NHL Building Blocks – April 16
Eight games tonight with the last playoffs spot up for grabs. Let’s dive in!
The premise of each article in this series is to feature starting spots (building blocks) for your lines. These are plays that are cash-viable as well as GPP-worthy and can be considered in all contest formats.
Starting Lineup – April 16
The Goalie: Fredrik Andersen ($8400 DK / $8500 FD)
Best matchup on paper tonight; the Blue Jackets’ offense is awful and the Canes’ defense is elite. Carolina is still playing for the second seed, so they’ll want to grab this win tonight if they can. They’ve won five in a row and 12 of their last 15, and they could be playing the best hockey of any team in the league.
The Center: Auston Matthews ($10200 DK/ $10600 FD)
One goal away from 70 on the season, and it might be the last game he’ll play before the playoffs start as they’re locked into their current position.
The Wing: Alex Ovechkin ($7400 DK/ $7800 FD)
Three goals and an assist in his last five games and hit the 30-goal mark again; been dragging the Caps into the playoff picture and needs to have a strong game tonight. Caps win and they’re in.
The Defenseman: Quinn Hughes ($6500 DK / $7600 FD)
91 points on the season and seven points (two goals) in his last five; Canucks are fighting to stay in second in the West.
The Value: Nate Poehling ($3600 DK / $4400 FD)
Goal and two assists in L5; L1/PP1 and in a must-win.
The Stack: CAR1 (Aho-Guentzel-Jarvis)
Trying to stay ahead of the Bruins for the second seed in the East; currently in the middle of a five-game winning streak and playing extremely well both offensively and defensively. Seventh in the league in goals per game (3.38) and second in power play (27.0%), the Canes have possibly the best matchup on paper facing the Blue Jackets who can’t stop anything (3.64 GAA and a 76.2% penalty kill). Mix and match these three and add in Svechnikov as a secondary piece.
The Builder: CAR/VGK ML parlay
Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho (20), of Finland, celebrates his goal with teammate Teuvo Teravainen (86), also of Finland, nearby, during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)