With eight games lined up for Tuesday night, the NHL DFS slate looks like it will be another fun one. We have a number of interesting games in front of us, including a big 6.5 total in the Ottawa – Montreal game that should bring some fireworks. Our goal here is to parse through some of the noise and identify some of the leading NHL DFS picks for you as you put together your DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy hockey lineups. Using Awesemo’s premium proprietary player projections and the top stacks tool, we will highlight several players and situations that will be advantageous and help your team rocket up the leaderboard.
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NHL Power Plays: DraftKings + FanDuel DFS Picks | March 2
NHL DFS Picks: Centers
Mika Zibanejad ($6,200 DraftKings/$6,500 FanDuel), A/B(A) Grades
Zibanejad last contributed 3 points to the team’s scoring about 10 days ago. Still, his salary is up from where it bottomed out several days before that relative outburst. With just 6 points on the year (2 goals, 4 assists), Zibanejad joins the rest of his teammates as a major disappointment on Broadway. He is coming off a pair of stellar seasons, each with more than 70 points — 74 (30-44) in 82 games, followed by 75 (41-34) in just 57 games — but the production this year has been severely lacking. Zibanejad will skate with Pavel Buchnevich and rookie first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere as the team desperately looks to get them going.
The center continues to fire away, maintaining 3 shots per game, but he is simply not finishing. Zibanejad continues to man the top power-play unit for the Rangers and consistently sees more than 20 minutes of ice time. He contributed 15 goals and 12 assists with the man advantage last season, adding 11 goals and 12 assists on the power play the year before. The skill is very much there, and nothing is wrong physically. Still, we are not getting a continued discount on the player. He is underpriced for last year’s performance and the overall talent but appropriately placed for what he has been to this point. The hope is that we can get to him with a bit of an ownership discount given the lackluster performance.
Jack Eichel ($7,200 DraftKings/$7,100 FanDuel), B/D(B) Grades
This one leans slightly toward the FanDuel side given the relative value differential from site to site. Eichel is an expensive piece on tonight’s slate, but he is in a strong spot to see significant ice time and opportunity against the Rangers. Eichel will be lined up against the top pair of Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren as the Rangers look to counter his line at every turn. For the season, Eichel has 14 points (2-12) in 17 games, with 1 goal and 8 assists coming on the power play. Eichel has a strong track record through the early portion of his career, never falling below the 56 points he put up as a rookie in 2015-16. Last year Eichel had a 78-point year in just 68 games, putting up 36 goals and 42 assists. That came a year after his initial breakout, putting up 28 goals and 54 assists for an 82-point year in 77 games.
Eichel is a scorer and a dynamic playmaker. He can rack up NHL DFS points in a hurry, he adds some padding by ripping 3.11 shots on goal per game, and he is unafraid to throw his body in front of the puck for an infrequent (0.76/game) shot block. Eichel is a strong contributor for the Sabres and does significant work on the power play. He should see well over 20 minutes of ice time tonight and is likely to earn his hefty salary. Eichel and his linemates from Buffalo make for one of the higher-ranked choices on the board tonight, and they come at a bit of a discount compared to the other high-end options.
Additional Center Values
Center is a position with peaks and valleys today. Top-end options include: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Mark Scheifele and Elias Pettersson. Value options are: Roope Hintz, Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson and Phillip Danault.
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NHL DFS Picks: Wingers
Brendan Gallagher ($5,900 DraftKings/$6,200 FanDuel), A/A Grades
Gallagher mans the right wing on the top line for the Canadiens, who are heavy favorites in their contest against the suddenly frisky Senators tonight. The Habs have the night’s highest implied team total at 4.06, and the game should feature some significant scoring upside. Gallagher finds himself in a great spot while coming in underpriced on both FanDuel and DraftKings tonight. He looks like an excellent potential one-off or stacking option.
Gallagher has played in 20 games this season, potting 6 goals and putting up 4 assists, with 3 points coming on the team’s power play. He is slated to skate on the second power-play unit and averages 15:17 in ice time, so he will have to get things done in a hurry for us. The ice time does not compare favorably with many of the other top-end options that average in the high teens. Still, Gallagher is priced fairly for the time and upside, and he makes a strong piece. He blasts 3.35 shots on goal per game and can ring up scoring in a hurry on the right night.
In 146:25 together this season, Gallagher’s line has posted a solid 62.13 Corsi-for percentage while scoring 6 goals and yielding only 3. They have generated a spectacular 43 high-danger chances while giving up only 16, converting on 3 of theirs and yielding but 1 goal. The line has major upside and can be rostered inexpensively.
Jake Guentzel ($6,800 DraftKings/$7,400 FanDuel) A/B(A) Grades
Skating on the left side of Crosby’s top line for the Penguins has its benefits, as Guentzel would likely tell us. Guentzel has had a strong start to his season, putting up 17 points (7-10) across the team’s first 20 games. Guentzel contributes on the team’s top power play, in addition to skating on the first line, with a goal and 3 assists with the man advantage this season. In just 39 games last year, Guentzel posted 43 points (20-23). He was nearly at the point-per-game pace the year before as well, putting up 76 points (40-36) in 82 games in his big breakout season.
