This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Welcome back to another week of FanDuel NHL bargain bin values. This is the final week of the regular season, so scratch that DFS itch while there are still 30 teams playing.
As always, there will be one player listed per FanDuel skater position priced at $4,000 or less. At the end, there will be a couple of cheap goalies.
Center
Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton) - $3,700
Since the start of 2016, Draisaitl has seen a pretty big dip in production. With just 19 points in his past 41 games, the downturn has been obvious. Part of it has been due to regression after a monster start that saw 31 in 29, while some can be contributed to a loss in ice time since Connor McDavid returned. Over the last 30 games, Draisaitl is averaging under 17 minutes, after seeing over 19 minutes through January.
This drop is the reason why Draisaitl is currently priced this low. While the lines have been moving around, he is still skating with Taylor Hall. One change of note is that, according to the War On Ice game logs, the McDavid line is being used against the other team's top lines more often than not. Earlier in the year, that responsibility was largely in the hands of Draisaitl and Hall.
Vancouver is in town on Wednesday, and that means the McDavid line should mainly see the Sedin twins. This year, Vancouver centre Bo Horvat is near the bottom of the league for being on the ice for high-danger scoring chances (HDSC) against per 60 minutes. The only regular centers on the ice for more HDSC against are the Islanders' Brock Nelson, and most of Colorado's contingent. Though Draisaitl has experienced a prolonged slowdown, this is a great matchup for him.
Right Wing
Patrick Eaves (Dallas) - $3,900
The injury to Tyler Seguin has forced a lot of different Dallas lineup combinations recently. One player that has been playing with some regularity in the top-six forward mix is Patrick Eaves.
Playing on the second line with Jason Spezza has its benefits. Not only is Spezza one of the top offensive centres in the NHL, but that duo is also playing behind the top line of Jamie Benn, Cody Eakin, and Patrick Sharp. That can allow for some easier matchups, which is always nice when focusing on plus/minus.
The big benefit is over the last couple of years, Eaves has played pretty well with Spezza. The team has a five-on-five possession rate of 56% with the two of them on the ice, and that is an elite number. Offensively, the Stars generate about 13% more shot attempts when Eaves is playing with Spezza than when he is playing with any other Dallas player. That is a significant jump.
Finally, Eaves is the fourth forward on the Stars top power play. With a home game against Colorado on Thursday, he makes a nice cheap option to get exposure to Dallas' top-six forward mix and their top power play.
Left Wing
Kevin Hayes (NY Rangers) - $3,600
It seems like Hayes has been a bit of a lightning rod this year. He has been scratched at times and mainly buried in the bottom-six for a few months. Most players don't play perfect hockey, and Hayes' numbers don't appear that bad. For example, he has 14 more individual high-danger scoring chances this year than Mats Zuccarello, despite playing nearly 180 fewer minutes at five-on-five.
While just staring at charts of numbers don't tell the whole story about a player, they do reveal things that could otherwise be missed, like just how much high-quality offence Hayes has generated this season. Part of this relates to him being a pretty good player and as mentioned, he has been lower on the depth chart, leading to easier matchups. At 1.89 points per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, Hayes is third on the team in this category.
With Eric Staal alongside, Hayes is playing on what is a very good Rangers third line. Though Tuesday's game is a back-to-back situation, it is against a Tampa Bay team in the same situation missing Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman. With the ripple effect of Stamkos' injury weakening the forward depth of the Lightning, this is a good spot for Hayes and his linemates.
Defence
Brian Campbell (Florida) - $4,100
This is cheating a little bit with Campbell at $4,100, but it's the last week of the season and rules were made to be broken.
The need to include Campbell is due to his reunification with Aaron Ekblad. When skating on the ice together this year, the Florida Panthers have a possession rate of 57.7%. To put this into perspective, both defencemen are under 50% away from each other, and Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty of Los Angeles are 59.2% together (playing for the best possession team in the league). In other words, when Campbell and Ekblad are together, they're one of the best defence duos in the NHL.
Possession is important because driving offence and minimizing opposing offence helps plus/minus. It is no exception here, as Ekblad is a break-even player goals-wise this year playing away from Campbell, while when they are together, the opposition has been outscored nearly 2-1. On FanDuel, that is very important for scoring.
Florida has a road game in Ottawa on Thursday and close the season at home on Saturday. Campbell is fine to use in either game, given those matchups.
Goalie
Matt Murray (Pittsburgh) - $7,500
With his performances of late, Murray's price has started to creep up. With the injury to Marc-Andre Fleury, Murray is the #1 in Pittsburgh. The performance so far – a .933 overall save percentage – is a bit high, but he is a highly-touted prospect. With a game against Ottawa on Tuesday night, Murray is fine to use for cash games.
Cam Ward (Carolina) - $7,000
An issue with using Carolina goaltending for most of the year was the team was pretty good defensively, but not great offensively. That meant not very many shots faced, thus fewer saves, and not a high chance of a win. However, since the trade deadline, Carolina is more towards the middle of the pack in shots allowed, which means more saves for Ward. With Montreal in town on Thursday, he's a solid tournament option.
