FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: January 6
By Matt Rogers
Welcome back for the Saturday, January 6th edition of FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays. 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.
We had some hits and misses yesterday. Continuing to roll with Brent Burns is working out, as he dropped 32.1 FanDuel NHL points into our lineup, with six shots on goal, a power play goal, and short-handed assist.
Also, Blake Wheeler has 24.2 FanDuel NHL points with a goal and assist. Jonathan Marchessault was hot early against the Blackhawks, getting a goal and assist in the first period, for 28 points. And our top goalie, Jimmy Howard, was a winner with 38 saves and 34.4 FanDuel NHL points.
But the game we whiffed on was the Penguins and Islanders. We mentioned playing Sidney Crosby, who had a great game with a goal and three assists, 39.7 total FanDuel NHL points. But we were more focused on the Islanders offense, who was shut out by Penguins net-minder Tristan Jarry. With 31 saves and the shutout win, Jarry piled up 44.8 points.
The big value play of the night was 23-year-old Penguins center Dominik Simon. With an incredibly low $3K salary, and ownership below 5%, Simon managed to pile up six shots on goal, had an assist, along with two goals for an incredible 41.6 FanDuel NHL points. It’s hard to nail down a value like that, but congrats to any of the GPP players who identified the potential there.
We didn’t quite have the results we’d hoped for last night, but we’ll take what we learned and move forward to a duel-slate on Saturday. Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Saturday, January 6th:
Blues at Flyers (1pm ET TSN)
Oilers at Stars (3pm ET)
Hurricanes at Bruins (7pm ET)
Canucks at Maple Leafs (7pm ET)
Lightning at Senators (7pm ET)
Rangers at Coyotes (8pm ET)
Wild at Avalanche (9pm ET)
Ducks at Flames (10pm ET)
Predators at Kings (10:30pm ET)
FanDuel splits Saturday up into an ‘Early Only’ and ‘Main’ set of slates. For this column, we’re focusing solely on the Main slate, as it has better cash and GPP options. However, if you’re playing the early late, here are our thoughts.
Ben Bishop ($8,500) should be the top goalie today. Dallas is only giving up 2.29 goals per game at home, sixth best in the NHL. Meanwhile, while Edmonton has been plugging in three goals a game on road ice, they’ve been cold lately. Also, Bishop is heating up, with five wins and two shutouts over his last seen starts. During each loss, Ben only gave up three or less goals.
The first goalie off the ice is Ben Bishop. In case you haven’t heard, he’s been pretty, pretty, pretty good lately.
— Bruce LeVine (@BruceLeVinePuck) January 2, 2018
For offensive/defensive stacking, we like the Stars top two lines, including Alexander Radulov ($6,200). The Blues and Flyers game could be a high-scoring affair, depending on who the Blues trot out to defend the goal. Carter Hutton has been hot lately, so if he’s starting, we prefer the Blues stack. But if Jake Allen, who’s solid but struggling, is in, we like the Flyers stack.
With the ‘Early Only’ commentary out of the way. Let’s focus on the Main slate. Cam Ward is likely starting for the Hurricanes against Tuukka Rask and the Bruins. If that’s the case, we expect a low-scoring game with an unpredictable outcome. So we’re likely fading the Bruins and Canes today.
With poor goaltending and defense, Vancouver and Toronto offer solid offensive fantasy value today. After the high-scoring Senators game last night, we’re expecting another fireworks show in Ottawa, as the one of the best offensive lines in hockey, the Lightning, visit the Senators.
The Rangers should have more offensive opportunities in the desert of Arizona, and it’s possible the Wild continue their scoring in Colorado. But the Avs may have Jonathan Bernier standing in the crease tonight, which could limit the Wild’s scoring. Finally, the Ducks and Flames present offensive opportunity, but the Predators may struggling in L.A. if Jonathan Quick is in goal. And we don’t love the Kings against Rinne either.
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 6th
Tonight is a good time to pay up for centers. Steven Stamkos ($8,800) only has an assist in the last two games. We say only because we’re used to Stamkos providing one or more points each game, consistently. Last night, the Senators won in a high-scoring game. They’re giving up 3.45 goals per game in Ottawa, third most in the NHL. If you can afford it, stack Bolts, starting with Stamkos.
The Minnesota Wild have been playing better lately, thanks mostly to Devan Dubnyk‘s run of wins in his last three starts. Bu while Devan only gave up five goals in his last three games, they were all on home ice. Tonight, the Wild travel to Colorado where the Avs are scoring 3.5 goals per game, sixth best in the NHL. And while the Wild have solid defense at home, they’re giving up 3.48 goals per game on road-ice, third worst in the NHL. This sets up a great time to plug Nathan MacKinnon ($7,900) into your line.
If you’re fading Stamkos or MacKinnon, or can’t afford either, Auston Matthews ($7,800) has a great match up on home ice tonight. Matthews has three goals in his last three games, with 16+ ice time per game. The Cancuks visit Toronto and are giving up over three goals per game. Auston should stay hot tongiht.
We were high on Ryan Getzlaf ($7,500) on Thursday night, and he disappointed us. But Ryan still had three shots on goal and two blocked shots. Getzlaf and the Ducks have another great match up in Calgary, where the Flames have been giving up 3.09 goals per game, seventh most in the NHL. This is a cheaper way to start building your lineup as well.
