FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: January 3

Welcome to FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays, for Wednesday, January 3rd 2018.  We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.

Aside from the Flyers offense struggling, against a typically terrible Penguins defense away from home, last night, most of our lineup picks performed well.  We were able  to build the FanDuel NHL account cash, mostly with cash games, but even with some GPP’s.

We didn’t focus on the Winnipeg Jets in Colorado, with a dicey match up.  But Blake Wheeler had nine shots on goal, including two goals, a power play goal, and blocked shot.  In total, Wheeler piled up 40.5 FanDuel NHL points, and was one of the top plays of the night on a $7,300 salary.

Also on Wheeler’s line, Patrik Laine ($7,400) was slightly more expensive.  Patrik had two assists, with five shots, including a power play assist.  Playing on Blake’s line helped Laine, and stacking the pair yielded 65 FanDuel NHL points on $14,700 of salary.  We missed this, and it helped many GPP players land a top spot.

We still had some solid picks across the board.  The Bruins unloaded on the Islanders with five total goals, and Brad Marchand ($7,600) included a goal, assist, and five shots on goal for 28 points.  22-year-old Danton Heinen was a great value play from the Bruins, also adding a goal and assist, along with a blocked shot for a total of 23.2 FanDuel NHL points on a small $4.9K salary.  We had some great value plays too, but we missed that one.

Still, with the exception of the Flyers lackluster scoring, we had double-digit plays for the majority of your picks.  While the Panthers only scored one goal against the Wild, a result we were concerned about, Aleksander Barkov was able to pepper three shots on goal and provide a helper for 14.4 FanDuel NHL points, and was only 3% owned in most GPP’s.

Rickard Rakell ($6,500) was one of many Ducks who piled up five goals in a shutout win over the Canucks, in Vancouver.  Rakell had a goal, assist, and two shots for a solid 23.2 FanDuel NHL points.  Two of the Vegas picks we liked were Jonathan Marchessault ($6,700) and Shea Theodore ($3,800).

With a goal and five shots, Marchessault had 20 FanDuel NHL points, and Shea Theodore was the value picked with hoped for with a goal and 18.4 total points.  The two were a bi part of the Knights 3-0 shutout win.

Finally, while we had a few goalies we liked last night, Marc-Andre Fleury ($7,900) was our favorite option, and our top value of the night.  The match up against a good Predators offense was risky, but Fleury has been consistently hot this season.  The Golden Knights blanked the Preds, and Marc-Andre piled up 29 saves, a win, and shutout for 43.2 total FanDuel NHL points, one of the best net-minders of the night.

So, with plenty of wins, but also some losses, we’ll take what we learned from the massive slate last night, and focus on the small slate tonight. Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Wednesday, January 3rd 2018:

Senators at Red Wings (7:30pm ET)

Blackhawks at Rangers (8pm ET NBC SN)

While the smaller slates are typically less popular, they’re our favorite to play.  FanDuel NHL currently has minimal offerings tonight, but that should expand throughout the day.  Also, with a smaller schedule, there’s typically less interest, reducing the number of FanDuel NHL players.  And tonight is typically a complete hit or miss.  So there’s risk if you stack two losing teams, but if you stack the two winning teams, you’re very likely to win every play you make.

Looking at tonight’s Vegas odds, not surprisingly the two home teams are favored.  So the Red Wings and Rangers should be a target for FanDuel NHL players.  The Rangers are likely still exuberant after their Winter Classic overtime win over the Sabres.  But we shouldn’t overlook the fact that the Blackhawks were hot ending the month of December.  And while the Red Wings are favored, neither they or the Senators have looked good this season.  So there’s risk in either play.

As always, we’ll look to update our picks and final lineups prior to lock on our twitter account @FantasyCPR so make sure to give us a follow for all the late breaking lineup news.

Now let’s start building our NHL DFS optimal lineup by looking at the top centers for this slate…

Top FanDuel NHL Centers: Jan 3rd

For the most part we’re fading the Ottawa Senators throughout the lineup.  The Senators only have 2.62 goals per game, fourth worst in the NHL.  Worse, they only have 2.33 when away from home, like tonight, third worst in the NHL.  So while the Senators may be a very risky GPP long-shot play, they’re not ideal in most formats.

