This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
The NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and while there weren't the big impact moves at the deadline that some fans were hoping for, it was a busy day overall. Remember to check the RotoWire depth charts to see where the players have landed, and what the teams look like for the stretch run of the season.
Below are some good FanDuel value options this week. One of them specifically has trade deadline implications, but mostly, these players are largely good values because of their upcoming opponents. All skaters are priced under $4000, with a goalie at the end to use for cheap.
Center
Sean Monahan (Calgary) - $3600
The biggest news out of Calgary on deadline day was that defenseman Mark Giordano will be out the rest of the season with a torn biceps. This is a huge blow to the Flames, as his possession differentials over the last couple of seasons show:
- T.J. Brodie without Giordano on the ice: 46.4 percent possession
- Sean Monahan without Giordano: 42.7 percent
- Jiri Hudler without Giordano: 44.3 percent
That continues through pretty much the whole team.
The value with Monahan takes a hit, but the secret is that he's been hugely undervalued on FanDuel all season. So while his price hasn't adjusted through the year, Giordano's injury is a correction itself of sorts. His injury will likely shy people away from Calgary players – rightly so – and that's where opportunity resides.
Calgary goes into Philadelphia tonight, who are still skating Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux away from each other. Here's the secret: Giroux has been much worse possession-wise without Voracek. The Flyers also traded away their best defenseman in Braydon Coburn. For a tournament play tonight, I like Monahan a lot, if only because he's still so cheap and should not be widely owned.
Right Wing
Dmitrij Jaskin (St. Louis) - $3300
It's been a good little stretch of late for Jaskin. Some may look to his goals in back-to-back games, and that's part of it. But more than that is how he's managed at least four shots on goal in five of his last nine games. Jaskin has also averaged 3.3 shots on goal per game over that stretch. His average shots on goal alone would recoup roughly 60-percent of his value. He's been playing very well lately, and it's beyond the goals.
Playing with Paul Stastny this year has its advantages for Jaskin. Playing on the Blues' third line has given them pretty easy competition, and that helps with a plus-8 in 36 games. On top of that, Jaskin leads the Blues in relative possession, not an easy thing to do on such a talented team. That differential, and the easy competition, means little concern about plus/minus.
Finally, the Blues only have two games this week: Thursday in Philadelphia and Saturday in Toronto. I already talked about how the Flyers are weaker at the top of the roster, but the bottom of the roster is laughable as well. The same goes for the Leafs, who traded a good chunk of their forward depth. Expect the Stastny line to dominate in both games, and Jaskin is a fine play for cap relief in cash games.
Left Wing
Zack Kassian (Vancouver) - $3600
It has been a few years now that NHL fans, either in Buffalo or Vancouver, had been waiting for Kassian to break out. There had been rumors that Kassian may be moved at the deadline, but he stayed, and he's probably pretty happy about it.
In a move that had been a long time coming, Kassian was moved to the top line with the Sedin twins. He started a hot streak before that, though. He has seven goals and nine points in his last eleven games dating back to the start of February. He's also played at least 12 minutes in five straight games, something he hadn't done since the end of October. In a small sample, and this is not a surprise whatsoever, Kassian and the Sedins are crushing the five-on-five shot differentials. It should also be mentioned that Kassian is playing on the top power-play unit as well, though he's still not getting exclusive minutes with the Sedins just yet.
Kassian is a big-body forward on a hot streak. The nice thing about a player like that is even if he cools off, he's a guy who has an outside shot at double-digit penalty minutes as well. Given that Vancouver gets the Sharks on the second game of a back-to-back Tuesday, and a dismantled Arizona team on Thursday, I like Kassian in both spots (although against Arizona is better, admittedly).
Defense
Jason Garrison (Tampa Bay) - $3700
One of the biggest beneficiaries in Tampa Bay may be Garrison. At Tampa Bay's morning skate Tuesday, he was paired with new defensive acquisition Braydon Coburn. Garrison's two most common five-on-five defensive partners this year were Andrej Sustr and Radko Gudas. While Gudas is worse, both of those are essentially possession ankle weights.
Coburn, on the other hand, made almost every Flyers player not named Giroux or Voracek better. If Garrison and Coburn can find chemistry quickly, this is a pairing that could drive play, and that's very good news for offensive production, though more importantly, plus/minus considerations. Garrison is already a plus-20 this year, but Coburn should help mitigate any regression.
Garrison had concerns in the past for DFS because he wasn't playing with very good defensive partners. That's changed. Also, Garrison is still expected to get power-play time. Considering Tampa Bay's games this week are all at home, and against Buffalo, Toronto and Dallas, I like Garrison in every Tampa Bay game for cash contest considerations.
Goalie
Niklas Svedberg (Boston) - $7100
Boston is off early in the week but has three games in four nights beginning Thursday. With a compressed schedule, I would guess that Svedberg gets one of those three games to give Tuukka Rask a bit of a rest.
As long as Svedberg gets Thursday's game (vs. Calgary) or Saturday's game (vs. Philadelphia), he's a fine tournament option. I would hold off on playing him Sunday against the Red Wings if that's how this ends up shaking out. If that's indeed the case, I will add another cheap goalie on the weekend.
Good luck this week!
Some stats taken from Hockey Analysis, Hockey Reference, War On Ice, and Behind The Net
