DFS NHL Picks (March 28, 2017)

Center:

Mika Zibanejad - New York Rangers: Zibanejad has notched a point in three of six career contests against the Sharks, who are his opponent tonight. He enters the contest with a three-game assist/point streak (one goal, four assists), and he has posted a multi-point game in each of the last two contests. He has recorded nine points (four goals, five assists) in the last 11 games, and he has posted a 60.6% faceoff win percentage over the last seven games (77-for-127).

Wingers:

Cam Atkinson - Columbus Blue Jackets: Atkinson ranks 8th-T in the NHL in goals with 33-27-60. He has set a career high in goals, assists and points (27-26-53 in 2015-16) and became the 7th different Jacket in club history to tally 30 in a season on Mar. 7 vs. New Jersey. His 7 multi-goal games are tied for the most in a season in club history (Nash; 2010-11) and his 7 game-winners are tied for the most (6x). Wennberg (13-42-55) has 5-14-19 in his last 29 games. He ranks 18th-T in the NHL with 42 assists which is currently 7th-T for the most assists in a single season in club history.

Jack Eichel - Buffalo Sabres: Eichel has totaled 11 points (4+7) in his last 10 road games. He has at least a point in four of his five career games against Columbus, having totaled six points (2+4) in those games. Plus, he has not gone two games without a point since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. In the 26 games since, Eichel has totaled 34 points (11+23).

Defensemen:

Zach Werenski - Columbus Blue Jackets: Werenski, who has 2-6-8 in the past 9 games and 5-16-21 in the past 29, has 12 multi-point games on the campaign. Posting 11-36-47 in 74 games, the 19-year old set the Jackets rookie record for most assists in a season, surpassing Jakub Voracek’s 29 (2008-09) and Rick Nash’s point record of 39 (2002-03). His 47 points are 2nd-most by a defenseman in club history, trailing James Wisniewski (51; 2013-14) and his 11 goals are 2nd-T by a defenseman in club history, trailing Bryan Berard (12; 2005-06). The 47 points, which are 5th by a rookie this season, are 6th all-time by a teenage defenseman in his rookie season.

Drew DOughty - Los Angeles Kings: Doughty is second on the team in assists (32;leads defensemen), tied for team-leading goals among defensemen (9) and first among defensemen in points at 41 (9-32=41). He logged his sixth multi-point game of the season (1-1=2; his ninth goal and fourth PPG of the season), Mar. 23 vs. WPG Doughty tied Mike Murphy (673) for ninth of the Kings all-time games played list, Mar. 11 vs. WSH. He had a three-game assist streak (0-3=3), Mar. 2.

Goaltender:

Sergei Bobrovsky - Columbus Blue Jackets: Bobrovsky, who leads the league in wins (40), GAA (1.99) and SV% (.934) of netminders that have played in 25+ games and 2nd-T in SO (7). The NHL All-Star set a club record with his 34th win on Mar. 5 and surpassed Steve Mason (33 wins; 2008-09). He is 11-2-2 with a 1.39 GAA, .957 SV% and 4 SOs in his past 15 games (since Feb. 11) and is riding an 11-game point streak (9-0-2) with a 1.08 GAA, .967 SV% and 4 SOs.

DFS NHL Picks (March 22, 2017)

Chris Kreider has a point in five of his last seven games.

Center:

Connor McDavid - Edmonton Oilers: With a two-point effort last game against Los Angeles, Connor McDavid is now back alone in front of the NHL scoring race, with 82 points (25G, 57A) in 72 games, two points ahead of Sidney Crosby (PIT) and Brad Marchand (BOS). McDavid has led the league in scoring at some point in all four months of the 2016-17 season.  He has led or co-led the NHL in scoring since Nov. 22, 2016.

Wingers:
Chris Kreider - New York Rangers: Kreider has established career-highs in goals (26) and points (49) this season. He has tallied a point in five of the last seven games (two goals, four assists). Kreider is one of six NHL players who have recorded at least 26 goals and 100 hits this season. He leads the Rangers in goals (15) and points (30) at home this season.c

Leon Draisaitl - Edmonton Oilers: Draisaitl has now amassed 65 points (24G, 41A) in 72 games, setting career highs for points, goals, and assists. That point total puts him in 13th place in the NHL scoring race. Draisaitl has nine points (1G, 8A) in his last four games.

Defensemen:
Brady Skjei - New York Rangers: Skjei registered his 30th assist of the 2016-17 season tonight at New Jersey. He is the fourth defenseman who has recorded at least 30 assists in his rookie season in franchise history, joining Brian Leetch (48 - 1988-89), Reijo Ruotsalainen (38 - 1981-82), and Ron Greschner (37 - 1974-75) as the only defensemen to accomplish the feat.

Cam Fowler - Anaheim Ducks: Among NHL defensemen, Fowler ranks tied for sixth in PPG (5) and tied for seventh in GWG (3). He has three assists in his last seven games. He earned his 23rd assist of the season and tied Andy McDonald (167) for seventh on the franchise all-time assists list on Mar. 17 vs. Buffalo.

