Getty Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins
An eight-game NHL slate on Monday, April 1, features six of the league’s top 10 teams vying for postseason seeding in the season’s final stretch.
It’s a pivotal night in the Eastern Conference playoff race, as the two Wild Card teams – the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers – square off against the first two teams outside the bracket – the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders, respectively.
There will be plenty of star power on display tonight, as the NHL’s three leading scorers – Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid – take the ice as part of an eight-game slate. However, our dfsPro projections have uncovered some additional diamonds in the rough to help daily fantasy managers to fill out their rosters.
Let’s look at some of our model’s top AI-powered value picks for today’s game!
Top Value Picks: Forwards
Brandon Duhaime (LW – Colorado Avalanche)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.15, A: 0.2, S: 1.11, BLK: 0.67
Duhaime has yet to record a point against the Blue Jackets this season, but our model indicates the possibility of that changing tonight. His projections are more than double his averages in every offensive category, including goals (157%), assists (227%) and total points (169%). He is also expected to outperform his averages in takeaways (154%) and blocked shots (43%).
Anton Lundell (C – Florida Panthers)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.24, A: 0.19, S: 1.65, BLK: 0.51
Lundell’s last goal came against the New York Rangers on March 4. However, our model projects him to see an 89% increase in goal potential against the Maple Leafs tonight, as well as a 160% uptick in takeaways.
Pierre Engvall (RW – New York Islanders)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.24, A: 0.31, S: 1.41, BLK: 0.72
Our model predicts an efficient outing for Engvall, with more offensive production on fewer shots tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. Engvall is projected to outperform his averages in goals (100%), assists (33%) and points (56%) despite an expected 19% decrease in shots on goal.
Sean Couturier (C – Philadelphia Flyers)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.49, A: 0.27, S: 1.93, BLK: 0.53
Couturier, who was healthy scratched for two games last month, registered just one point (1 assist) during the month of March. However, our model likes his chances to score against the New York Islanders tonight, projecting a 206% uptick in his goal potential.
Jared McCann (C – Seattle Kraken)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.51, A: 0.65, S: 3.13, BLK: 0.7
According to our model, McCann is expected to outperform his averages across the board tonight against the San Jose Sharks. The model projects a 33% increase in goal potential, a 52% increase in assist potential, a 43% increase in point potential and a 19% increase in shots on goal. McCann, who has five points in his last five games, is also expected to double his averages in both takeaways (129%) and blocked shots (110%).
Top Value Picks: Defensemen
Noah Dobson (RD – New York Islanders)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.34, A: 0.54, S: 2.51, BLK: 1.38
Dobson has 66 points in 73 games this season, but only eight goals. Our model, however, projects a whopping 211% uptick in his goal potential against the Flyers tonight. This is likely due in part to a projected 10% increase in shots on goal and a 187% increase in takeaway potential.
Alexander Romanov (LD – New York Islanders)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.24, A: 0.32, S: 1.35, BLK: 2.07
Our model also likes Romanov, another Islanders blueliner, against the Flyers tonight. Romanov’s projections show a 139% uptick over his average in goals, 126% in assists and 131% in total points.
Shayne Gostisbehere (RD – Detroit Red Wings)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.3, A: 0.46, S: 1.77, BLK: 0.8
Our model projects Gostisbehere to more than double his goal average (117%) in an important matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He hasn’t scored a goal since March 9 against the Vegas Golden Knights, but he is coming off a two-assist performance against the Florida Panthers on March 30.
Kris Letang (RD – Pittsburgh Penguins)
dfsPro Forecast: G: 0.36, A: 0.53, S: 2.11, BLK: 1.58
Our model’s projected goal potential for Letang tonight against the New York Rangers is more than triple his average (227%). He is also expected to see upticks in assists (11%), points (51%) and shots (3%). Letang has yet to record a point against the Rangers this season, but he has amassed 44 points over 65 career games against the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Metropolitan Division rivals.
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