This Monday brings us a four-game slate in NHL DFS. First off, let’s remind everyone of the Votts media list and a few links to follow. Then, we dive into the Power Plays.
When you are making your teams, one needs to make sure your goalie is confirmed and starting. Sites like Dailyfaceoff.com, Leftwinglock.com, and Goaliepost.com are great places for information. Another great source exists in the form of team beat writers. Jeff has created a list on Twitter @Votts_DFS  for all of the NHL teams, and a separate list of all the beat writers for you to follow, it’s a great tool and a necessity. The advanced stats that I use and reference in this article come from Corsica.hockey and naturalstattrick.com.
If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact me on our premium Slack chat, or you can hit me up on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS.
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A Quick Note…
The picks below cover the Monday slate which starts at 7:30 pm ET.
Full Schedule For Monday, March 18th, 2019
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Prices are in DraftKings format unless noted. FanDuel prices will be included as well.
NHL DFS GPP Plays For Monday
High Priced Shots
Mark Scheifele ($7,100) — Scheifele will be highly owned tonight, because of a matchup against the bottom feeding Los Angeles Kings. Winnipeg can play its game against Los Angeles without as much resistance. Scheifele is slumping of late with just four points in his last six games and his shot total is just 1.9 per game over the past 12 contests. However, those four points have come in the last six periods. Even in his last effort, the center managed three shots on six attempts. That is encouraging progress. Scheifele comes in at just below $8,000 on FanDuel and maybe a hair lower owned in a buy low scenario. Logan Couture or Tomas Hertl carry potential on Monday night also.
Patrick Kane ($7,700) —Â Chicago should manage a few goals and Kane likely hits value. This is even at his over $9,000 price tag on FanDuel. Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Artem Anisimov, and Jonathan Toews are all nice ways to play along with Kane. Finally, one can use cheaper options as well or yes, Erik Gustafsson. Kane cooling off his past couple games may be a good thing as ownership may divert a little bit elsewhere. Nikita Kucherov is our other pick from this price range but maybe even higher-owned.
Victor Hedman ($6,200) —Â Hedman is an NHL DFS Power Play for his shot and block ceiling which has risen to near 4.5 once again. Add in his nine points in his last nine games and Hedman becomes even more attractive of a play. He drives play well and creates on the man advantage, and that man advantage for Tampa Bay is converting at a 30% rate at home — tops in the league. Hedman prices out at just $6,400 on FanDuel which is saving over Brent Burns.
Into The Middle
Joe Thornton ($3,900) —Â Thornton carries value, especially on DraftKings with that low price. His $5,400 on FanDuel is a bit cost prohibitive but a moderate risk only. Remember, with Thornton, one does not get a ton of shot volume (typically 1.5 shots a game on about three attempts a night), however, he makes up for it by creating chances on that third line and on the power play at an elite rate. Another option from this game, William Karlsson, may not be rested but his shot volume is coming up and he does have seven assists in the last nine games with a goal.
Reilly Smith ($5,000) —Â Reilly Smith should be a sneaky play with VGS2 siphoning ownership, but on this short of a slate, people will notice him anyway. Smith has four goals and ten points in the last ten games. Also, this is while averaging around three shots a game. Smith is a streaky player by nature and could cool off at any time. On the other hand, $5,700 on FanDuel is still a price that is around the market average. Tyler Johnson and even Brendan Perlini are at attractive prices on this slate on Monday night.
Jakob Chychrun ($4,200) —Â Options exist all over the place among mid-priced defensemen. Chychrun is finally over his knee issues and offensively, is starting to look like the draft pick most envisioned. He has seven points in his last nine games and comes off a season-high of six shots. His floor is modest at around 3.5 shots and blocks per game but that could elevate against Tampa Bay. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is a hair more expensive which is why pivoting to an even lower-owned Chychrun makes some sense. He provides a few more peripherals as well. By the way, his FanDuel price is just $3,600! Talk about an NHL DFS power play steal!
Throwing Some NHL Darts
Cody Eakin ($3,700) — Use Eakin as a one-off and little else because of his risk. Eakin plays bottom-six minutes for Vegas and will not be deployed much other than at even strength. The best bet is to just be smart in which lineups you deploy him. Understand there are more values at wing tonight than at the center position. His FanDuel price has not dropped the way his DraftKings price has. Be aware of that.
Brendan Leipsic ($3,000) —Â Leipsic presents risky red flags all over the place. However, he has a few points lately and is a punt play for Los Angeles. Someone has to score and it may just be Leipsic. Make sure he plays though. Coach Willie Desjardins has a tendency to make him a healthy scratch at random. If Leipsic plays, expect a few shots and a decent chance at a goal or assist on Monday night. Tanner Pearson and Kevin Labanc are intriguing value options on the slate.
Erik Cernak ($3,900) —Â Cernak brings a nasty edge to his game but people will forget his shot and ability to hit the net. The only problem is the defenseman does not quite trust his shot fully. Lately, Cernak is improving on that. He averages two shots and 1.5 blocks per game and has tallied five points in his last nine contests. His value keeps getting better and the price is not creeping up too fast just yet. Alec Martinez is a punt play on DraftKings. Few can believe his price is so low now. Although with Los Angeles, everything is under prices one would expect these days.
Goading The NHL Goalies
Again, our best bet with this slate is to simply wait for confirmations to come in. The problem lies in the fact that it is a tough goalie night to choose from. No goalies confirmed until the morning skate. That means there will be a wait for goalie picks. Andrei Vasilevskiy is projected to start against Darcy Kuemper. Vasilevskiy was the only goalie confirmed at press time. Does Corey Crawford get a rest for Chicago? Some are leaning toward that but again, nothing is out there concrete either.
Connor Hellebuyck expects to be in net for Winnipeg but there is something question if Jonathan Quick will be. Thatcher Demko projects to start for the Vancouver Canucks in Chicago. Malcolm Subban may have to play again with Marc-Andre Fleury ailing so Martin Jones becomes a cash play if this holds out.
More picks and choices will be available on Slack and social media later.
Best of luck on Monday! This expects to feature a lot of unexpected, slate wise.
The NHL Power Plays combines a lot of numbers to localize plays, especially on short and medium slates this week.Â
