This NHL Saturday feeds us the gigantic slate. First off, let me remind you of the Votts media list and a few links to follow on this edition of NHL Power Plays. DFS players take notice of any and all changes.
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 contact me on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS.
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A Quick NHL Note Or Two…
The picks below cover the Saturday evening slate which is 13 games in all for DraftKings and FanDuel (7:00 PM ET lock). There is a two-game afternoon slate starting at 1:00 PM ET which was covered in the previous post. Also, the late slate was as well.
Full NHL Schedule For Saturday, April 6, 2019
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Prices are in DraftKings format unless noted. FanDuel prices will be included as well.
NHL DFS GPP Plays For Saturday
High Priced Shots
Auston Matthews ($7,800) — Matthews is $8,200 on FanDuel which is a bit high but consider that he has 50 shots in his last ten games. Toronto is going against Montreal who was just eliminated on Friday night. This projects to be a bit of a high-event, high-scoring type of game. Parts of Toronto’s first unit power play could be used as stacks on Saturday night against a Montreal team that ranks 25th in high-danger chances allowed per 60 on their penalty kill. Matthews has seven points and three goals in his previous nine contests and may see a little positive regression on Saturday. With some value options on the slate, this is one of at least three double center stack chances tonight (Matthews-Tavares). Crosby-Malkin and even Barkov-Trocheck are the other two.
Saturday NHL Lock?
Patrick Kane ($7,600) — Last night, the Blackhawks forward fired nine shots on goal on the strength of 15 shot attempts. Kane narrowly missed a hat trick on several occasions and even hit the post in the first and second periods. Chicago’s best forward is averaging nearly five shots a game over his last dozen games played. Nashville has been sputtering a bit of late despite winning four of five games. Timely scoring and goaltending can mask quite a few deficiencies. Nashville and Chicago have a tendency to play some high-scoring contests so do expect some strange side plays as well. Drake Caggiula is dirt cheap and had a few assists on Friday night. Speed and transition kill. Kane possesses plenty of that and much more.
Kris Letang ($6.700) —Â Letang carries a good deal of risk due to health issues, however, it is hard to diminish his DFS contributions. Currently, the defenceman averages just about four shots a game. The New York Rangers give up the most shots in the league per 60 at nearly 38. Letang has a floor of nearly six shots and blocked shots per night right now and four points in two games against the Rangers this year – they have a horrible time whenever he is on the ice. The rover-like defenseman gets lost easy in the Rangers’ defensive scheme or lack thereof.
FanDuel Risky NHL Play (FanDuel Price in parentheses)Â
Alexander Radulov ($7,300) —Â Radulov saw so much of a bump up in price from his seven-game point streak that he trumps Alex Ovechkin in price on DraftKings. That’s crazy, considering Ovechkin nearly had a hat trick last week himself. Overall, the Russian right winger for the Stars has seven goals and eight assists in 10 games of late. His shot output is up by about a half shot her game while he generates nearly an extra scoring chance per game. Dallas looked completely gassed on Friday against Chicago but expect a different effort on Saturday. They face a Minnesota team who are without three of their best players and have not fared well against Dallas all year. Oh, his 39 points in 33 games at home do not hurt either. The two goals and three points in three meetings does not hurt either.
Into The Middle
Andreas Athanasiou ($5,700) —Â Overall, Athanasiou averages just under 3.5 shots per game along with up to 3 scoring chances. The other Greek Freak is a poor man’s version of Dylan Larkin, who happens to be on the same team. Is this the cheaper double-center stack that few may notice? That answer is yes. Buffalo yields goals in bunches, scoring chances among the bottom five, and have allowed four goals per game over the past eight tilts. A lot of tonight is about finding players who will definitely play quite a few minutes then hoping for the best.
Brady Tkachuk ($5,600) —Â Tkachuk rolls in at $6,100 on FanDuel which,considering his last ten games, may be a touch low price-wise. The winger for Ottawa has nine points in his last ten contests and six goals. That includes 41 shots on net with 70+ attempts. Tkachuk even with a Brian Gibbons could be interesting. We have potential here for a stack with Max Veronnaeau even. The winger on the other side is in the low $3,000’s and basically a punt play.
DraftKings Friendly/FanDuel Too
Boone Jenner ($4,400) —Â Jenner or even Josh Anderson makes for a good mid-priced DFS play against an Ottawa team coming off a tough game in Pittsburgh on Friday night. How much will the Senators have left? Also, how will Columbus respond after clinching a playoff birth with a huge win last night? Jenner has seven points in his last nine games but does have low shot volume and a decent amount of blocked shots. Anderson has more shot and chance potential and because of goal possibilities is still priced reasonably even for FanDuel. Lastly, do not sleep on Pavel Buchnevich who carries some friendly pricing as well.
