More than anything else, the key to winning in daily fantasy hockey leagues is identifying value in your picks. Here are some players to watch for if you're playing on Fanduel or Fantasy Sports Live.
Fanduel
Goalie
You can typically find a good value pick on Fanduel on any given night. No real reason to drop 9k on Miller when you can have a guy like Bobsrovsky for 5300 who is more likely to win anyway. For the past couple nights, you couldn't go wrong with Anders Lindback, as he posted back-to-back shutouts at a cap hit of just 4400. Focus on goalies playing struggling teams. Right now, target whoever is starting against:
- NY Islanders (obviously)
- Carolina, Columbus or Minnesota (3 wins in last 10 games)
- Caps are struggling, but you know you're playing with fire there.
Center
If you've spent wisely on goalie and defense, feel free to splurge on Crosby and Stamkos whenever they're playing. Matt Duchesne and Logan Couture have been hot and are still reasonably price.
Left Wing
Hope you haven't been spending top dollar on Ovechkin lately. He's bound to drop in price soon from 9900. James Neal consistently delivers at a more modest tag of 7100. Lucis and Leino are also reasonably priced options.
Right Wing
Corey Perry is a must start when the Ducks are on the schedule. He's one of the few players giving you more than 5 ppg, and he's cheaper than Semin. Dan Cleary and Niclas Bergfors have both been on the rise. Nodl is tough to beat for 3900 as a value pick.
Defense
Defense is mostly an afterthought. If you're spending more than 5k, you're wasting it. Shattenkirk and Fowler are great rookie options that are rising in price quickly. Mostly, you're trying to avoid a negative on the +/- here. Points are bonus.
Here are the picks by position:
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Center
|
|
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Crosby, Sidney
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C
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Top Price
|
9700
|
|
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Stamkos, Steven
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C
|
Target
|
8800
|
|
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Stastny, Paul
|
C
|
Target
|
7000
|
|
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Duchene, Matt
|
C
|
Target
|
6400
|
|
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Couture, Logan
|
C
|
Target
|
5600
|
|
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Tavares, John
|
C
|
Target
|
5600
|
|
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Brassard, Derick
|
C
|
Target
|
5200
|
|
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Seguin, Tyler
|
C
|
Value
|
3800
|
|
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Kadri, Nazem
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C
|
Value
|
3500
|
|
Defense
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Green, Mike
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D
|
Top Price
|
7400
|
|
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Burns, Brent
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D
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Target
|
5600
|
|
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Carlson, John
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D
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Target
|
4600
|
|
|
Peckham, Theo
|
D
|
Target
|
4200
|
|
|
Shattenkirk, Kevin
|
D
|
Value
|
4000
|
|
|
Fowler, Cam
|
D
|
Value
|
3900
|
|
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Babchuk, Anton
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D
|
Value
|
3800
|
|
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Pietrangelo, Alex
|
D
|
Value
|
3900
|
|
Goalie
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|
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|
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Miller, Ryan
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G
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Top Price
|
9000
|
|
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Lehtonen, Kari
|
G
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Target
|
6600
|
|
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Neuvirth, Michal
|
G
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Target
|
6400
|
|
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Bobrovsky, Sergei
|
G
|
Value
|
5300
|
|
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Crawford, Corey
|
G
|
Value
|
4600
|
|
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Lindback, Anders
|
G
|
Value
|
4400
|
|
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Schneider, Cory
|
G
|
Value
|
4100
|
|
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Theodore, Jose
|
G
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Value
|
3700
|
|
LW
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|
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Ovechkin, Alex
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LW
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Top Price
|
9900
|
|
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Neal, James
|
LW
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Target
|
7100
|
|
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Lucic, Milan
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LW
|
Target
|
6000
|
|
|
Ladd, Andrew
|
LW
|
Target
|
6000
|
|
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Leino, Ville
|
LW
|
Value
|
5200
|
|
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Hall, Taylor
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LW
|
Value
|
4300
|
|
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Bouchard, Pierre-Marc
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LW
|
Value
|
3300
|
|
RW
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|
|
|
|
|
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Semin, Alexander
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RW
|
Top Price
|
8600
|
|
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Perry, Corey
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RW
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Target
|
7800
|
|
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Franzen, Johan
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RW
|
Target
|
6300
|
|
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Giroux, Claude
|
RW
|
Target
|
6100
|
|
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Cleary, Danny
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RW
|
Target
|
5800
|
|
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Bergfors, Niclas
|
RW
|
Target
|
5600
|
|
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Skinner, Jeff
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RW
|
Value
|
4300
|
|
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Nodl, Andreas
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RW
|
Value
|
3900
|
Note: "Value" picks are the best players on the very cheap end of the scale. "Target" picks are higher end options that are still well below the upper price tags. For comparison sake, the highest price tag by position is noted.
