FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: January 5
By Matt Rogers
Welcome to another FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. This is the Friday, January 5th edition. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
After a red-hot run for several days, some of our lineup picks fell flat last night. We had several solid picks last night, but many of our lineups landed in the low-to-mid 100 FanDuel NHL point range. With such a big slate, you typically need to be in the mid-to-upper 100 point range for cash games, and in the 200 range for GPP’s.
Brayden Point didn’t have a goal or assist as the Lightning had a disappointing 1-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Montreal. But Point still had eight shots on goal and three blocked shots for 17.6 FanDuel NHL points. Brayden was a goal or assist away from being a great value.
Craig Smith, our top value pick at wing, turned out to be one of the better overall picks at the position. Smith had a blocked shot and peppered five shots on goal, with one puck making it across the crease for 21.6 FanDuel NHL points on a cheap $4.2K salary. Unfortunately, Craig’s ownership was high, nearly 50% in cash games.
Likely because of his high salary, Brent Burns wasn’t as well owned, as low as 10-15% in cash games, but Burnsy had another assist, an amazing eight shots on goal, and another blocked shot. In the end, Brent had 22.4 FanDuel NHL points, another over 20 point result, which is what we were expecting.
Ben Bishop was a solid pick in goal, with a 31.2 FanDuel NHL point result. Bishop saw over 40 shots on goal and was able to make 39 saves. Ben also had the win, but let three pucks in goal, reducing his point potential by 12 points. We were hoping for an result closer to a shutout, but Bishop still verified the 30 to 40 point target.
Our pair of Ducks, Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell were the biggest disappointments of the night. The Edmonton Oilers are letting nearly four goals in the next against opponents on home ice. And the Ducks offense had been hot lately. However, Cam Talbot and the Oilers only gave up one goal last night, in a low scoring 2-1 win for Edmonton.
We didn’t quite have the results we’d hoped for last but, but we’ll take what we learned and move forward to a smaller slate on Friday. Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Friday, January 5th:
Penguins at Islanders (7pm ET)
Sharks at Senators (7:30pm ET)
Panthers at Red Wings (7:30pm ET)
Sabres at Jets (8pm ET)
Golden Knights at Blackhawks (8:30pm ET)
The Penguins and Islanders match up is an interesting one. Both the Penguins and Islanders put up a bunch of goals on the scoreboard against the Flyers in Philly this week. But the Islanders gave up six goals to the Flyers last night, ultimately losing. So this could be a very high-scoring game in New York.
The Sharks offense has been emerging over the last five weeks, and they’re in Ottawa facing a Senators team struggling to defend the puck this year. The Red Wings and Panthers are nearly evenly matched in Detroit, but we also know Jimmy Howard has been hot in goal lately.
The Jets are hosting a Sabres team doing a terrible job defending, meanwhile the Jets offense has been hot, even with Mark Scheifele on IR. And the Blackhawks offense is finally coming together, but they’re hosting the Golden Knights who have provided some of the best defense in the NHL this season.
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 5th
The Penguins offense was hot in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, and it looked like they may be emerging from a slumber through the end of December. However, many of the Penguins goals on Tuesday were the result of sloppy passes and defensive play by the Flyers. It’s more likely they took advantage of a poor game played by their opponents.
The Penguins travel to Brooklyn, N.Y. to the Islanders in the Barclay’s Center tonight. The Flyers just piled up six goals against the Islanders, who are also playing sloppy lately. On home ice, the Islanders are giving up a terrible 3.37 goals-per-game, fourth worst in the NHL. Top center options from the Penguins like Sidney Crosby ($8,300) or Evgeni Malkin ($8,500) could be decent plays tonight, as long as the Islander’s goals-against struggles continue.
However, the Penguins are only scoring 2.5 goals per game away from home, 24th in the NHL. Meanwhile, the Islanders are scoring an amazing 4 goals-per-game on home ice, 2nd best in the NHL, and the Penguins are giving up 3.45 goals-per-game away from home, fourth worst in the NHL.
So, John Tavares ($8,700) and Mathew Barzal ($5,500) have the best match ups in that game tonight and are top plays Friday. While Barzal is lading the Isles second line, he’s also been playing with Tavares on their top Power Play unit. So while John is the better over-all offensive player, Mathew has the best value of any Islanders center tonight.