DraftKings Value Plays
Anthony Duclair ($4,200) —Â Â Duclair’s price is just too low much like real life. Although, he fires a lot of pucks on net and has a half dozen goals in eight games, little of that matters in the algorithm apparently. The top line in Ottawa plays like a bonafide top-six trio. The problem may be the rest of the lines but this one rolls along and create matchup nightmares just off its speed alone. Now, if one does not feel like spending low on the Senators, there are other options. J.T. Compher and Alex Kerfoot are $8,100 combined for example. Again, seek value in order to spend up on this night because there are so many possibilities out there.
Throwing Some Darts
Michael Amadio ($2,600) —Â With Los Angeles in complete flux offensively, Amadio has stepped up and been the one creating chances and potting a few pucks into the net. Fortunately, the forward has seven points in his last nine games. A big concern is shot volume (averaging 1.3 a game). However, he seems to know how to play at a higher-pace than the rest of the Kings in the top-six too often. The difference between Amadio and say the runs that Adrian Kempe had earlier in the year is the speed. Amadio has ability to use speed out wide to get by defenders.
Taro Hirose ($3,300) — The winger is seeing over 15 minutes of ice time a game since signing with the Wings and has tallied a goal with six assists in nine games so far. The problem, if any, is that Hirose has just 15 shots on goal. Just give the winger a little time and space then watch him pile up those high-danger scoring chances and set ups. Detroit being home to Buffalo helps immensely but do expect a back and forth affair with maybe a Buffalo power play one stack to coincide with a Detroit mini-stack.
Brett Kulak ($3,800) —Â Searching for value on defense feels like going through a minefield. However, Kulak has been mostly steady value. His shot volume and time on ice has gradually risen over the past 10-12 games. He has seven points in that span while averaging nearly 2.5 shots per game. Kulak had one of his best games of the season against Columbus and created several chances himself. His last two games have seen no points but again a few more chances. The defenseman now plays 21-22 minutes a night and has a dynamic Montreal sorely was missing too often.
David Savard ($3,600) —Â Savard sneaking in should not be a surprise. This is the third year in a row he has closed up well. He has six points in his last nine games now along with 2+ shots and 2+ blocks a game in that span. His price comes in almost too reasonable and is a gift on Saturday night (almost like the John Gibson FanDuel price on Friday night). Alas, the key on this HUGE slate is to keep digging. If a few players are rested or held out, there are more than enough replacements to consider.
Goading The NHL Goalies
Looking towards the lesser games tonight might actually pay off in GPP’s. Can teams on no rest pick up enough shots to make rested teams look viable? Ben Bishop is an intriguing GPP choice against a Minnesota team that will play very loose trying to beat Dallas once at least. Jimmy Howard will be an obvious choice against Buffalo for so many reasons and not all of them are on the ice. Martin Jones is a huge risk with only a decent reward. Even Connor Hellebuyck almost falls into the Martin Jones category these days — that is how crazy it has become for Winnipeg. Does one risk it and go Sergei Bobrovsky one more time? Even Petr Mrazek could be worth a road start against Philadelphia — especially if the Flyers keep yielding five goals a game. Carolina’s top-six should be able to provide enough offense to provide a cushion.
Watch to see who starts. That is always a last minute coin flip. Roberto Luongo going up against an anemic at times New Jersey team should carry a reasonable price ($7,900/$7,800). New Jersey has won just ten times all year on the road in 40 games. Furthermore, they yield 3.8 goals per game away from home and have looked vulnerable in too many phases again of late. Florida’s offense should be able to provide enough cushion along with their top-5 power play.
The slate offers up a few ways to get fancy. Value is surprisingly abundant even in net.
More picks and choices will be available on Slack and social media later. The key for Saturday is this. Wait till confirmation and then warm-ups in some scenarios. Just trust us here. Waiting for some advantages to pop up will be important for these NHL Power Plays.
Some Final Bits Of Advice
Teams to pile on the rabbit I mean stack on Saturday. This is important due to some under the radar stacking chances.
- Carolina 1 and 2
- Florida 1 but watch for three
- Detroit 1 especially 2
- Buffalo (possibly top power play +)
- EDM 1 (almost always)
- Calgary (depends where Derek Ryan is as Ryan-Gaudreau duo was dynamic last two contests)
- San Jose PP 1
Those are just to name a few.
Best of luck on Saturday! This expects to feature a lot of unexpected, slate wise.
