NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (3/23): Value Plays, Goalies, Stacks

Welcome, RotoBallers. Hockey season is back and I am thrilled to be covering this sport over at RotoBaller! As always, I will do my best to give you the stats and info you need to build the best lineups possible for your GPP and cash game NHL contests on DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft.

If you are new to playing NHL DFS, there are several things to know that will help you get caught up to speed. The first thing to know is that stacking lines is important and correlating your plays can pay off. In hockey, if someone scores a goal, there's a good chance that some on his team will receive an assist on that goal, so you want to build lineups around players skating together. The second thing is to make sure you look at the two sites and see the different ways to obtain points. On DraftKings, you get bonus points for 5+ shots or 3+ blocked shots so someone like Alex Ovechkin who is a volume shooter tends to be a better play there just because he can rack up additional points based on his style of play.

Today I'll be bringing you my NHL lineup picks, analysis, and advice for NHL DFS contests on DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft for Tuesday, March 23rd, 2020 at 7:00 PM. Be sure to also check out our awesome NHL tools including our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, Projections, and DFS Cheat Sheets! Feel free to follow me on Twitter @jorgepucks as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions. Good luck RotoBallers!

NHL DFS Analysis and Picks for 3/23

• • New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers (-165) - 6U
  • Florida Panthers (-150) vs. Chicago Blackhawks - 6O
  • Detroit Red Wings vs. Nashville Predators (-150) - 5.5U
  • Tampa Bay Lightning (-162) vs. Dallas Stars - 5.5U
  • Colorado Avalanche (-210) vs. Arizona Coyotes - 5.5U

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

The matrix above takes the averages of four categories and creates a rating scale to help you decide which goalies to use, which goalies to target against, and conversely which teams could be viable from a stacking standpoint. It looks at four categories: Goals Allowed (GA), Shots Allowed (SA), Goals For (GF), Shots For (SF). The higher the overall rating in the total column indicates that it is a more dangerous matchup for that team's goalie while it might be beneficial to stack against him. If the total is low, that means he is in a good matchup from a fantasy perspective and should be considered for your goalie selection. I match and sync this every day to the actual opponents that they are facing every slate so this is always slate specific.

NHL DFS Power Play Matrix

The Power Play matrix is to help locate matchups that can be exploited should there be an odd-man advantage during the game. Just like the goalie matrix above, the teams are matched up based on their own power play percentage rank and their opponent's penalty kill percentage rank. When looking at this matrix, you will want to look for teams that succeed in the power play rank (lower the rank the better they are) while their opponent has a poor penalty kill rank (the higher the rank, the worse their penalty kill is).

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NHL DFS Core Plays

The Core plays below are the players that you should focus on incorporating into your cash game builds and tournament builds. When it comes to cash games, you want guys that offer high floors that rack up peripheral stats (shots, blocks, etc).

When it comes to tournaments, it is best to take a core play and see who their linemates are and build line stacks based on that. I will give 2-3 plays (varies on slate size) at each position at different pricing ranges so that you can have a variety of plays to choose from when building your cash builds or needing cornerstones for your tournament builds.

NHL DFS Center Picks

• Aleksander Barkov, FLA ($8,300 DK / $7,700 FD) - Barkov continues to be one of the best centers in all of the NHL and he has been dominant over his last four games played as he has taken 17 shots and recorded six points during that span. Barkov has been a nightmare for Chicago this season as he has scored three goals and registered six assists in just four games against them while also taking 18 shots on goal during that four-game stretch.
• Anthony Cirelli, TBL ($5,700 DK/ $ 5,500) -Cirelli is having a solid season and part of that is due to him centering a Lightning line that is now featuring Steven Stamkos. Cirelli has registered a point in three of his last four games and makes for a good lower owned play as he could get overlooked for centers that are priced either right above or below him.
• David Kampf, CHI ($2,800 DK / $3,400 FD) - Kampf is by far more of a risky tournament play on this slate but he could be a value piece if he continues to see time on the top line for Chicago which means he could get you cheap exposure to guys like Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.

Other centers to consider: Mackinnon, Point, Couturier, Kadri, Giroux, Gourde, Johansen, Wennberg

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Patrick Kane, CHI ($7,300 DK / $8,100 FD) - The pricing on Kane has fallen quite a bit and while the matchup against Florida is not an easy one, Kane is one of those guys in the NHL that is basically matchup proof. In four games so far against the Panthers, Kane has scored two goals and two assists while taking 22 shots on goal so there is upside to rostering him in this game.
• Carter Verhaeghe, FLA ($5,400 DK / $5,200 FD) - Verhaeghe has been playing well as he has scored four points over his last four games and has flourished in this matchup against Chicago. In just four games against the Blackhawks, Verhaeghe has scored four goals and recorded three assists while taking 10 shots on goal. If you roster Barkov, it might be best to pair him with Verhaeghe to get the goal and assist correlation.
• Eeli Tolvanen, NSH ($3,900 DK / $4,300 FD) - Tolvanen has been featured on the top line for Nashville now for quite some time and has performed pretty well since the promotion. Over his last 10 games, Tolvanen has netted four goals while also recording four assists, and these numbers can only increase with him also seeing time on the top power-play unit as well.

