LineStar® Hat Trick 03/15 | Happy Forsberg Tuesday

Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

ICYMI - The NHL Season Preview & Strategy guide goes over the basics of NHL DFS and what I look for when researching players.

No Forsberg on the slate tonight, but happy Forsberg Tuesday to y'all.

I think this is a challenging slate for tonight. There are some obvious spots that will generate attention, but there's also a bunch of bad teams on the slate. As we've seen over the last couple of weeks, upsets happen. For me, I'm going to take a more spread out approach to tonight's games instead of keying in on specific teams or lines. Well, except for Kaprizov. Smashing the lock button on that dude.

Let's dive in...

Tonight's Slate

Here's numbers on the teams from their past 10 games. Generally, I start my research by looking for teams in good spots. For example, teams that score goals (GF60) that are facing teams that give up goals (GA60). I also look at teams that shoot a lot (CF60) that are facing teams that give up a lot of shots (CA60).

Based on this, teams that stand out to me are Colorado, Minnesota, Carolina, and Tampa

Line Stacks

The top line for Colorado is my favorite, but they're expensive. The second line comes in much cheaper, but I expect them to be relatively higher owned. My approach will be to try to force exposure to COL1 and limit exposure to COL2. Also feeling like getting a little exposure to COL3 tonight. They're super cheap, but you get Nichushkin and THE GREAT TYSON JOST. Numbers don't look great, but we have seen a good amount of depth goals across the league recently.

For me, all three Minnesota lines are in play for tonight, but I prefer the top line of Kaprizov, Rask, and Zuccarello.

I like the top two lines for Carolina tonight. I don't have a lot of interest in the third line for Carolina as none of the forwards are on either of the power play lines. CAR2 is my favorite of the two lines, and I think

Risk It For The Biscuit

Don't love the matchup, and Tampa got slapped yesterday. Still, they're one of the best teams in the league and I bet they go overlooked tonight.

Goaltender Rankings

How to Read This: 

I'm giving you a comparison of LineStar projections vs the average fantasy points scored over their last 10 games. I've also given you their save percentage (over 0.910 is ideal), goals allowed (lower is better), saves per game (more is better), GAA (Goals Saved Above Average), and my projected upside for each goalie.

Generally, if I'm stacking a team, I'll correlate a goalie if I can. In GPPs, I may not have the salary to make this work. In this case, I usually spend down on someone that I expect will take a lot of shots and could pick up the W.

As always - double-check that your goalie is starting before the game starts.

My Favorites:

CASH: James Reimer - CAR (DK: $8400, FD: $8300)

GPP: Jonathan Bernier - DET (DK: $6800, FD: $6900)

Forwards and Defensemen Rankings

How to Interpret C/D/W charts: In NHL DFS, I think it's most important to look at peripheral stats instead of goals which is why I put so much emphasis on shots. This includes shot attempts, high danger shot attempts (those shot attempts closest to the net with the highest probability of going into the net), shots on goal, and scoring chances. I've included projections and average fantasy points to see how each compares so you can more easily find value.

Center

My Favorite

Nazem Kadri - COL (DK: $6400, FD: $6400)

Out of the five listed, I think Kadri has the best matchup and provides the best value at center tonight, and I don't mind a double-center option if you'd like to pair Kadri with MacKinnon tonight.

Wing

My Favorite:

Kirill Kaprizov - MIN (DK: $6200, FD: $6300)

Dude's phenomenal. I'm going to play him every game the rest of the season.

Defensemen

My Favorite

Miro Heiskanen - DAL (DK: $5100, FD: $4500)

Still a sucker for defensement for $5K that take shots and eat minutes.

Bottom of the Barrel

Here are my cheap calls for a skater to pick up a goal or assist.

Nikita Gusev: NJD - C (DK: $ 3000, FD: $ 3500)

Valeri Nichushkin: COL - W (DK: $3400, FD: $3700)

Jared Spurgeon: MIN - D (DK: $ 4400, FD: $ 4200)

Disclaimer: Keep in mind, plays and thoughts listed are my own. You should all do your own research and you might (and probably should) disagree with me in some spots. Don't be afraid to go your own way.

Good luck today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.

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