Saturday Daily Fantasy Picks – November 24
DFSAceMatt
2018-11-24
Whether you’re American and celebrated Thanksgiving this past Thursday or Canadian and celebrated Thanksgiving in October: All of us have plenty to be thankful for. Now that all of the turkey and booze has had some time to digest, we can now focus our minds on hockey. Yesterday was an amazing day for NHL DFS, and I’m hoping for another great day today. There is one afternoon game between the Caps and Rangers at MSG followed by an even 10 games for the main slate. Mikko Rantanen will look to pad his impressive NHL point lead when the Avs host the Stars while David Pastrnak aims to overtake Jeff Skinner for the NHL goal lead when the Bruins and Canadiens meet for the 921st time (NHL record) in NHL history. Let’s take a look at some players who have been red hot as of late and can be used in your lineups this Saturday.
C – Mark Scheifele (DK $6,600, FD $8,100)
Scheifele has averaged the third-most FanDuel fantasy points per game over the last two weeks while averaging the fourth-most DraftKings fantasy points per game in the same length of time. Aiding Scheifele’s consistent production is the fact that only one forward in the NHL has averaged more ice time per game than him this season. Scheifele and the Winnipeg Jets have a date with a Blues team that has been in the bottom half this season in terms of giving up both regular scoring chances and high danger scoring chances. Their goaltending duo of Allen and Johnson have failed to bail them out too as the Blues are also a bottom half team in save percentage in scoring chances and high danger scoring chances. Scheifele and his over a point per game average through the last three seasons make for a solid play tonight.
W – Alexander Radulov (DK $7,000, FD $6,200)
The former Nashville Predators first rounder has been a top 10 winger in fantasy points per game on both DraftKings and FanDuel over the last two weeks. The Stars peppered the Senators last night sprinkling 53 shots on goal (eight more than any of the other 29 teams who played yesterday). Radulov is a mainstay on the Stars top power play unit. Power play time is especially important against a team that has spent more time on the penalty kill this season than 29 other teams in the NHL. The Avs have also been shorthanded the second-most times in the NHL this season.
W – Jake Guentzel (DK $5,800, FD $6,300)
The line of Crosby, Hornqvist, and Guentzel have been great together this year. Only two lines in the NHL that have played at least 50 minutes together at even strength have a higher CF% than the aforementioned trio. The three have also been great as of late as they each are all in the top 65 in fantasy points per game on both DraftKings and FanDuel over the last two weeks. Bryan Rust replaced Hornqvist on this line last night because Hornqvist left last night’s game after taking a big hit from Kevan Miller, and Pens’ bench boss Mike Sullivan said there is no update on Hornqvist as of last night. If Hornqvist is out, Guentzel is likely to make the jump to the first power play unit with Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, and Letang boosting his value slightly even more.
D – Alex Pietrangelo (DK $5,200, FD $5,200)
Pietrangelo ranks 7th in DraftKings and FanDuel fantasy points per game over the last two weeks among all NHL defensemen. Vulcanized rubber has no meaning to Pietrangelo as he’s been averaging over 3.5 blocked shots per game over his last six games. Winnipeg is his opponent on Saturday, and the Jets have been firing the puck quite a bit over the last couple of weeks—Only five teams have been shooting the puck more frequently. In 21 games this season, Pietrangelo has gone shot-less a grand total of zero times. The Blues captain has a stable floor on Saturday.
D – Tyson Barrie (DK $5,300, FD $5,100)
There is only one defensemen who has averaged more than 20 fantasy points per game on FanDuel over the last two weeks. That player’s name is Matt Dumba. Since Matt Dumba has the day off of work on Saturday, we’ll have to look elsewhere. There are only three players who have averaged over 18 fantasy points per game on FanDuel over the last two weeks including Dumba. One of those three players is Tyson Barrie. With COL L1 terrorizing opponents on a daily basis, Barrie is a cheaper way to get some exposure to the Avs’ top line. Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon currently occupy the top two spots in the Art Ross Trophy race. Tyson Barrie currently has a seven game point streak, and he has at least a point in 11 of his last twelve games. Fewer players are hotter than Tyson Barrie—Ride the hot hand here.