By far the best match up of any team tonight is the Jets hosting the Sabres. In Winnipeg, the Jets are scoring a jaw-dropping 4.11 goals-per-game on home ice, the best in the NHL. Meanwhile, the Sabres are giving up 3.68 goals-per-game away from home, second worst in the NHL. So on paper, this should be a very high scoring game for the Jets.
With Mark Scheifele on the IR, this scenario creates a juicy situation for Blake Wheeler ($7,500) and Adam Lowry ($3,600). Wheeler is more obvious to most FanDuel NHL players. Through 41 games, Blake is averaging over 17 FanDuel NHL points-per-game. Wheeler has 13 goals and 34 assists, for 47 total points placing him eight in the NHL. Tonight, Wheeler seems like a steal compared to Tavares and the Penguins stars.
Meanwhile, Lowry had incredible value with such a low salary. With recent injuries, the Jets have been able to shuffle their lines around while maintaining tremendous scoring. Adam Lowry may lead the third line in Winnipeg, but he’s also playing center on the Jets top power play line. With the additional time on ice, and increased chances of scoring, Lowry is easily the top value pick at center tonight.
Finally, two centers who could fly under the radar tonight are Jonathan Toews $6,400) and Nick Schmaltz ($5,100). The Blackhawks are hosting a very good defensive Vegas Golden Knights team tonight, which may fend off those typically interested in the Hawks, and has appeared to reduce their FanDuel NHL salary. But the Golden Knights are actually giving up 3.26 goals-per-game away from Vegas, tenth worst, and the Hawks are scoring 3.47, eighth best in the NHL, in Chicago.
Also, Toews has a goal and assist in each of his last two games, both road games, along with six shots and a blocked shot. So Jonathan is bringing a 25+ FanDuel NHL point average over the last two games into a good offensive match up for the Hawks. Meanwhile, Schmaltzy has 15+ points in three of his last four games. There’s great value with either of these picks.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Jan 5th
At the wing position, we’re going to start off with the Blackhawks tonight, who likely get overlooked. Patrick Kane ($8,400) is the most expensive player on the winger board tonight. Kane is a star wing-man playing on the Hawks second regular line and top power play line.
Patrick’s FanDuel NHL point-per-game average has climbed over the last three weeks, with four of his last seven games resulting in 23+ points, and five in double-digit points. Along with two assists, Patrick has at least five shots on goal in each of his last three games, resulting into two goals.
Meanwhile, Kane’s regular second line mate Ryan Hartman ($3,700) has also been hot lately, but remains a very cheap option tonight. While he’s averaging 8.45 FanDuel NHL points-per-game on the season, Hartman has at least six-plus points in each of his last five games, and 16+ points in four of his last seven games. With a favorable match up tonight, Ryan could be a low-owned bargain value.
Swinging back to the Jets top line, we absolutely have to plug in a super-cheap Kyle Connor ($4,600) into our lineup. After 35 games, Connor is averaging over 12 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, and has 14+ points in four of his last five games. Kyle is also benefiting from the line shifts, and plays on the top line for both the regular and power play lines for the Jets.
Also now playing on the top lines in Winnipeg, in all scenarios, is Patrik Laine ($7,600). The Finnish 19-year-old winger has five assists in the last three games, and is averaging just under 14 FanDuel NHL points-per-game. He’s expensive, but that’s because Patrik has the talent and ability to pile up around 40 points in any one game.
In what we believe to be a favorable match up for the Islanders, you obviously should consider Josh Bailey ($7,200) or Anders Lee ($6,800) again. While Bailey was quiet against the Flyers last night, he rarely scores under ten FanDuel NHL points, and is likely to bounce back again tonight. Bailey can provide total offensive cover, but Lee is slightly cheaper because you’re paying for a higher percentage shot at a goal.
Because the Blackhawks have the better offensive match up away from Vegas tonight, we’ve mostly stayed away from the Golden Knights. However, Jonathan Marchessault ($7,200) is our one exception. With Marchessault now inked in Vegas for the next six years, they’ll expect him to continue to emerge as a top talent in Vegas.
After 36 games, Jonathan is averaging over 16 FanDuel NHL points, and has four 20+ games over his last eight games. While the Knights are giving up too many goals away from home, they’re still scoring over three per game on road ice, third best in the NHL.
