Kenneth’s NHL Cash Game Breakdown – Wednesday 3/24

Today’s NHL Cash Game Breakdown goes over Wednesday’s (5) game slate that has a roster lock of 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT.

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3-Game Slate Core 4’s…

DK: Crosby, Rust, Brown, Morrissey

FD: Crosby, McCann, Rust, Morrissey

Please be sure to keep an eye on late news by looking at our NHL Team Beat Writers lists on Twitter by clicking here. 

Beyond that, you should also absolutely use Left Wing Lock for lines by clicking here and goalie confirmations by clicking here.

Considering all of the mayhem we’ve seen at roster lock this season, including yesterday’s very random announcement of Barkov being out FOUR minutes prior to lock, it makes it imperative for you to keep an eye on any developments leading up to the lock of each game. You never know what bizarre things can happen. We’ve even seen some goalies get removed as the starter due to a random injury during warmups.

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Positional Cash Game Rankings

Centers

1. Sidney Crosby, Penguins (DK: $7700, FD: $8100)
2. Jared McCann, Penguins (DK: $3900; FD: $3800)
3. Mikael Backlund, Flames (DK: $5100, FD: $4700)
4. Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jets (DK: $4800, FD: $5400)
5. Nick Bjugstad, Wild (DK: $3900, FD: $3400) // eligible at W on DK

• The Sabres are definitely a team that is an entirely different level of bad, and especially ever since Eichel came out of the lineup. They do show a lot of effort, but they are outskilled at virtually every position from the top to the bottom of their lineup in the vast majority of matchups against their divisional opponents. This SHOULD be the case tonight as well, when it comes to the Penguins even though the Penguins are pretty shorthanded in their own right. There’s obviously the Malkin injury, but no Jason Zucker has been rough, and no Teddy Blueger is very rough because you could argue he’s the team’s best defensive forward. Still, the Penguins have opted not to split up their top line of Crosby, Guentzel, and Rust, and I do think that bodes well for all three of them tonight. They’ll all get around 20 minutes of ice time (which is great for a forward), and all of those minutes will be against a journeyman goaltender who was drafted two decades ago (I actually don’t think he’s terrible, but he’s not going to be the type of goalie that’s going to make the type of Vezina-like stops that’s required for the Sabres to win)
• You can also consider Jared McCann as a reasonable 2nd line exposure option for the Pens. I’m not sure if this is a day you want to go crazy and play 4+ Penguins in your cash lineup, but there’s only 5 games to work with today, and there’s obviously an edge with this Pens/Sabres matchup, with some good values like McCann to boot. Just looking through everything, it might be a situation where 3 Pens is the sweet spot and MAYBE more if you want to get very aggressive, but there’s definitely some other good spots to potentially target.

Wingers

1. Bryan Rust, Penguins (DK: $6400, FD: $5800)
2. Jake Guentzel, Penguins (DK: $7700, FD: $7500)
3. Kyle Connor, Jets (DK: $6500, FD: $7000)
4. Kirill Kaprizov, Wild (DK: $6700, FD: $5900) // better FD value
5. Ryan Hartman, Wild (DK: $4600, FD: $3400) // eligible at C on DK + better value on FD
6. Kasperi Kapanen, Penguins (DK: $5000, FD: $4700)
7. Dustin Brown, Kings (DK: $5200, FD: $5400)
8. Adrian Kempe, Kings (DK: $5200, FD: $5000) // eligible at C on DK
9. Paul Stastny, Jets (DK: $4500, FD: $5300)
10. Evan Rodrigues, Penguins (DK: $3100, FD: $3200)

• If there’s one thing I’ve noticed this season, it’s the fact that Bryan Rust has been much better when playing with Crosby than Malkin. With Malkin out, there’s no worry about flip flopping lines, or anything of that nature.
• I do like Guentzel more than Rust when Malkin is out, because it generally puts Guentzel in a spot where he handles the puck more with the man advantage. The problem is, I don’t know if I like him enough to spend $1300 more on DK and $1700 more on FD when it comes to upgrading from Rust.
• I think I’ve mentioned numerous times how the Jets have largely had Vancouver’s number over their recent meetings, and I think there’s something to it because most of the core players for both teams have been here the last few seasons. I like Connor’s line the best because based on Monday’s matchup, was the correct line to target if we were looking for something with more pace (plus they avoided Horvat).
• I think the goalie situation for the Ducks is the one thing that makes me want Minnesota exposure, but the problem is, they’re a little unpredictable when it comes to production. Kaprizov is obviously our guy. If Gibson is an early confirmation for the start, I think I may even bump him past Connor. I also don’t mind Ryan Hartman who is getting power-play minutes for the first time in his career. Hartman is a strong two-way forward who is outstanding on the forecheck, and always goes hard at the net. I really like his value on FD.

Defensemen

1. Noah Hanifin, Flames (DK: $4500, FD: $3900)
2. Josh Morrissey, Jets (DK: $4800, FD: $4600)
3. Kris Letang, Penguins (DK: $6800, FD: $5900)
4. Jared Spurgeon, Wild (DK: $5000, FD: $4400)
5. Sean Walker, Kings (DK: $3000, FD: $3600)

• Hanifin just received a big price bump on DK, but he’s still underpriced considering he’s now the main D on the top power-play unit and making a big effort to throw pucks at the net. I find it extremely tough to target specific Flames options for cash games. I honestly wouldn’t mind using Tkachuk or Lindholm, but given their offensive inconsistencies since Darryl Sutter took over as coach, it just doesn’t make much sense to pay that premium price for them. Hanifin is cheap and probably has the best floor with a little bit of upside of all the Calgary plays.
• Morrissey has been able to accumulate more points over the last few weeks, and it makes sense that he’s doing so because he hasn’t been as shy about shooting the puck. He is actually 2nd on the team behind Ehlers in iFenwick over the last two weeks, and I think he’s very appropriately priced as Winnipeg’s top defenseman and D-man on the top PP unit.
• It’s always tough to pay up for a defenseman in this year’s version of the NHL, but if you’re going to do so, doing so with Kris Letang tonight is probably your best bet.

Goalies

1. Connor Hellebuyck, Jets (DK: $8200, FD: $7900)
2. Cal Petersen, Kings (DK: $7500, FD: $7400)
3. Filip Gustavsson, Senators (DK: $7200, FD: $6500)

Core Four

DraftKings: Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Dustin Brown, Noah Hanifin
FanDuel:  Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Kirill Kaprizov, Noah Hanifin