It should be another good day of playoff hockey as all the teams playing today should be familiar with each other at this point. As always, we have some skaters at each price range that we’re spotlighting. Awesemo will weigh in first, then I (Tommienation1) will follow up with some extra analysis.
Top-Tier
Steven Stamkos ($6,900 DK/$8,300 FD)
“Stamkos’ Lightning have a 3.7 implied total, which is over a half goal more than any other team on the slate. As a top line center, there are few better options than him tonight.”
An under $7K Steven Stamkos on home ice seems like an absolute steal today. He’s still playing alongside Nikita Kucherov and JT Miller at both even-strength and the top power-play unit. The Devils will likely be without their top defenseman, Sami Vatanen, this afternoon, which is an even bigger upgrade for Stamkos and Lightning, who should come out flying today as they look to close out the series.
Seth Jones ($5,600 DK/$5,900 FD)
“Jones has been a minutes machine in this series and we expect the same today in Game-5. His shot volume and top PP time make him a candidate for overall top defenseman on the slate.”
Jones is coming off another game with 7 shot attempts, which has essentially been par for the course for him this series, as he has 26 shot attempts which is amongst the lead in the playoffs for defensemen. It’s hard not to love Jones again tonight as he should play another 25+ minutes and get a lot of power-play time should the Blue Jackets find themselves on the man-advantage.
Mid-Tier/Value
TJ Oshie ($5,000 DK/$5,700 FD)
“Oshie has come alive this series after a quiet 2017, finding himself on the top power-play and Nick Backstrom’s wing at even-strength.”
Oshie has been very valuable to the Capitals this series, as he has 24 shot attempts while leading his team in both Scoring Chances (20) and High-Danger Chances (10). He has only 3 points to show for it so far, but when watching his shifts, he has looked great and the advanced numbers show that. Playing on the Caps top PP is a nice bonus, as they have converted 5 out of 14 power-plays this series. Oshie is a one of my favorite values on both sites today.
Damon Severson ($2,900 DK/$3,500 FD)
“With Sami Vatanen likely to miss today’s game, Severson will have an increased role at both even-strength and the power-play.”
I’m not sure what got into Damon Severson last game, but he attempted a team-high 10 shots and had 3 individual Scoring Chances in Game-4. If he plays with even a hint of that aggressiveness, he’s a steal on both sites at near minimum-price. Another 20 minutes for Severson is a fair assumption in Vatanen’s absence, so I love him as a punt d-man where value is tough to come by today.
