are playing each other against one another. Pairings are divided by segments of players, be it goal scorers, defensive stalwarts, and so forth. Points can vary based on when picks are made, and bonus questions. There are weekly prizes, and a grand prize at the end of the year from Kia.
· Sportsnet Fantasy Hockey Pool – This is a salary cap-style game, where players are assigned a point value of one to four, and owners need to select their forwards, defencemen, and goaltender, all while staying under the limit. There is a $1,000,000 bonus prize, a VIP trip to a regular season game, and more.
Good luck today!
*Some stats courtesy of Hockey Analysis, War On Ice, Hockey Reference, and NHL.com.