With the Sens off the table, we’re looking for top center options from the Rangers, Blackhawks, and Red Wings tonight.  Tonight’s slate of centers are cheap.  The most expensive pick is Dylan Larkin ($6,600) and we love him against the Ottawa.

The Senators are giving up 3.28 goals per game away from home, tenth worst in the NHL.  And while Larkin is only averaging just under 13 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, he’s consistently surging over the last three weeks.  Dylan has 12+ points in five of the Wings last six games.  With over 20 minutes of ice time each game, Larkin piled up seven assists and one goal in six games.  Tonight, with an ideal match up, Dylan should have another 15+ result.

Henrik Lundqvist should be in goal for the Rangers tonight, and he’s a tough nut to crack.  Lundy has a very solid .922 save percentage, but he’s still giving up 2.56 goals per game.  The Blackhawks have been slow to start the season, but they still have plenty of talent including top line leader Jonathan Toews ($6,400).

This is the time of year we typically see the Hawks bounce back and make a run for the playoffs.  On New Years Eve, the Hawks were in Calgary facing a touch Mike Smith in goal.  But Jonathan had a goal and assist, along with four shots on goal and a block, totaling 28 FanDuel NHL points.  Smith isn’t historically as good at Henrik, but they’re both talented goalies and that’s a good litmus test for what we could see tonight.  Toews is a great play in all formats.

We like the Red Wings tonight, and Henrik Zetterberg ($6,200) should be a solid play but with less value than Larkin.  While Zetterberg is the top line leader and is on the ice for more than 20 minutes a game, we depend on one or more assists from Henrik.  Fortunately, Zetterberg has been hot over the last three weeks, and is a solid FanDuel NHL double-digit point candidate tonight.

With Jeff Glass a confirmed starter in goal for the Blackhawks, we’re more intrigued with the Rangers offense.  Glass has a win and OT loss so far, which isn’t bad for your first two NHL starts.  But Jeff had to make 77 saves in his first two games, and gave up seven goals in 120 minutes.  So we know there’s solid potential for the Rangers to have a great offensive day on home ice.  And  while he’s been cold over the last three weeks, Mika Zibanejad ($6,300) is another great play at this position.

Don’t dig too deep for value picks at the center position tonight.  The slate is fairly cheap and it’s easy to build a mostly $6K lineup.  But if you need a cheaper center pick, consider second-line Rangers center Kevin Hayes ($5,200).

Kevin provided a helper during the winter classic, and with around 16 to 20 minutes of ice time each game, Hayes always has potential for double-digit points, even with his low 8.64 FanDuel NHL points-per-game this season.  Over the last month, like last season, Hayes is consistently piling up solid points each game, with multiple shots on goal and two goals and two assists in the last seven games.

Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…

Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Jan 3rd

With Zibanejad already on our radar, stacking Mats Zuccarello ($6,500) and J.T. Miller ($5,800) with Mika seems like a no-brainer, and it is.  The Rangers will try to maintain the magic gained from the Winter Classic win, which often occurs for the winning team from that event.  And the Rangers have an ideal match up, for this top scoring line to have a big night in New York.

Zuccarello has been relatively hot lately, with a goal and three assists over the last seven games, including an assist in Monday’s Winter Classice.  Miller had the game-winning goal in overtime, completing a huge 23.7 FanDuel NHL game thanks to an assist and two shots on goal in additional to his game-winning power play goal.

Within the same game, and assuming the Blackhawks provide some offense tonight, we really like Patrick Kane ($8,400) and his second-line mate Ryan Hartman ($3,700).  Hartman is only averaging just over eight FanDuel NHL points-per-game.  But over the last six games, Ryan has three goals and his point-per-game average has been climbing over the last three weeks.

Kane is one of the best, and most well known, skaters in the NHL.  Patrick is averaging nearly 16 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, with consistent scoring.  With 16 goals and 22 assists, Patrick is 18th in the NHL in total scoring (38).  Over the last nine games, Kane has six goals and five assists, more than one point per game.  Even with a difficult match up tonight, Kane is worth the salary.

