The NHL has back-to-back days with twelve games around the Thanksgiving holiday, and this has been a delight for DFS hockey fans. With so many teams in action it makes things very interesting for constructing winning lineups in FanDuel. While the top plays are more easily identified, we’ll highlight some value plays at each position for you to consider.
GOALTENDERS
Best Value: Mike Condon OR Dustin Tokarski, Montréal Canadiens, $8,100 / $8,000
With the injury to Carey Price, Montréal will turn to Mike Condon again to take over most of the starts. Watch to see if Condon gets the start again tonight (after winning 3-2 in New Jersey last evening), or if Tokarski gets the start after just being recalled from the minors. Either goaltender is a strong play today against a Devils team that the Habs just defeated on the road, and will now come home to play again. Condon has filled in admirably as the lead goaltender when Price has been out this year, with a 2.14 goals against average and .917 save percentage. As for Tokarski, he’s only had limited action this season but we saw him perform well last year.
Other G Value Plays: Martin Jones, Mike Smith
Worst Value G: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets, $8,900
Although Bobrovsky has had a good month of November, this is a difficult matchup for the Blue Jackets, and there are better options in goal available around the same price range. He did defeat the Penguins last night at home, but the matchup is much more difficult playing in St. Louis this evening.
LEFT WINGERS
Best Value: David Perron, Pittsburgh Penguins, $4,500
The Penguins’ offense has been improving over the past couple weeks, and Perron has started to get things going as well. He is yet to explode with a big game after we saw several last season, however skating on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, that could happen as soon as tonight. Pittsburgh plays the second game of a home-and-home series with Columbus, and will attempt to rebound after the Blue Jackets’ win last night. Considering Perron’s opportunities to hit the score sheet, his price is very much a bargain.
Other LW Value Plays: Artemi Panarin, Marcus Johansson, Mikhail Grigorenko, Joonas Donskoi
Worst Value LW: Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild, $8,700
Parise returned from the injured reserve list to play last night, ending the game with no points and just one shot. He will soon get back to the high level of play we’re used to seeing from him, but until he shows a few signs of that we’ll stay clear of him for now.
CENTERS
Best Value: Alex Galchenyuk, Montréal Canadiens, $4,900
The number three overall pick from the 2012 draft has been steadily improving every year and was poised for a break out season in 2015/16. He got off to a very slow start (which has kept his FanDuel salary down) but is really heating up now. Galchenyuk has points in his past four games, with goals in his past three. During that time, he’s registered 5.75 FanDuel points on average. Use Galchenyuk in tournaments as part of a Montréal power play stack (with Pacioretty, Plekanec, Subban and Markov), or as a one-off value play in tournaments. Galchenyuk also makes for a nice cheap play in cash game lineups, and allowing you to save money for other expensive players.
Other C Value Plays: Nathan MacKinnon, Jason Spezza, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Artem Anisimov, Leon Draisaitl
Worst Value C: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks, $8,500
A combination of his high salary and tough matchup (in Los Angeles) makes Toews a fade tonight. On many nights he is a very good play, but there are several other better options tonight in the high price range.
RIGHT WINGERS
Best Value: Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers, $5,600
NOTE: the Rangers play in the afternoon, so this is a play in the “all-day” slate on FanDuel.
Zuccarello skates on the Rangers’ top line and top power play with Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. He’s averaging nearly a point per game on the year, and his salary is only in the mid-tier. Zuccarello has already shown the potential for the “big game”, with three games recently with three points. He makes an excellent tournament play today in a matchup against the struggling Flyers.
Other RW Value Plays: Patrick Kane (he should be the highest priced player on the board), Anthony Duclair, Devante Smith-Pelly, Kevin Hayes, Dale Weise
Worst Value RW: Marian Gaborik, Los Angeles Kings, $6,800
Gaborik has the 10th highest salary amongst right wingers today, but has only five points in 22 games on the season. He can be avoided until his point production starts to become more consistent.
DEFENSEMEN
Best Value: Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche, $5,300
Although his salary is not necessarily in “value” range (see below for some cheap guys), I really like Barrie as a top defenseman play today, and his price is under-valued. The Avalanche are home today to the Jets who lost last night (3-1 in Minnesota) and then traveled to Denver. Winnipeg has been a weak defensive team all year, ranking near the bottom of the league in many metrics (goals against, shots against, Corsi, penalty killing). Barrie is the Avalanche power play quarterback, and he has a great chance for a multi-point game tonight.
Other D Value Plays: John Klingberg, Ryan Suter, Rasmus Ristolainen, Dmitry Orlov, Paul Martin, Tobias Enstrom, Shayne Gostibehere
Worst Value D: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning, $6,400
Giordano is the obvious player to avoid today among high priced defensemen, however we pointed him out yesterday and we’ll highlight Hedman instead. Hedman has failed so far to build on his breakout season in 2014/15, registering only 13 points in 23 games so far this season. He could start scoring at any time, and he did pot a goal last game. With his inconsistency so far this season, it’s tough to use in him daily fantasy, except for a Lightning power play stack perhaps.