Guentzel skates with Crosby and Bryan Rust on the top line. In their 136:51 together this season, the line has a 59.4% Corsi-for percentage, dominating puck possession. They have scored 8 goals while yielding just 4, and they have generated 31 high-danger chances while giving up just 22, scoring 5 times but allowing 3 high-danger goals. The line is a major upside play that offers full power-play correlation, though they will of course be popular. Pittsburgh’s first line ranks second overall on Awesemo’s stack rankings, but they are the most expensive line on the slate, hopefully creating a slight amount of room as competitors look for less expensive stacking options.
J.T. Miller ($5,500 DraftKings/$5,600 FanDuel) B/B(A) Grades
Taking a bit of a dip into the value pool, or at least the middle area where we can keep our heads above water, we land on Miller. He skates on the team’s nominal top line, alongside Pettersson and Brock Boeser, which also makes up the team’s top power play, correlating the three-man unit quite well. Miller sees more than 20 minutes per game on the ice, leading the team’s forwards. He is coming off a productive season last year that saw him put up a career-high 72 points in just 69 games. Miller scored 27 goals and added 45 helpers in 2019-20. He is off to a strong start this season with 5 goals and 15 assists on the ledger already.
Miller has a goal and 8 of his assists on the power play already this season, adding to the overall appeal of an inexpensive player. The line as a whole seems to be somewhat underrated tonight; they provide strong upside and are inexpensive to roster as a unit. In 190:43 this season, the line has a 51.96% Corsi-for and have scored 15 times, giving up 13 goals in the process. They have generated 41 high-danger chances, converting nine times, though they have given up 10 high danger goals on just 27 chances. The line is very much an upside play with strong power play correlation. They could be in line for some fireworks in a tight matchup with the rival Jets. The game has the night’s second-highest total and second-closest line.
Additional Wing Values
There are strong wing options up and down the board on both sites tonight. Just a few names that are in play everywhere include: Taylor Hall, Andrei Svechnikov, Cam Atkinson, and Patrik Laine. Value options include: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jamie Benn, Kyle Palmieri and Pavel Buchnevich.
NHL DFS Picks: Defensemen
Dougie Hamilton ($6,500 DraftKings/$5,200 FanDuel) A/B(A) Grades
Sometimes you just need an easy call when making NHL DFS picks, particularly when you get to the blue line. As one of the most steady presences in the league, Hamilton certainly qualifies as a no-brainer on most slates. The only question marks we run into with him are whether we can afford him and whether we will be chasing too much popularity in rostering him. With eight games and a number of interesting lower-owned lines available on the slate, the popularity seems less concerning tonight, and Hamilton is not overpriced (for him).
For the season Hamilton has an average of 22:30 on the ice, skating on the team’s top pair and top power-play unit. Hamilton has 13 points already on the season, scoring a goal and assisting on 12. Seven of his 12 assists came on the power play, where he continues to stand out among his peers at the position. Hamilton is one year removed from posting 40 (14-26) points and a +30 in just 47 games, which was on pace to smash through his previous career ceiling, had there been a full season. Hamilton has aggressively maintained that pace this season, ripping 3.09 shots on goal per game as a defenseman and blocking nearly a shot per game. He is an easy click on the blue line as either a part of a power-play stack or as a standalone play.
Miro Heiskanen ($4,300 DraftKings/$4,500 FanDuel) D/A Grades
Casting around for some value plays on defense, to pair with Hamilton’s price tag or to work in conjunction with one of the more expensive line stacks, we land on the second pair defenseman from the Stars. The team has played just 16 games this season, and they trail the Central Division in dead last. Still, they have had an effective power play through their limited run, converting on 27.87% of their opportunities, sixth in the league, and Heiskanen mans the point on the top unit.
Playing in all of the team’s games so far this year, Heiskanen has 9 points, all from assists, with 4 coming on the power play. He sees a huge 23:31 on the ice per game, creating plenty of opportunities for him to produce. While he is not the most frequent shooter, he does put 1.37 on goal per game while blocking under a shot per game. Heiskanen is coming off a sophomore campaign that lasted just 68 games but saw him post 35 points (8-27), a step up from the 33 (12-21) he managed the year before as a 19-year-old rookie. Heiskanen has under-the-radar upside for a good price on this slate. He could be a sneaky one-off or an interesting piece of a Stars power-play stack.
Additional Defenseman Values
There are numerous top defensemen who are coming in with strong value grades on both sites. The high end of the list includes Roman Josi, Shea Weber, Adam Fox and Victor Hedman. On the value end, we can look to Ben Chiarot, Ryan Pulock, Rasmus Dahlin and Filip Hronek.
Top Stacks
Winnipeg 1: Mark Scheifele – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Blake Wheeler
Pittsburgh 1: Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Columbus 1: Patrik Laine – Jack Roslovic – Cam Atkinson
Value Stacks
Montreal 1: Brendan Gallagher – Phillip Danault – Tomas Tatar
New York Rangers 1: Alexis Lafreniere — Mika Zibanejad — Pavel Buchnevich
Pittsburgh 2: Jason Zucker — Evgeni Malkin — Kasperi Kapanen
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