Christopher Morais

Welcome to The Fantasy Fix daily fantasy hockey strategy. Below you will find rankings and projections for tonight’s NHL action. Building a winning lineup isn’t easy, so we’ll do our best to guide you in the right direction and help you win some serious cash. With that, let’s take a look at some matchups you should be targeting tonight.

 

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As always, make sure to check out LeftWingLock for goalie confirmations.

All shot attempt numbers discussed are at even strength and score-adjusted unless otherwise noted.

 Teams To Target

Toronto Maple Leafs V. Montreal Canadiens

 The Montreal Canadiens have pretty much made it official—they will be sellers at the trade deadline Monday. It’s been a disappointing season for both teams, but more so for the Habs, who started off the season winning their first nine games in a row. Tonight they have a chance to keep themselves in the playoff hunt as they take on the worst team in the NHL.

Montreal’s top line of Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher and captain Max Pacioretty will be a line to target in most cash games. All three have price tags that don’t offer much value, but if any trio is going to score goals, it’s going to be that one. For people looking for some value out of the Canadiens, their second line of Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller and Sven Andrighetto is probably the way to go. With Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann now in Chicago, the speculation is that Sven will jump up to the second line and see some time on the second power play unit. Galchenyuk is still listed as a C ok DK, so if you want to mini-stack Galchenyuk/Andrighetto, that would be an option to consider, even if they don’t play on the same power play unit.

Regardless of which line you choose to roster, P.K. Subban needs to be part of the equation. There’s a legitimate chance that P.K. sees close to 30 minutes of ice time tonight with all the injuries on the blue line, and that’s perfectly fine with me. The former Norris trophy winner has picked up eight points in his last ten games and is a lock for at least one point tonight.

Winnipeg Jets V. Pittsburgh Penguins

While the Pittsburgh Penguins look to stay in the race for the final playoff spot, the Jets have already shipped Andrew Ladd to Chicago, and more players are likely to follow. With the news that Evgeni Malkin will return to the lineup for this game, it makes the Penguins a more complete and balanced team.

The Penguins top line of Chris Kunitz, Patric Hornqvist and Sidney Crosby is the line most fantasy players will target in cash games. Crosby/Kunitz have always been a dangerous pair, but Kunitz’s value on FD and FantasyDraft is not very appealing. On DK he’s priced at $4900, so I’d definitely use him there in as many lineups as possible.

Pittsburgh’s second line of Carl Hagelin, Evgeny Malkin and Phil Kessel will be reunited with the return of Malkin to the lineup. I’m ok with using this line in a GPP, but both Kessel/Hagelin are not listed on any of the two power play units. Kessel is pretty much unplayable at his current price tag, Hagelin/Malkin is a mini-stack to consider, but the combo that makes the most sense for daily players to use is Malkin and Kris Letang.

Letang is a beast, and today won’t be any different. A full power play stack of Kunitz/Crosby/Letang is an expensive option, but not a crazy one if you decide to play early only contests. No matter which combo you decide to go with, Letang needs to be part of it.

Buffalo Sabres V. Los Angeles Kings

 The terrible San Jose Sharks found a way to lose to the Sabres yesterday night, but that won’t be the case tonight with L.A. The Kings are a far superior team and should have no problem grinding down a below-average Buffalo defense.

The starting point of any lineup that you build tonight should start with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli. The duo plays together on the second line and on the top power play unit with Anze Kopitar. Outside of Carter/Toffoli, it’s really hard to find anyone else worth paying up for. Kopitar and Milan Lucic is an option to consider, but with Lucic playing on the second power play unit, it does put a damper on the appeal.

Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty both play on the top power play unit and both play together at even strength. Doughty doesn’t have that great of a value, so if you had to go with only one, I’d lead towards Muzzin.

In goal, Jonathan Quick is by far my favourite option of the night. The Kings are a dominant team at home and Buffalo will be playing their second game in as many nights. His price tag on DK is a tough one to swallow, but if you can make it work somehow, he’s worth it.

