Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the daily fantasy hockey morning coffee. Today we have another three-game slate to work with for our DFS needs.
Tonight’s Slate
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Toronto Maple Leafs (Toronto, -200, 5.5 over/under)
Montreal Canadiens @ Colorado Avalanche (Colorado, -120, 5.5 over/under)
Florida Panthers @ Vancouver Canucks (even, 5.5 over/under)
Tonight I want a heavy dose of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs get a Columbus team on the second night of a back-to-back — and the Leafs have been on fire recently with four straight wins and 20 goals over that time. This month Toronto has scored a league second-best 4.00 goals per game (24 goals in six games) while Columbus has averaged 3.00 goals against per game this month. Additionally, Columbus has had a very difficult time killing off penalties with just a 54.5 percent penalty kill rate over their past five games.
Over their past 10 games Toronto has a SCF/60 of 31.64 — fifth-best in the NHL. And their chances have been quality scoring chances with a league fourth-best HDCF/60 of 31.64. Columbus has a SCA/60 of 32.58 over their past 10 games — fourth-worst in the league — and their HDCA/60 of 12.98 is the third-worst in the league. Things stack up very nicely for us tonight to really lean on Toronto, especially for cash games.
Per LeftWingLock the AUSTON MATTHEWS/ZACH HYMAN/WILLIAM NYLANDER line has been the most productive line in the NHL with 14 goals for and 116 shot attempts for over the past 10 games. It will likely be the chalkiest line of the night but still a great place to start when constructing your cash game lineups.
Our Toronto Snapshot
| Scor | Scor | Goal | Goal | Goal | Assi | Assi | Assi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | G | A | EV | PP | SH | EV | PP | SH | S | BLK |
| Auston Matthews | C | 26 | 21 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 146 | 50 |
| William Nylander | C | 14 | 31 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 131 | 10 |
| Mitch Marner | C | 12 | 31 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 10 | 0 | 135 | 18 |
| James van Riemsdyk | LW | 23 | 12 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 169 | 18 |
| Nazem Kadri | C | 18 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 142 | 17 |
| Jake Gardiner | D | 4 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 90 | 76 |
| Morgan Rielly | D | 5 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 124 | 58 |
| Zach Hyman | C | 11 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 98 | 40 |
| Patrick Marleau | LW | 18 | 11 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 147 | 17 |
| Tyler Bozak | C | 8 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 105 | 15 |
| Connor Brown | RW | 12 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 23 |
| Ron Hainsey | D | 3 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 118 |
| Leo Komarov | C | 5 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 90 | 43 |
| Matt Martin | LW | 3 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 9 |
| Dominic Moore | C | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 16 |
| Nikita Zaitsev | D | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 106 |
| Connor Carrick | D | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 42 |
| Roman Polak | D | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 57 |
| Kasperi Kapanen | RW | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 4 |
| Travis Dermott | D | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 19 |
| Team Total | 187 | 300 | 150 | 33 | 4 | 234 | 62 | 4 | 1840 | 811 |
Our Toronto Stacks
Line One
ZACH HYMAN $5.2K
AUSTON MATTHEWS $8.3K
WILLIAM NYLANDER $7.0K
Line Two
PATRICK MARLEAU $5.3K
NAZEM KADRI $6.1K
MITCH MARNER $6.6K
Line Three
JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK $6.5K
TYLER BOZAK $4.6K
CONNOR BROWN $3.9K
Power Play Stack
PATRICK MARLEAU
AUSTON MATTHEWS
CONNOR BROWN
WILLIAM NYLANDER
(D) JAKE GARDINER $5.1K
Power Play Two Stack
NAZEM KADRI
TYLER BOZAK
JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK
MITCH MARNER
(D) MORGAN RIELLY $4.5K
As noted, that first line will likely be a very popular play tonight so in tournaments looking for Toronto’s secondary scoring to shed some ownership may be the way you want to go.
Below is info on lines two and three for Toronto in five-on-five situations over the past 10 games (compiled using NaturalStatTrick‘s Line Tool).
The PATRICK MARLEAU – NAZEM KADRI – MITCH MARNER line has a CF% of 52.21 percent, SF/60 of 38.26, GF/60 of four, a SCF/60 of 34.84, a HDCF/60 of 15.42 and an offensive zone face-off start % of 44.44 percent.