We’ve also mostly stayed away from the Red Wings offense tonight, because we expect the Panthers and Red Wings to be a low scoring affair. But the talented 23-year-old Andreas Athanasiou ($3,900) has surged lately, including a two goal outcome against the Senators on Wednesday. In fact, while he was blanked against the Penguins on New Year’s Eve, over the last three games, Athanasiou has 60 total FanDuel NHL points. He’s worth a flier as a value pick tonight.
Top FanDuel NHL Defenders: Jan 5th
Three of the leagues most dominate defenders are on ice tonight. Brent Burns ($7,100) continues to re-emerge as the leagues most dominate skater on ice. Erik Karlsson ($6,900) is the Sens best overall player, and Kris Letang ($6,400) is back on the ice after recovering from a lower body injury earlier in the week.
Either of these three could be a top pick for FanDuel NHL tonight, but we like Burnsy the most. Letang’s Penguins are still struggling to find an identity, and Kris has less than five FanDuel NHL points in each of his last three games, despite averaging 25+ minutes per game. And while Karlsson is a dominating player on the ice, the’s getting very little help from his teammates.
If you’re looking for a cheaper top option, we love Nick Leddy ($5,200) against the Penguins dubios defense on the road. Last night, Leddy provided two helpers among the Isles four goals, and piled up 19.7 FanDuel NHL points. Even when quiet offensively, Nick is blocking shots providing a consistent stream of points over the season.
Also, if you’re stacking Jets tonight, Dustin Byfuglien ($5,100) was back on the ice earlier this week, after a month-long hiatus on IR. The veteran is the most dominate defensive-man the Jets have, and with roughly 25 minutes of ice time, and likely involved in a high-scoring game, Buf should be a strong double-digit FanDuel NHL candidate on a fairly reasonable salary tonight.
After searching the defensive board for cheaper options, we keep coming back to Shea Theodore ($4,500). Shea doesn’t provide the value potential that Provorov provided last night, but with nearly 20 minutes of ice time on a strong offensive road team, Theodore should drop 10+ points with involvement in the offense and a few blocked shots tonight.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Jan 5th
Narrowing down the goalie options tonight is quiet easy, even with some of the starters unknown. Marc-Andre Fleury ($7,900) or Malcolm Subban ($7,800) will start in goal for the Golden Knights tonight. While they’re both hot this season, they haven’t played as well away from Vegas, and the Blackhawks have been strong on offense in Chicago. So we’re fading Knights goaltending tonight.
Also, for similar reasons, we’re crossing Anton Forsberg ($7,400) and Jeff Glass ($7,400) off our list. The Knights struggle on defense away from home, but they’re a top three scoring team on road ice.
The Islanders and Penguins goaltending has been atrocious lately, and the Sabres and Senators goaltending has been only slightly better. The Panthers have the worst offense on the road, scoring only 2.15 goals, worst in the NHL. That means whomever is in net for the Panthers tonight, takes a loss regardless of how well they play.
That narrows our goalie picks down to Aaron Dell ($8,300), Martin Jones ($8,100), Jimmy Howard ($8,200), and Connor Hellebuyck ($7,800). Between the Sharks goalies, Dell surprisingly provides higher upside and is most likely to start tonight. The Senators offense has been terrible at home, only getting 2.89 goals per game, and the Sharks defense is only allowing 2.56 goals-per-game on the road. So in a low scoring affair, the Sharks likely get the win but with a low amount of goals.
Hellebuyck should be the beneficiary of a high-powered offense tonight against one of the NHL’s worst defenses. It’s likely the Jets get the win, and Hellebuyck even has a shot at additional points for a shut out.
But our favorite pick tonight is Howard. While the Panthers have a strong offense and should get 30+ shots on Jimmy tonight, they’re only scoring a terrible 2.15 goals per game away from Florida. In bone-chilly Detroit tonight, they’re averaging around three goals-against per game, improving the Red Wings odds of winning. Also, in his last seven starts, Jimmy has only allowed more than two goals once.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Friday, January 5th:
C Wheeler (WPG $7,500)
C Lowry (WPG $3,600)
W Kane (CHI $8,400)
W Marchessault (VGK $7,200)
W Connor (WPG $4,600)
W Hartman (CHI $3,700)
D Burns (SJ $7,100)
D Theodore (VGK $4,500)
G Howard (DET $8,200
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.
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!