Welcome to the Daily Fantasy Hockey (NHL DFS) lineup picks article for Monday, February 22nd of the 2015/2016 NHL season. Each day we'll be providing you with a handful of forward, defensemen, and goaltender picks for DraftKings and FanDuel GPP and cash games.
Four games make up Monday's short slate, as the NHL season is tiptoeing and inching towards spring hockey. The playoffs, like the warm weather, will be here in a flash, hopefully, which means teams are entering full postseason-push mode. Fingers crossed that that results in bloated Daily Fantasy stat lines. For updated goalie confirmations, check out leftwinglock.com.
Tonight's lineup features a good goalie hoping to take advantage of a not so good team, a couple of unlikely value plays complimenting the stars on this list, and a Capital hoping to finally bring a Stanley Cup to Washington.
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NHL DFS Picks for Monday, February 22nd
A couple strategy notes. For cash game construction look for players who can contribute to your score when they are not providing offense. Examples are guys who take a ton of shots, defensemen who block a lot of shots(DraftKings). Also, look for guys who get powerplay time and especially Top 6 forwards. You can find value in players who join a new line due to an injury or just get a promotion and more ice time.
For large field tournaments (GPP's) you want to find payers who have multi point upside and can grab double digit fantasy points. To stack the most upside in your forwards a common strategy is to punt the defense position. This doesn't mean just grab anyone. Try and look for a D man who will be playing more PP time or might get a boost in overall playing time due to an injury.
Let's take a look at some solid plays for today's action.
Tuukka Rask - Goaltender, Bruins (DraftKings - $8,100 FanDuel - $8,700)
Braden Holtby is another obvious choice between the pipes, but you save some money starting Rask. Rask, although has struggled at the TD Garden this season, heads into a solid matchup hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he'll look to boost his home record and stats. The Blue Jackets score the eighth fewest goals per game while allowing the second most each contest as well. Rask has been shaky at times in February but is coming off a win against one of the best scoring teams in the league; the Dallas Stars. The Blue Jackets have scored only one goal in their past two games.
Filip Forsberg - Center, Predators (DraftKings - $5,700 FanDuel - $7,500)
Forsberg has scored six goals so far in February, on pace to top his highest total in any month this season of seven in November, and enters an interesting matchup on Monday versus the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs have undoubtedly struggled for some time now while the Predators have also underachieved throughout the season. Nashville has been tremendously streaky of late but they have picked up a point in five straight games and cling to the final wild card spot in the Western Conference by three points. Forsberg tallies his fair share of shots on goal as well and teeters around 20 minutes of ice time a night.
Logan Couture - Center, Sharks (DraftKings - $6,000 FanDuel - $7,200)
Couture has definitely had his best month of the season with eight days still left in February. In the leap year month, Couture has posted three goals and six assists, and should continue to produce on San Jose's third line, especially with center, Tommy Wingels, expected to miss an extended amount of time with an upper body injury. The Sharks are relatively secured in a playoff spot right now, seven points ahead of the wild card chasing Arizona Coyotes, but will need production from guys like Couture if they want to continue climbing in the standings. They face a tough task against the St. Louis Blues, but the contest should be competitive. Couture has put the puck on net often recently and will look to continue his productive month on Monday.
Alex Ovechkin - Winger, Capitals (DraftKings - $9,100 FanDuel - $10,300)
The league's best team should feast on the Arizona Coyotes, one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL. Ovechkin has already scored ten goals this month, three coming in his past two games, and leads the entire league in goals scored. Ovechkin is lighting the lamp at an expedited rate this season and should have no problem doing so in a favorable matchup. Arizona gives up the ninth most goals a game, but the more noteworthy stat, specifically for FanDuel players, is their performance on the penalty kill. The Coyotes have relinquished 46 power play goals, third most in the league, and spend the fourth most amount of time in the penalty box. Ovechkin has already posted 15 power play goals.
Dale Weise - Winger, Canadiens (DraftKings - $3,900 FanDuel - $4,000)
Weise was recently moved up from the fourth line against the Philadelphia Flyers and scored his second goal in three games. That puts him at three points over that span and is an affordable tournament option for both DFS sites. Weise has also seen time on the power play of late. He is a rather risky pick as his production has come in bunches this season, but we can only hope that he'll continue to be inspired any his recent promotion.
P.K. Subban - Defenseman, Canadiens (DraftKings - $6,300 FanDuel - $6,200)
In the Canadiens last game against the Flyers, Subban played an insane 30:55 seconds as the Habs found the win column again and continue to fight for their playoff lives. The bulk of minutes resulted in two assists, one coming via the power play. Subban has produced assists with ease this season and leads the highly talked about Canadiens in points this season. Subban's bread and butter is his performance on the power play, tallying 21 assists on the advantage so far, benefiting FanDuel players. The Habs host the Predators, a team that has allowed the 12th most power play goals this year and spends a decent amount of time shorthanded.
Kevan Miller - Defenseman, Bruins (DraftKings - $3,400 FanDuel - $3,100)
Miller scored his first goal in over a month in Boston's last game against the Dallas Stars and will look to build some momentum against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Miller won't light up the score card but he will free up plenty of cap space for several of the big names listed above him in this lineup. Miller is on the ice around 20 minutes a game and is also capable of tallying a fair share of blocked shots and shots on goal.
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