Goaltender:

Jonathan Bernier - Anaheim Ducks: Bernier has posted a 7-2-1 record with one shutout, a 1.78 GAA and .943 SV% in his last 10 starts dating to Feb. 22 vs. Boston. Since that date, Bernier ranks fifth among NHL goaltenders in GAA (min. 9 starts) and SV% (min. 9 starts), tied for fifth in wins and tied for fourth in GA (18, min. 9 starts).

DFS NHL Picks (March 18, 2017)

Center:

Derek Stepan - New York Rangers: Stepan has recorded four points (one goal, three assists) in his last two games against Minnesota.

Wingers:

Mats Zuccarello - New York Rangers: Zuccarello had a two-goal hame against tbe Florida Panthers last night. He has registered five assists/points and a plus-four rating in his last two games against the Wild, who tbe Rangers face tonight.

James Neal - Nashville Predators: Neal has eight points (5G-3A) in his last seven games against the Hurricanes (4/27/2013 – 11/5/2016).

Defensemen:

Justin Faulk - Carolina Hurricanes: Faulk  leads all Carolina defenseman with 30 points this season, and among all league blueliners he is tied for third with 14 goals in 2016-17.

Filip Forsberg - Nashville Predators: Forsberg  has scored 12 goals in his last 12 games, and owns 18 points (12G-6A) in those 12 contests.

Goaltender:

Devan Dubnyk - Minnesota Wild: Dubnyk  is 1-2-0 with a 2.72 GAA and a .897 SV% in three starts vs. the Rangers.

DFS NHL Picks (March 16, 2017)

Center:

Mikko Koivu - Minnesota Wild: Koivu owns 11 points (1-10=11) in 13 matches against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Wingers:

Nicklas Backstrom - Washington Capitals: Backstrom earned three assists on Tuesday against Minnesota, marking his third three-assist game of the season and 34th of his career. Since he entered the NHL in 2007-08, Backstrom leads the NHL in three-assist games (34). Backstrom also earned his 70th point of the season on Tuesday, marking his fourth consecutive (2013-17) and sixth career 70-point season.

Lee Stempniak - Carolina Hurricanes: Stempniak has 13 points (5-8=13) in 34 matches against the Wild.

Defensemen:

Josh Morrissey - Winnipeg Jets: Morrissey had five hits against the Predators Tuesday night. It marked sixth time this season he had at least five hits in a game. On the season, Morrissey has 131 hits, which is sixth among NHL rookies and third on the team.

Jaccob Slavin - Carolina Hurricanes: Slavin scored his first career hat trick against the Islanders on Monday, and notched an assist for his first NHL four-point game. Slavin's hat trick was the first for a Hurricanes defenseman since Joe Corvo did so against Ottawa on March 16, 2008, and he became the youngest defenseman in franchise history to score three goals in a game.

Goaltender:

Devan Dubnyk - Minnesota Wild: Dubnyk is 5-1-0 with a 2.85 GAA and a .914 SV% in seven games (six starts) against the Hurricanes.

DFS NHL Picks (March 14, 2017)

Center:
Connor McDavid - Edmonton Oilers: Connor McDavid has 75 points (23G, 52A) in 68 games and continues to lead the NHL in scoring, with a one point lead on Sidney Crosby (PIT). He leads all Oilers forwards in average time on ice (21:17) and ranks 4 among forwards in the NHL. He set a season high for ice-time vs. Pittsburgh (26:53) on Mar. 10, 2017.

Wingers:
Jack Eichel - Buffalo Sabres: In the time since his Nov. 29 return from an injury that sidelined him for 21 games, Jack Eichel ranks eighth among all NHL skaters with 47 points (19+28) and leads the league with 194 shots on goal. Eichel leads the league in points (26) and assists (19) since the beginning of February.

Jamie Benn - Dallas Stars: Benn leads the Stars with three points (1-2=3) against Edmonton this season. Benn comes into Tuesday’s contest riding a three-game point streak (1-2=3) against the Oilers and has 10 points (5-5=10) over his last nine games against them.

Defensemen:
Jaccob Slavin - Carolina Hurricanes: Last night against the Islanders, who he faces again tonight, Slavin earned his first-career NHL hat trick, including his first shorthanded goal, and his first four-point game with three goals and one assist in the contest. He leads all Canes skaters this season with a plus-18 rating, 133 blocked shots, and 23:25 average time on ice, including a team-leading 3:07 average shorthanded time on ice. Slavin leads all Canes blueliners with 23 assists, and his 28 points (5g, 23a) this season marks a new career-high.

Justin Faulk - Carolina Hurricanes: Faulk earned his first multi-goal game of the season against the Islanders on Monday, and has 5 points (3g, 2a) in three games against the Islanders this season. He currently has points in a season-high three straight games. He leads all Canes blueliners and is ranked third among league defenseman with 14 goals in 2016-17.

Goaltender:
Braden Holtby - Washington Capitals: Holtby is 5-2-0 in his career against Minnesota with one shutouts, a 2.28 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage and has won three consecutive games against the Wild. He leads the NHL in goals-against average (2.03) and shutouts (8) this season, ranks third in wins (34) and fifth in save percentage (.926).

