Below is a breakdown for Sunday’s four-game NHL DFS main slate followed by example lineups.

Teams to Target

The Flames are easily the biggest favorite of the day at -220 against the Red Wings who allow the most goals per game. You’ll certainly want Flames in your cash lineups as they’re obvious chalk. Sean Monahan centers Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm in the top line, and the trio plays on the top PP unit. The entire line is pricey on both sites, but Monahan and Lindholm are more affordable than Gaudreau who is borderline too expensive. Matthew Tkachuk is the fourth forward on the top PP unit, and he is priced well on FD where he will take up 2.7-percent less of the cap than he will on DK. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson plays on the top PP unit and can paired with top power play forwards.

Vegas is the second biggest favorite of the slate in Anaheim as -170 favorites against the Ducks. The Golden Knights are playing for the second day in a row, but they must be considered as one of two large favorites on the slate. The value comes from their second line with Paul Stastny centering Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. Stastny and Marchessault play on the top PP unit while Smith skates on the second unit. The entire line is priced well on DK where they could be stacked. On FD, Marchessault is overpriced but Stastny is priced reasonably and Smith is an excellent value there. Shea Theodore and Nate Schmidt are blue line options as they’ll each play with the Stastny line at even and both see PP work.

The only other above average implied goal total tonight belongs to Edmonton playing an LA team that also played yesterday and will likely start backup goalie Calvin Petersen. Connor McDavid will return tonight, but it looks like he’ll center the second line while Leon Draisaitl will continue to center the top line. Both guys are in play. Defenseman Darnell Nurse is playing on the top PP unit right now and is priced well on FD where he will take up five percent less of the cap than he will on DK.

Value Plays

The Flames are top-heavy, but there is some potential salary relief in their bottom six with Derek Ryan or Dillon Dube. Ryan is underpriced on FD at only $3,600 if you need a cheap C on that site. Dube skates on the third line and second PP unit and sees about 14 minutes per game. He’s nice and cheap on both sites.

Kailer Yamamoto has been playing up on the top line and top PP unit with McDavid out. McDavid is back tonight but Yamamoto looks like he’ll still be with Draisaitl at even strength, though he’ll slide down to the second PP unit. That said, he is still a good value on FD at only $4,300 compared to $6,500 on DK.

Value on DK is tougher to come by, so here are a few names that are underpriced there per my projections: Jakob Silfverberg, Dustin Brown, Mike Green, Nick Holden.

The Flames have been around league average defensively overall this season, but they have struggled mightily in February. They have the fourth highest expected goals allowed per 60 mark at 5v5 this month, and their goaltending has been even worse. They have the worst team save percentage this month by almost a full percentage point. So yeah, you might consider picking on the Flames with the Wings. The top line of Dylan Larkin, Robby Fabbri and Anthony Mantha is priced well on FD where you could stack them. On DK, the second line pair of Tyler Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou could be a mini-stack option with nice price tags there. In Detroit’s most recent game, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi played with the top line on a five forward top PP unit.

The Wild and Blues are the two worst matchups for opposing skaters on this slate, and their game is basically even money with a low over/under of 5.5. This is not a game we really want any exposure to. That said, DK tends to drastically alter prices when players have bad matchups, and they have severely depressed the prices of Minnesota’s second line of Alex Galchenyuk, Zach Parise and Mats Zuccarello. If you need a cheap stack in a DK GPP for whatever reason, MIN2 is worth a look.

Goalies

The best matchup for goalies is the Kings. The Kings get the puck on net a lot but do not score much which means lots of saves. LA ranks third in shots on goal per game, but they turn shots into goals at the second lowest rate in the league. That means Mike Smith or Mikko Koskinen will be a great option in net. Whoever starts will be an excellent value on DK, and Koskinen would be a great value on FD as well though Smith isn’t grossly overpriced there.

The only team that turns shots into goals less frequently than Los Angeles is Detroit. While Calgary’s goaltending has been the worst in the league this month, David Rittich still has to be considered on FD where he is only $7,300, which is extremely cheap for a goalie on the biggest favorite of the slate. That said, every projected starting goalie is $7,300 or cheaper on FD except for Jordan Binnington at $8,600 and Smith at $7,900.

If you can’t trust Rittich, you could also go cheap on FD with Malcolm Subban. The Knights are the second biggest favorite of the slate, and Subban is only $7,200. He’s likely to start on the second half of a back-to-back with Marc-Andre Fleury getting the start last night. There’s not a ton of upside as the Ducks don’t shoot much, but there’s limited downside as Anaheim has the fourth lowest shooting percentage.

Over on DK, you could go with John Gibson in GPPs. Saves are rewarded more in the DK scoring system, and Gibson is projected to see the highest shots faced total. Vegas leads the league in shots on goal per game, and the Ducks allow slightly more shots on goal per game than average.

 

Pivots in Example Lineups are intended to skew more towards GPP plays.