NHL DFS Strategy and Core Plays for March 18

Saturday evening brings us a seven-game NHL DFS slate on DraftKings starting at 7 p.m. ET. In this article I lay out my top lines and goalies to target and give a brief overview of the eight-game slate.

If you are new to NHL DFS, make sure to check out my article “ How to Play NHL DFS ” for strategies for creating both cash and tournament lineups. Also, make sure you tune into our Discord channel for updates on line changes, injuries, confirmed starting goalies and talk lineup construction with the whole FTN NHL community including Chris Meaney, Kenneth Le and Griffin Swanson.

Top Lines These lines are my top projected on the slate. For cash lineups, I don’t recommend stacking the full line; instead, pair them in twos and threes with correlating defenders or power play linemates. For tournaments, you need to be different so being overweight on a full line and/or correlating defenders can play out to your advantage. Two sites I use to check line combinations closer to puck drop are Daily Faceoff and Left Wing Lock .

TB Line 1 — Brandon Hagel , Brayden Point , Nikita Kucherov TOR Line 2/PP1 — John Tavares , William Nylander + Morgan Rielly or Auston Matthews PIT Line 1 — Jake Guentzel , Sidney Crosby , Bryan Rust LA Line 1 — Quinton Byfield , Anze Kopitar , Adrian Kempe NYR Line 1 — Artemi Panarin , Mika Zibanejad , Vladimir Tarasenko Top Value Lines (Total Line DK Salary) TB Line 3: Ross Colton , Nicholas Paul , Steven Stamkos ($12,800) NYI Line 2: Pierre Engvall , Brock Nelson , Kyle Palmieri ($12,700) ARI Line 3: Liam O'Brien , Travis Boyd , Christian Fischer ($7,800) — the price on this line is ridiculously cheap, Boyd is on a three-game point streak with 7 in his last six. Value One-Offs (sub $4K on DraftKings, not already mentioned above)

Anthony Cirelli , C ($3,900) Tyler Johnson , W ($3,500) Calle Jarnkrok , W ($3,200) Scott Mayfield , D ($4,000) T.J. Brodie , D ($3,500) J.J. Moser , D ($3,300) Sebastian Aho , D ($2,900) My Core TB 1 + 3, TOR 2, NYI 2, LA 1 Just last Saturday we had Tampa in a great spot at home against the Blackhawks and they barely squeaked out a 3-1 victory, scoring two late in the third period. Here we are again. Tampa is the biggest favorite on the slate, at home, against a team that ranks 28th in shots allowed, 29th in expected goals allowed and last in both scoring chances and actual goals allowed in 5v5 over the last 30 days. Almost have to play them in cash games and then decide in tournaments how much exposure you want. Bradon Hagel didn’t find the score sheet on Thursday, but had 6 points in his previous three games and at $5,100 offers some great value skating Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov . Note: The lines have been a little fluid over the past couple games with Steven Stamkos skating on the third line with Ross Colton and Nicholas Paul the past two games. Toronto is in play for me, and I lean their second line over the Auston Matthews line purely for rostership reasons. I have the lines projected for about the same total fantasy points, but John Tavares ’ line with half the rostership. Ottawa has dropped five of their last six, giving up at least 5 goals in each loss (and 4 goals in their lone win). Toronto is on a back-to-back, but they are home, so no Friday night travel. I will be looking for value pieces from the Islanders and Kings to fill in spots with my Tampa and Toronto core. Both teams are in greats spots and playing solid hockey. Pittsburgh will be hardly rostered (projected sub-30% combined rostership for the full top line) facing off against Igor Shesterkin and the Rangers and for that reason I want some exposure in tournaments. The Rangers are 23rd in xGA in 5v5 play over the past month while the Penguins are third in xGF and second in shots on goal over that same span. Favorite high-dollar one-offs: Auston Matthews , Mika Zibanejad and Nikita Kucherov . I love Jason Robertson overall, but he is in a tough spot on the road against Calgary, who have allowed the third-fewest shots in 5v5 (last 30) limiting his ceiling. Goalies Not all goalies are confirmed at the time of this writing, so hop into our Discord channel as we approach lock. Here are the top goalies I have interest in if confirmed (ranked by priority using DraftKings salary + median projections).

Andrei Vasilevskiy , TB ($8,500) Ilya Sorokin , NYI ($8,200) Pheonix Copley , LA ($8,300) Igor Shesterkin , NYR ($8,000) — I am on Pittsburgh in tournaments, but the projections are there for the Rangers net minder. Karel Vejmelka , ARI ($7,900) — The Blackhawks confuse me right now, so Vejmelka could allow 4 goals as easily as posting a shutout. Tournament Play Sam Montembeault of Montreal is my long-shot goalie this evening. As I mentioned above, Tampa has disappointed this year (as recently as last Saturday) when they are in smash spots. Montembeault has been decent this year – posting a .904 save percentage through 31 appearances and he is eighth in xGSA/60 (min 15 games) per moneypuck.com. Shot volume will be there, and I have Montembeault with a 84% chance of getting the save bonus. If the Canadeins can somehow limit Tampa to just 3 or fewer goals, the $6,900 price tag on Montembeault will pay off.

NHL DFS Strategy and Core Plays for March 18

Vegas Odds per DraftKings Sportsbook

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