One last plug before we talk about the Red Wings.  If you’re going with Toews at cetner, stack Brandon Saad ($5,600) with Jonathan.  The former Blue Jacket is also playing on the Hawks top line, and is averaging nearly eleven FanDuel NHL points-per-game.  On New Years Eve, Saad piled up 24.8 points with a goal and assist, along with three shots on goal.

Now to the Red Wings.  Gustav Nyquist ($6,100) is the best offensive producer the Wings have on their top line.  But we’re more interested in stacking Tomas Tatar ($5,100) or Andreas Athanasiou ($3,900) with Larkin on the Wings second line tonight.

Over the last two games, Athanasiou has seen 20 minutes on the ice, thanks to involvement on the Red Wings second power play unit with Larkin.  And Tatar have the benefit of playing with Larkin on the second regular line, along with Zetterberg and Nyquist on the Red Wings top power play line.  Both have been playing nearly 20 minutes per game, lately.

Top FanDuel NHL Defenders: Jan 3rd

While we’re mostly fading way from the Senators tonight, Erik Karlsson ($6,900) is a dominating force on the ice, who happens to be on a terrible NHL team.  King Karl can see as much at 30 minutes of ice time per game, is often involved in all scoring opportunities for the Sens, and averages almost 14 FanDuel NHL points per game.  We like the Red Wings over the Senators tonight, but if the Sens get some goals, Karlsson will be involved.  And regardless, he’s likely to have double-digit points tonight.

The problem with Erik is affordability, but every other defensive pick is easily affordable.  The top value for the night is Kevin Shattenkirk ($5,500) in a favorable offensive match up for the Rangers.  For the most part, Shattenkirk has been quiet over the last three weeks.  But during the Winter Classic on Monday, Kevin had three shots and an assist, for 13.3 FanDuel NHL points.  Tonight, the Ranges are trying to feed off of the momentum of that game.

If you’re looking to fill in some Blackhawks players, the best option you have on defense is veteran Duncan Keith ($5,400).  With the Hawks scoring emerging over the last couple of weeks, Keith piled up five assists in the last seven games.  He’s also averaging around two blocked shots per game and getting around two to three shots on goal each game.

Duncan is a solid buy tonight, but for better value grab fellow top-line defender Jordan Oesterle ($3,800).  He’s also averaging over ten FanDuel NHL points-per-game on a significantly cheaper salary.  And in the last two weeks, Jordan has two goals, a power play goal, and one assist.  Against Edmonton, on December 29th, Oesterle added an amazing seven blocked shots.  Since that game, Jordan is averaging nearly 30 FanDuel NHL points-per-game.

If you’re looking to complete a stack of Red Wings, your best defense options from Detroit are Mike Green ($4,700) or Danny DeKeyser ($3,800).  Between the two, we like DeKeyser more, because Green’s value is highly dependent on goals for FanDuel NHL points, and DeKeyser provides value in many ways.

Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Jan 3rd

Evaluating the goalies tonight is easier, given we have four confirmed starters already.  Jimmy Howard ($8,300) is the confirmed starting goalie for the Red Wings, who are hosting the Senators with Craig Anderson ($7,500) in goal in Detroit.  Meanwhile, Jeff Glass ($7,400) continues to get starts while the Blackhawks allow Crawford to rest an injury.  The Hawks are in New York tonight, facing the Winter Classic winning Rangers, who have Henrik Lundqvist ($8,900).

Vegas has the Red Wings and Rangers as favorites tonight, and we agree.  Both Howard and Lundy are having great seasons.  Between the team, Lundqvist is the better all-around goalie on a better all-around team.  But for $600 less, you can get Howard, who’s in a similar position, at least for tonight.  So while you can go with either in any format, we prefer Jimmy over Henrik.

So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Wednesday, January 3rd:

C    Larkin (DET $6,600)

C    Zibanejad (NYR $6,300)

W   Kane ($8,400)

W   Zuccarello (NYR $6,500)

W   Miller (NYR $5,800)

W   Hartman (CHI $3,700)

D    Shattenkirk (NYR $5,500)

D    Oesterle (CHI $3,800)

G    Howard (DET $8,300)

Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for the week.  You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building FanDuel NHL lineups.  We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.

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Best of luck in your FanDuel NHL contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across NHL, NBA, EPL, and NFL this fall!