No games on Fanduel tonight, as there's just 2 on the NHL schedule.
Fantasy Sports Live
Don't forget, when you sign up on FSL, use the promo code "LANDSHARKHOCKEY" for bonus money on your first deposit.
Goalie
In terms of top value, go with Fleury as often as possible. His value goes up each week, but he's currently still priced under 100 (which will change soon). FSL stays on top of the goalie situation pretty good, so it's hard to find good value at that position. More than anything, if your goalie doesn't win on FSL, you won't have much of a shot, as wins are valued (too) high.
Center
Crosby. Stamkos. Same story. Thornton is remarkably cheap, too.
Left Wing
If you need to free up space for a costly goalie, Simon Gagne is still on the bargain rack. Neal, Datsyuk and Sedin remain great options each night.
Right Wing
If Kovalchuk ever gets on track, he's a steal at a cost of 21. If your blood pressure can't handle that risk, stick with Perry or Heatley when you can.
Defense
Deryk Engelland fights just about every game, so you can bank on some points from him there at a low cost. Fowler, Bogosian and Gonchar are also good alternatives.
Here are the updated picks:
|
Center
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Crosby, Sidney
|
C
|
Top Price
|
101
|
|
|
Stamkos, Steven
|
C
|
Target
|
91
|
|
|
Backstrom, Nicklas
|
C
|
Target
|
66
|
|
|
Couture, Logan
|
C
|
Target
|
52
|
|
|
Getzlaf, Ryan
|
C
|
Target
|
49
|
|
|
Thornton, Joe
|
C
|
Target
|
43
|
|
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Tavares, John
|
C
|
Value
|
28
|
|
Defense
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Letang, Kris
|
D
|
Top Price
|
67
|
|
|
Braun, Justin
|
D
|
Target
|
35
|
|
|
Keith, Duncan
|
D
|
Target
|
28
|
|
|
Weber, Shea
|
D
|
Target
|
27
|
|
|
Gonchar, Sergei
|
D
|
Target
|
18
|
|
|
Engelland, Deryk
|
D
|
Value
|
24
|
|
|
Fowler, Cam
|
D
|
Value
|
23
|
|
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Bogosian, Zach
|
D
|
Value
|
16
|
|
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White, Ian
|
D
|
Value
|
12
|
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Goalie
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Thomas, Tim
|
G
|
Top Price
|
160
|
|
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Bryzgalov, Ilya
|
G
|
Target
|
111
|
|
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Fleury, Marc-Andre
|
G
|
Target
|
92
|
|
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Kiprusoff, Miikka
|
G
|
Target
|
79
|
|
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Niemi, Antti
|
G
|
Value
|
50
|
|
LW
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Ovechkin, Alex
|
LW
|
Top Price
|
83
|
|
|
Sedin, Daniel
|
LW
|
Target
|
72
|
|
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Neal, James
|
LW
|
Target
|
70
|
|
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Datsyuk, Pavel
|
LW
|
Target
|
70
|
|
|
Vanek, Thomas
|
LW
|
Target
|
46
|
|
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Gagne, Simon
|
LW
|
Value
|
10
|
|
RW
|
|
|
|
|
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Semin, Alexander
|
RW
|
Top Price
|
80
|
|
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Perry, Corey
|
RW
|
Target
|
66
|
|
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Heatley, Dany
|
RW
|
Target
|
64
|
|
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Skinner, Jeff
|
RW
|
Target
|
40
|
|
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Kovalchuk, Ilya
|
RW
|
Value
|
21
|
|
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Pominville, Jason
|
RW
|
Value
|
19
|
Goalie pick for tonight:
Go with Fleury.
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