Today’s NHL Cash Game Breakdown goes over Tuesday’s eight (8) game slate that has a roster lock of 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT.
UPDATE (12:05 PM ET): Sidney Crosby, my top play of the day, and biggest edge in awhile, has been placed on COVID protocol. $^@*#$&*@#&$*@#. At this point, I am actually going to add Sean Couturier as my top C play (even though I do think he’s a bit pricey). Crosby has owned the matchup against Couturier, but it’s a different story with Couturier matching up against either Malkin or Blueger most of the game.
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We’ve reached that point of the season where I’m going to tell you guys that due to time constraints I’m probably not going to be as detailed with my written analysis (but still provide you with plenty of written analysis).
Here’s where I am when it comes to my approach to writing these breakdowns. As someone who has to juggle between two very important jobs and probably the most important job of being a father to a 21 month old girl, I have definitely put in a lot of effort in order to figure out a way to succeed across all of the various pieces of my life. There have been times when I’ve actually considered stepping down from this job, but at the end of the day, I love it too much to let it go. A lot of you guys have stuck by me for over six years, which is RIDICULOUS, and it means the absolute WORLD to me. Trust me when I say, I really appreciate that, and it drives me to work as hard as I can to help you all succeed.
At the end of the day, what I’m doing is spending a lot of time on research. I honestly think that’s the most important. If I’m not keeping up with the game matchups, individual metrics, reviewing salaries on both sites, etc. etc., I’m doing everyone a disservice. I’ve gone into great detail on why guys like Matthews and Pastrnak tend to be written up a lot, so at this point, I am not going to be as repetitive with my commentary on situations that I’ve written about a lot in past write ups.
Still, you know I’ll always be in chat answering questions.
Positional Cash Game Rankings
Centers
Sidney Crosby, Penguins (DK: $6700, FD: $7800)- Sean Couturier, Flyers (DK: $6800, FD: $7600)
- Sebastian Aho, Hurricanes (DK: $6000, FD: $7400) // DK Preferred
- Mika Zibanejad, Rangers (DK: $6500, FD: $6200)
- Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Islanders (DK: $5200, FD: $4600)
- Colin White, Senators (DK: $4000, FD: $4600)
- Pavel Zacha, Devils (DK: $4400, FD: $4300) // eligible at W on DK
- In my eyes, this is a bit of a weird slate because there’s a real lack of high end Matthews/MacKinnon like cash cow players to choose from. Yes, you can certainly pay close to $8k for Mark Scheifele, but that’s far from good value for a guy who doesn’t shoot the puck very often.
- I get the sense that my Crosby play might be pretty contrarian, but I like it for a multitude of reasons. I think the Penguins are going to show up to play today after a very flat Game 2 against the Islanders. I also like that Bryan Rust appears to be back on the top line with Crosby (they were reunited in the middle of the Islanders game, but if not, don’t sweat it, I don’t really care too much if Rust is on the line), and lastly, Crosby is one of the few people in the league who actually plays well against Sean Couturier. You might even call him a Flyers killer. In nine meetings against the Flyers since they defeated them in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Crosby has seven goals, and seven assists. If we’re talking the 2018 Playoffs themselves, Crosby scored six goals in six games to go with seven assists.
- I am definitely not going to twist anyone’s arm in order to play Zibanejad. At this point, Colin Blackwell is a MUCH safer play.
- If he dresses, I would say that Nico Hischier should be in play on DK.
Wingers
- Kyle Connor, Jets (DK: $6400, FD: $6700)
- Colin Blackwell, Rangers (DK: $3800, FD: $3800)
- Brady Tkachuk, Senators (DK: $7200, FD: $6800)
- Tyler Toffoli, Canadiens (DK: $7100, FD: $6300)
- Joel Farabee, Flyers (DK: $6200, FD: $5400) // better value on FD
- Eeli Tolvanen, Predators (DK: $3200, FD: $3600)
- Bobby Ryan, Red Wings (DK: $4500, FD: $3900)
- Boone Jenner, Blue Jackets (DK: $4600, FD: $4400)
- Anthony Beauvillier, Islanders (DK: $3400, FD: $4300)
- Jared McCann, Penguins (DK: $2700, FD: $3700) // would rather play on DK
- Joel Armia, Canadiens (DK: $3700, FD: $3600)
- Tim Stutzle, Senators (DK: $4200, FD: $4200)
- When Connor turns on his aggression, there’s not many players who are aggressive as he is in the entire league. I actually LOVE him on the top power-play unit without Laine because he’s constantly set up for the one-timer, and Morrissey being at the top of the umbrella benefits his one-timer more than Scheifele’s.
- I was originally skeptical about Blackwell the first couple nights he moved up the lineup, but he doesn’t look out of place, and it’s always nice playing guys who are looking to outwork everyone on the ice. With four goals over his last six games, we know he can put the puck in the net.
- Brady Tkachuk has actually been shooting the puck more than anyone else available on this slate (since Mid-February), and is playing with a ton of confidence, and a ton of confidence against this Habs team, who he has put up back-to-back 30-bombs (30+ FD points) in his last two meetings, which both occurred within the last two weeks.
- It’s certainly tough to play Toffoli at $7100 on DK, but here’s why I’m in on him today. I think he’s a very good fit on the 2nd line with Suzuki and Drouin who are both pass first guys. Toffoli has always been a scorer by nature and I think playing with these two is going to lead to a lot of shots and a lot of scoring chances.
- If you’re wondering, I’m not including Oliver Wahlstrom on here because I make it a point not to play guys who don’t play more than 10 minutes in cash gamers. Otherwise, I would love to play him. He looks really good. Doesn’t make many mistakes and the puck just looks like it gravitates to him.
Defensemen
- Brett Pesce, Hurricanes (DK: $4300, FD: $4200)
- Adam Fox, Rangers (DK: $6300, FD: $4700) // still a much, much better FD play
- Shea Weber, Canadiens (DK: $5700, FD: $5200)
- Shayne Gostisbehere, Flyers (DK: $5200, FD: $4100)
- Mattias Ekholm, Predators (DK: $3900, FD: $3900)
- Travis Hamonic, Canucks (DK: $2500, FD: $3500) // DK only in cash
- We used to just play Brett Pesce purely for his peripheral stats, but can you believe that he’s currently playing the “Ovi spot” on the left half boards on the Carolina second power-play unit? He blasted a rocket of a one-timer in yesterday’s win agains the Panthers, and wasn’t shy about shooting the puck either. It may take a few days for everyone to catch on, but I think Pesce is really a lock and load play right now at his price point.
- Fox remains primarily a FD option with his DK price at a hefty salary.
- If you’re wondering why there’s not much Columbus? It’s mainly because I don’t think Columbus is playing very well, and the guys I’d want to play are a bit over priced (Atkinson/Laine).
Goalies
- Laurent Brossoit, Jets (DK: $7800, FD: $8200)
- Semyon Varlamov, Islanders (DK: $7900, FD: $8500)
- Jonathan Bernier, Red Wings (DK: $7000, FD: $6600)
- The two safe plays are Brossoit and Varlamov. I sense they are in very good situations to get the win, and if the game flow goes as I think it will, they should still end up seeing a reasonable number of shots. But if Bernier gets the start, I think he’s probably a safer option than most would imagine. If you’ve played Bernier in EVERY single one of his last four starts, you would have gotten massive value.
Core Four
DraftKings: Sidney Crosby, Kyle Connor, Colin Blackwell, Brett Pesce, Sean Couturier
FanDuel: Sidney Crosby, Kyle Connor, Colin Blackwell, Brett Pesce, Brady Tkachuk