Other wings to consider: Rantanen, Forsberg, Stamkos, DeBrincat, Hornqvist, Huberdeau, JVR, Farabee, Kubalik, Arvidsson, Burakovsky, Mantha, Duclair, Coleman, Johnson, Kessel, Janmark, Lindblom

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• Jakob Chychrun, ARI ($5,900 DK / $4,700 FD) - Chychrun has been one of the more consistent players for the Coyotes this season and has been a great option for both cash game and tournament builds. Over his last 11 games, Chychrun has scored double-digit DK points in nine of those games with most of these points coming from blocking shots and firing some shots on goal.
• Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI ($4,600 DK / $4,000 FD) - Gostisbehere seems to be priced down a bit too much especially for the way he has been performing over his last seven games. Over the seven-game stretch, he has had no fewer than 8.4 DK points and has averaged over four peripheral stats per game.
• Gustav Forsling, FLA ($3,800 DK/ $3,700 FD)- Forsling doesn't have quite the upside like Ekblad or Yandle but he is seeing close to 20 minutes of ice time per game and is recording at least three peripheral stats over his last five games played. At his price point on both sites, he is worth consideration especially if needing some salary relief and looking to get exposure to this Florida and Chicago game.

Other defensemen to consider: Hedman, Ekblad, Ekholm, Sergachev, Makar, Provorov, Keith, Boqvist

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL ($8,000 DK / $8,700 FD) - Vasilevskiy is continuing to dominate this season as he is 20-3-1 with a 1.86 goals allowed average and a .933 save percentage. The Stars could be missing Radulov, Seguin, and Hintz for this game which only makes the Vasilevskiy play even more attractive. He is 3-0 against the Stars this year and is carrying a .97 save percentage against them in those three starts so even with a reduced price point on DK, Vasilvskiy is the top option on the slate.
• Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA ($7,800 DK / $7,900 FD) - Bobrovsky has done very well this season for Florida and has formed a dominant goaltending tandem for the Panthers with both him and Chris Driedger. Bobrovsky is 12-4-2 on the season with a 2.97 goals allowed average and a .903 save percentage and has gone 3-0 against the Blackhawks this year. In those three games, Bobrovsky is carrying a 2.96 goals allowed average and a .907 save percentage and has stopped 88 of 97 total shots faced.
• Juuse Saros, NSH ($7,600 DK / $7,400 FD) - We are unsure of who will draw the start for Nashville tonight but with Pekka Rinne getting the most recent on Sunday, we can guess that Juuse Saros could draw the start in net against Detroit tonight. Saros is 6-6 on the year with a 2.78 goals allowed average and a .913 save percentage. His stats look pretty good and the biggest problem is that the Predators offense has been very inconsistent and somewhat disappointing which has contributed to him having more losses than expected.  If Saros draws the start, it would be his first of the season against Detroit and with Nashville having the home ice and home line matching advantage, he could be a solid goalie option in all formats.

Other goalies to consider: Hart, Greiss

Note: If you do roster a goalie listed above, it is sometimes best to make a hedge lineup in tournaments and take the opposing offense against them incase he gives up a few goals while that opposing team carries lower ownership. Also, make sure that the goalie listed above is starting and if not, make sure to pivot!

Favorite NHL DFS Line Stacks 

• FLA 1
  • Verhaeghe/ Bakov/ Duclair (Ekblad, d-men add on)
    • The top line for Florida is once again a stackable line to consider on this five-game slate. This line is carrying a 3.49 expected goals for per 60 minute rate and is generating 36.35 scoring chances for and 16.21 high danger chances for per 60. This line has dominated Chicago as they have scored five full-strength goals in four games played while generating 28 scoring chances and 21 high danger chances in just 35 total minutes of ice time.
• TBL 1 
  • Killorn/ Point/ Stamkos (Hedman, d-men add on) 
    • Tampa has switched up their lines this morning and it looks like we could see the point and Stamkos connection at full strength which makes the top line for the Lightning extremely attractive from a DFS standpoint. Point and Stamkos have skated 179 minutes together this year and are sporting a 2.93 expected goals for rate while generating 29.81 scoring chances for and 13.06 high danger chances for per 60 minutes. Alex Killorn will be skating at full strength with those two and will also be with them on the top powerplay unit which makes them fully correlated throughout the game.

Other Stacks to consider: FLA 2/FLA PP 1, NSH 1, COL 1, COL 2, PHI 1

SuperDraft NHL DFS Picks

C: MacKinnon (1X), Point (1.2X), Barkov (1.55X), Johansen (1.9X)

W: Kane(1.15X), Hornqvist (1.55X), Rantanen (1.6X), Forsberg (1.6X)

D: Hedman (1X), Chychrun (1.5X), Makar (1.5X), Ekblad (1.7X)

G: Saros (1X), Vasilevskiy (1.25X), Bobrovsky (1.5X)

*Core 4 for SuperDraft are Bolded

Key Abbreviations:

xGF/60= expected goal for per 60 minutes of ice time

GF/60= goals for per 60 minutes of ice time

SC/60= Scoring Chances per 60 minutes of ice time

If you have any additional questions, make sure to reach out to me on Twitter or in our NHL room at the RotoBaller slack chat!

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