Player Rankings

 Ranking are price sensitive

DraftKings

Forwards

1. Alex Galchenyuk—Montreal Canadiens–$4700
2. Kyle Turris—Ottawa Senators–$4700
3. Sean Monahan—Calgary Flames–$5800
4. Sidney Crosby—Pittsburgh Penguins–$7900
5. Jeff Carter—Los Angeles Kings–$5900
6. Nazem Kadri—Toronto Maple Leafs–$5500

Wingers

1. Sven Andrighetto—Montreal Canadiens–$3200
2. Carl Hagelin—Pittsburgh Penguins–$3900
3. P.A. Parenteau—Toronto Maple Leafs–$4400
4. Tyler Toffoli—Los Angeles Kings–$6100
5. Brendan Gallagher—Montreal Canadiens–$6100
6. Chris Kunitz—Pittsburgh Penguins–$4900
7. Johnny Gaudreau—Calgary Flames–$7100
8. Max Pacioretty—Montreal Canadiens–$6800

Defenseman

1. Andrei Markov—Montreal Canadiens–$4500
2. Aaron Ekblad—Florida Panthers–$4900
3. Jake Muzzin—Los Angeles Kings–$5300
4. Kris Letang—Pittsburgh Penguins–$6900
5. P.K. Subban—Montreal Canadiens–$6300
6. Drew Doughty—Los Angeles Kings–$6200
7. Erik Karlsson—Ottawa Senators–$8000

Goalie

1. Jonathan Quick—Los Angeles Kings–$8400
2. Mike Condon—Montreal Canadiens–$7400
3. Jake Allen—St.Louis Blues–$7300
4. Marc-Andre Fleury—Pittsburgh Penguins–$8000

FanDuel

Forwards

1. Tomas Plekanec—Montreal Canadiens–$6000
2. Jeff Carter—Los Angeles Kings–$6800
3. Sean Monahan—Calgary Flames–$7300
4. Sidney Crosby—Pittsburgh Penguins–$9500
5. Evgeni Malkin—Pittsburgh Penguins–$9100

Wingers

 Left Wing

1. Alex Galchenyuk—Montreal Canadiens–$4800
2. Carl Hagelin—Pittsburgh Penguins–$4700
3. Sven Andrighetto—Montreal Canadiens–$3000
4. Mike Hoffman—Ottawa Senators–$5500
5. Chris Kunitz—Pittsburgh Penguins–$6400
6. Johnny Gaudreau—Calgary Flames–$8300
7. Max Pacioretty—Montreal Canadiens–$6600

 Right Wing

1. Tyler Toffoli—Los Angeles Kings–$5900
2. Brendan Gallagher—Montreal Canadiens–$6100
3. Patric Hornqvist—Pittsburgh Penguins–$6300
4. P.A. Parenteau—Toronto Maple Leafs–$4600
5. Jiri Hudler—Calgary Flames–$5700
6. Dustin Brown—Los Angeles Kings–$3900

Defenseman

1. Andrei Markov—Montreal Canadiens–$4200
2. Aaron Ekblad—Florida Panthers–$4700
3. Kris Letang—Pittsburgh Penguins–$7300
4. P.K. Subban—Montreal Canadiens–$6000
5. Jake Muzzin—Los Angeles Kings–$5100
6. Drew Doughty—Los Angeles Kings–$5900
7. John Klingberg—Dallas Stars–$5800
8. Erik Karlsson—Ottawa Senators–$7300

Goalie

1. Jonathan Quick—Los Angeles Kings–$8800
2. Marc Andre Fleury—Pittsburgh Penguins–$9000
3. Mike Condon—Montreal Canadiens–$7000
4. Jake Allen—St. Louis Blues–$8900

FantasyDraft

Note: only games starting at 7:00ET or later will be mentioned

 Forwards

1. Alex Galchenyuk—Montreal Canadiens–$9300
2. Sean Monahan—Calgary Flames–$12,000
3. Jeff Carter—Los Angeles Kings–$12,100
4. Tomas Plekanec—Montreal Canadiens–$10,300
5. Anze Kopitar—Los Angeles Kings–$13,200

Wingers

1. Sven Andrighetto—Montreal Canadiens–$6400
2. P.A. Parenteau—Toronto Maple Leafs–$8800
3. Mike Hoffman—Ottawa Senators–$11,700
4. Tyler Toffoli—Los Angeles Kings–$12,600
5. Brendan Gallagher—Montreal Canadiens–$12,600
6. Johnny Gaudreau—Calgary Flames–$14,700
7. Max Pacioretty—Montreal Canadiens–$14,000

Defenseman

1. Andrei Markov—Montreal Canadiens–$9100
2. Jake Muzzin—Los Angeles Kings–$10,900
3. P.K. Subban—Montreal Canadiens–$13,000
4. Drew Doughty—Los Angeles Kings–$12,700
5. Erik Karlsson—Ottawa Senators–$16,400

 Team G

1. Los Angeles Kings–$17,100
2. Colorado Avalanche–$16,100
3. Montreal Canadiens–$15,100

 

 

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