NHL DFS Picks For March 26, 2021

We’ve got a small slate of games (four total) tonight and a little like a Sunday in baseball, many of the top names in net are getting the night off. The potential win with St. Louis versus Anaheim might have you look to Ville Husso – G ($8,100) at a pretty good premium. San Jose versus Anaheim is too much of a shit-show for me to pick a third line goalie over Martin Jones – G ($7,500). While unconfirmed at this early hour, Connor Hellebuyck – G ($7,400) stands out as the best player and best matchup of the night in net to my eyes. At his price, assuming he’d confirmed the starter by the team, he represents a pretty solid value. If for some reason, Connor doesn’t get the call as he is expected to – look to Husso.

A DFS warning comes from this life-long Philadelphia Flyers fan… stay away from all players on this team with your lineups other than Ghost especially avoid goalie Carter Hart for the time being. Thankfully, The Flyers aren’t playing tonight but with the team seemingly turned on assistant coach, Mike Yeo, who is known for his Torts-like relationship with his players, this team is getting blown out every other outing and looking like what was once a playoff lock, is anything but a certainty at this late date. When not benched for defensive lapses, Ghost has been productive in terms of fantasy. Like defender, Tom Poti, in the long-long ago – that doesn’t help you win an NHL game but then again – you aren’t paying me to write about the plain old NHL. This is the fastest growing Daily Fantasy Sports site and Ghost (maybe Hayes) is the only Flyers that I would be looking at for a while. I am just sayin….

Here’s a nicely balanced core lineup For DFS Hockey 3/26/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Mark Scheifele – C ($6,900) at center is one of the more expensive plays on the board but by no means a budget-breaker like McJesus, Matthews, MacKinnon or Leon D on other nights and under other circumstances. 11.8 FPS per game over a good number of games plus a somewhat favorable match up makes this a pretty safe call and still allows us plenty of mid-level money to spend. Sign up for seven days free (and $99 for the year – all access, all-sports) to see the entire lineup.

I couldn’t resist taking a swing at Vlad Tarasenko – W ($5,700) with him showing some signs of the winger shedding some rust after a prolonged injury recovery. His 9.2 FPTS is tempting but that’s over a small sample size. I am seeing him projected as both a first line winger and at the point on PP-1. That’s good enough for me at this price tonight.

Neil Pionk – D ($5,000) gets second pairing time and PP-2 minutes but that hasn’t hurt his production this year as I have been riding him the entire season. His value is strong and he is likely to get you some DA-love and that’s always nice especially at this price. 

We talked about Connor Hellebuyck – G ($7,400) as he’s got a good matchup, solid but not stellar numbers but when considering what else is out there – he’s far and away the best option at goalie tonight assuming that he goes for Winnipeg, which is what I am seeing in multiple locations. Keep Husso on tap if things change but you will need to likely carve out some budget from your forwards to make that happen.  

Here’s the whole lineup For DFS Hockey 3/26/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Tomas Hertl – C at $5,600 can be a nice budget player on a night with more games. He’s pumping out a respectable 9.0 FPTS a night on a less-than-respectable San Jose team. He seems like a bit of a value tonight from the second line but he does play with Timo Meier who we also like long term. 

We paired up Blake Wheeler – W at a pretty fair $5,900 price so that we’ve got love from Winnipeg’s first line AND their PP-1. 

We’ve got another forward pairing tonight with Vlad Tarasenko and young Jordan Kyrou – W ($4,900). Kyrou is a pleasant surprise this year and a young player with a lot of upside. He’s getting us second line time and PP-2 minutes on a good team which tonight is a fair value proposition.  

What the hell happened to Erik Karlsson – D and for that matter The San Jose Sharks? Karlsson is a stud but is getting second pairing and PP-2 minutes on a bad team thus his hard-to-believe price for tonight. Call me sentimental but I am going to run with him and hope for the best. I’d prefer John Carlson but he’s almost $2,000 more and that’s hard to find in tonight’s budget with alternatives.

There were a number of players at Utility to look into with $4,100 to spend. I ended up with Oliver Ekman-Larsson – D on the number at $4,100. He’s not the plus-minus nightmare that makes him a Super Fund site in legacy leagues that count plus-minus but he also isn’t scoring goals at the same pace that he used to when he took more risks. He’s still a solid value and might just get us a DA at this price tonight. PP-2 and second pairing minutes is what you should expect from OEL as Chychrun has gotten most of the best time in Arizona this year.

Alternative Moves:
Still looking at the Utility position – Vince Dunn – D ($4,100) on St. Louis has been a consistent performer and plugs in to the OEL spot with ease and not budgetary moves needed. PP-2 and second pairing time, like OEL but on a better team – if you went with Dunn, we would understand.

If you’ve got the stomach for New Jersey Devils players, Jack Hughes ($5,100) – C at center tonight with Nico Hischier out gives you a fairly priced C-2 and PP-2 player that is young but who is playing pretty well. I am not sold on the team thus this Hughes brother is on the outside looking in on my lineup tonight but he’s a fair alternative. 

If you are looking for a more risky move and are willing to stick with The Devils again how about that Ty Smith on D? He was red-hot before he got hurt and is rocking seven assists in his last ten games at $3,300. You could pair him with John Carlson at $6,600 if you wanted to go more top-heavy on D.

Let us know how your lineups are doing, who you like for deep picks and more on Twitter @FantasyDFSX.