DFS NHL Picks (March 12, 2017)

Center:

Eric Staal - Minnesota Wild: Eric Staal  tallied three points (2-1=3) to top the 20-goal and 50-point marks Friday. He ranks second on the Wild with 51 points (2130=51) this season and has now hit the 20-goal mark in 10 of his 13 NHL seasons and the 50-point mark in 11 seasons. The 32-yearold has totaled 832 points (346-486=832) in 995 career NHL games, including 13 points (2-11=13) in 16 career games vs. Chicago.

Wingers:

Chris Kreider - New York Rangers: Kreider has recorded an assist/point in four of his last five games against Detroit (one goal, four assists) and has tallied eight points (three goals, five assists) in his last nine games against the Red Wings.

Nicklas Backstrom - Washington Capitals: Backstrom has recorded 15 points (5g, 10a) in 11 career games against the Ducks. He has tallied a point in nine of his 11 games against Anaheim and has recorded a multi-point game in five of his last eight games against the Ducks.

Defensemen:

Brent Burns - San Jose Sharks: Burns has 13 points (five goals), 43 SOG and 17 blocks in his past 10 games.

Andrei Markov - Montreal Canadiens: Markov has two points in his past three games, and has five points, 14 SOG and 17 blocks in that span.

Goaltender:

Antti Raanta - New York Rangers: Raanta is filling in for the injured Henrik Lundqvist. Raanta has posted a 13-4-0 record, along with a 2.14 GAA, a .929 SV%, and 3 SO in 19 starts in 2016-17. In his only career appearance against the Red Wings, Raanta stopped 31 of 33 shots he faced and earned a win on Apr. 9, 2016.

Fantasy: Schedule guide for head-to-head playoffs

NHL.com Fantasy Hockey Staff

The fantasy playoffs in standard leagues begin the week of March 13 and it's essential to know how the NHL schedule will impact your roster.
Games in hand are extremely important during each round of the fantasy playoffs, but whether a player's remaining games will be played at home and/or against non-contending teams can go a long way in determining a championship run. When mulling add/drop decisions, a good tiebreaker is to see if either player's team has more games remaining, a favorable or difficult schedule, or a home- or road-heavy slate.

Past and recent production, lineup placement, power-play usage, projected goalie starts, and your position of need remain the most important factors pertaining to fantasy value, and plenty of players are equipped to produce in road situations or against a strong opponent. That said, these schedule splits can provide additional pros and cons to adding or dropping a player.

NOTE: The splits have been updated after games played Thursday, March 9. ... Non-contenders are the bottom four teams in each conference as of Thursday: Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks in Western Conference; Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils in Eastern Conference.
Teams in bold have advantages in terms of games remaining, strength of schedule and home splits.

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Anaheim Ducks (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 9H/6R)
*Arizona Coyotes (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
Boston Bruins (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 9H/6R)
*Buffalo Sabres (15 games left, 1 vs. non-contenders - 7H/8R)
Calgary Flames (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 8H/7R)
*Carolina Hurricanes (18 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 10H/8R)
Chicago Blackhawks (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 6H/10R)
*Colorado Avalanche (16 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
Columbus Blue Jackets (17 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 7H/10R)
*Dallas Stars (15 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 5H/10R)
*Detroit Red Wings (17 games left, 7 vs. non-contenders - 10H/7R)
Edmonton Oilers (16 games left, 6 vs. non-contenders - 11H/5R)
Florida Panthers (17 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 8H/9R)
Los Angeles Kings (16 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 10H/6R)
Minnesota Wild (17 games left, 7 vs. non-contenders - 8H/9R)
Montreal Canadiens (14 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/6R)
Nashville Predators (15 games left, 3 vs. non-contenders - 7H/8R)
*New Jersey Devils (15 games left, 4 vs. non-contenders - 9H/6R)
New York Islanders (16 games left, 6 vs. non-contenders - 7H/9R)
New York Rangers (14 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 6H/8R)
Philadelphia Flyers (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
Pittsburgh Penguins (17 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 7H/10R)
Ottawa Senators (16 games left, 3 vs. non-contenders - 6H/10R)
San Jose Sharks (16 games left, 6 vs. non-contenders - 9H/7R)
St. Louis Blues (17 games left, 8 vs. non-contenders - 8H/9R)
Tampa Bay Lightning (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 9H/7R)
Toronto Maple Leafs (16 games left, 5 vs. non-contenders - 8H/8R)
*Vancouver Canucks (15 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 7H/8R)
Washington Capitals (16 games left, 3 vs. non-contenders - 7H/9R)
Winnipeg Jets (14 games left, 2 vs. non-contenders - 7H/7R)
* Non-contending team

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FANTASY PLAYOFF SCHEDULE BY WEEK

Most games in Week 21 (First round: March 13-19): Carolina (five)

Most games in Week 22 (Quarterfinals: March 20-26): 12 teams with four

Most games in Week 23 (Semifinals: March 27-April 2): Carolina, Nashville (five)

Most games in Week 24 (Championship: April 3-9): Toronto, Ottawa (five)