In terms of Shot Attempts For over the past 10 games this line has attempted a league seventh-most 118 shot attempts for.
The JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK – TYLER BOZAK – CONNOR BROWN line has a CF% of 54.00 percent, a SF/60 of 32.25, a GF/60 of 1.83, a SCF/60 of 38.95, a HDCF/60 of 18.26 and an offensive zone face-off start % of 61.54 percent.
The Florida Panthers have won five of their past six games and have been very good recently on the power play. Tonight they head to Vancouver to take on a Cancucks team that has lost four of their past five (though they did rout the Dallas Star 6-0 on Feb. 11). Over five games in February the Panthers have scored a league ninth-best 3.60 goals for per game. Florida has scored a league-best seven power play goals this month and have a power play success rate of 35 percent. Vancouver has a penalty kill percentage of 78.9 percent over six games in February. I’ll especially look to Florida’s power play when constructing lineups tonight.
Over their past 10 games the Panthers have a SCF/60 of 29.62 and a HDCF/60 of 10.67. Those numbers are fine and sit in the mid to upper range tier in the NHL over the 10 game span, but it’s Vancouver’s defensive numbers that give me more hope to stack up Florida. Over their past 10 games the Canucks have a SCA/60 of 32.15 — eighth-worst in the league.
Our Florida Snapshot
| Scor | Scor | Scor | Goal | Goal | Goal | Assi | Assi | Assi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | G | A | PTS | EV | PP | SH | EV | PP | SH | S | BLK |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | LW | 18 | 35 | 53 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 10 | 0 | 135 | 20 |
| Vincent Trocheck | C | 21 | 30 | 51 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 196 | 38 |
| Aleksander Barkov | C | 18 | 30 | 48 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 173 | 42 |
| Evgeni Dadonov | RW | 13 | 20 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 117 | 18 |
| Keith Yandle | D | 6 | 27 | 33 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 115 | 61 |
| Nick Bjugstad | C | 9 | 17 | 26 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 138 | 9 |
| Aaron Ekblad | D | 12 | 10 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 143 | 79 |
| Mike Matheson | D | 6 | 13 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 98 | 78 |
| Denis Malgin | C | 9 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 47 | 14 |
| Jamie McGinn | LW | 7 | 8 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 12 |
| Colton Sceviour | RW | 7 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 82 | 45 |
| Jared McCann | C | 5 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 91 | 17 |
| Radim Vrbata | RW | 5 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 78 | 13 |
| Mark Pysyk | D | 3 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 81 |
| Derek MacKenzie | C | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 28 |
| Micheal Haley | LW | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 17 |
| MacKenzie Weegar | D | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 38 |
| Alexander Petrovic | D | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 50 |
| Maxim Mamin | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Team Total | 152 | 257 | 409 | 113 | 30 | 9 | 193 | 55 | 9 | 1842 | 737 |
Our Florida Stacks
Line One
EVGENY DADONOV $5.1K
ALEKSANDER BARKOV $7.1K
NICK BJUGSTAD $4.5K
Line Two
JONATHAN HUBERDEAU $7.0K
VINCENT TROCHECK $7.3K
DENIS MALGIN $4.3K
Line Three
JAMIE MCGINN $3.2K
JARED MCCANN $3.5K
MAXIM MAMIN
Power Play Stack
JONATHAN HUBERDEAU
ALEKSANDER BARKOV
VINCENT TROCHECK
EVGENY DADONOV
(D) KEITH YANDLE $5.4K
Power Play Two Stack
JAMIE MCGINN
NICK BJUGSTAD
DENIS MALGIN
(D) MICHAEL MATHESON $4.2K
(D) AARON EKBLAD $5.9K
Notes
-Ranking the top 10 potential one offs from the remaining teams:MAX PACIORETTY, BROCK BOESER, ARTEMI PANARIN, CAM ATKINSON, GABRIEL LANDESKOG, MIKKO RANTANEN, ZACHARY WERENSKI, BO HORVAT, ALEXANDER WENNBERG, DANIEL SEDIN.
-Stats in this article are courtesy of Corsica, ESPN, NaturalStatTrick and Hockey-Reference and are up to date as of Feb 13.
-As always, please double check all line combos, injuries, and starting goalies prior to puck drop.