While it’s going to be hard to avoid the pricier center’s tonight, there’s still plenty of value. One nugget is Derek Stepan ($5,700) leading the Coyotes top line. In the Yotes last five games, Derek has two goals and three assists. He only averaging 11 FanDuel NHL points-per-game this season, but over the last three weeks he’s averaged closer to 15 points. While the Yotes struggled to score on home ice this season, they’re heating up, and the Rangers struggle on the road.
With Stamkos we mentioned the great match up the Bolts have, and Brayden Point ($5,600) is, once again, a great play leading Tampa’s second line. Over the last five games, Point has 9.6+ FanDuel NHL points, averaging close to 17. Brayden has neither a goal or assist in the last two games, but he has three blocked shots in each game, and a total of eleven shots on goal this week.
If you’re digging for a bigger value, consider Sam Gagner ($4,500). He’s been quiet over the last two games, but with injuries Gagner has earned the top center spot on the team right now. The Maple Leafs are favored against the Canucks, but their defense and goaltending over the last couple of weeks has been bad. Sam is a sneaky way to get ten-plus points tonight.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Jan 6th
With 26 goals and 31 assists, Nikita Kucherov ($9,200) is hands-down the best player in hockey this season. His 57 points is the best in the NHL by seven. With over 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, Kucherov is clearly going to be expensive. And with this juicy match up in Ottawa, he should be heavily owned too. The problem playing Nikita tonight is salary.
If you plug Kucherov into your lineup, expect to find at least one cheap player in almost every position. If you already have Stamkos in your line at center, consider Vladislav Namestnikov ($6,700) as a cheaper option. He doesn’t have a point in the last two games, but if Steven scores tonight, Namestnikov is a solid assist.
We like Getzlaf tonight, and if you’re playing him at center, you should consider stacking Rickard Rakell ($6,700) with Ryan. Again, this was our suggestion on Thursday and it didn’t play out as we hoped. But the Ducks have another great match up tonight, and it’s unlikely they whiff again.
One of our favorite picks tonight is Brock Boeser ($6,700). With Bo Horvat currently on IR, Boeser is emerging as the top young talent on the team. With 21 goals already, and 17 assists, Brock is tied with Sean Couturier and Jamie Benn for 38 points. Boeser doesn’t just have the potential to provide a goal or assist, he can get several in one game, which is why his average FanDuel NHL point-per-game total is over 15.
It’s possible a lot of FanDuel NHL players fade the Canucks offense on the road, which is a mistake. The Maple Leafs defense isn’t great this season, giving up nearly three goals per game on home ice, and they’ve been worse over the last couple of weeks.
A great stack with MacKinnon tonight is Mikko Rantanen ($6,600). With four goals and five assists, Mikko has quietly provided some of the best offense for the Avalanche, who are hot lately. Nathan gets most of the press, but Mikko has been raising the Avs top line over the last couple of weeks.
If you’re going with Brayden Point as a top or second center, you should stack him with Tyler Johnson ($5,800) in the wing spot. Johnson is averaging over 11.5 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, but even more impressive is that average has climbed quickly over the last month. Tyler was quiet in the last two games, but like Point, he’s still getting nearly 11 points each game from shots and blocked shots. With goals and assists, Tyler is hitting over 20 points in several games.
If playing Auston Matthews, or if you want a piece of the Maple Leafs top line and can’t afford Auston, grab William Nylander ($5,900). He really struggled to star this season, but since the beginning of December, Nylander has been on fire. Over the last seven games, William has two goals and five assists. Nylander had over ten FanDuel NHL points in five of those seven games, including two games over 23 points.
Another sneaky way to get into the Ducks scoring on the Flames tonight is Jakob Silfverberg ($5,400). We haven’t focused much on the Ducks or Silfverberg this season because they had a terrible offensive start. But over the last six games, Jakob has a goal and five assists, and is averaging around 15 FanDuel NHL points-per-game.
Top FanDuel NHL Defenders: Jan 6th
We don’t love the Senators offensive odds tonight, but we expect a ton of shots on goal from the Lightning. That actually makes Erik Karlsson ($6,900) potentially worth his salary. Erik had two assists last night, along with a few shots on goal and another four-plus blocked shots tonight eh could be a 20 to 30 FanDuel NHL point play.
If your’e going to spend big on defense, though we prefer Victor Hedman ($6,600) playing opposite Karlsson. In each of the last two games, Victor has five shots on goal. On Thursday, along with an assist, Hedman was able to block five shots. So like Karlsson, Hedman is active in all parts of the game and on the ice for over 25 minutes. But Victor has the offensive advantage tonight. If you can spend big on defense, we recommend going Hedman over Karlssson.
Kevin Shattenkirk ($5,500) is a great, and more affordable, pick at defense if you are trying to get a piece of the Rangers likely scoring tonight. After a terrible end to December, Kevin has piled up seven shots on goal, four blocked shots, and an assist in the last two games. He’s worth a flier tonight against a bad defense.
If you’re leaning towards an Avs stack, Erik Johnson ($4,700) is a bargain. Since Tyson Barrie hit the IR, Johnson has been on fire, getting 25 to 30 minutes of ice time each game. Over the last three games, Erik has two goals and one assist, and should stay hot tonight.
Two more value plays at defense are Alexander Edler ($4,800) and Jakob Chychrun ($3,900). Like most of the Canucks skaters in the early part of the season, Edler was cold. But over the last couple of weeks, Alexander has been providing assists, piling up four to seven blocked shots in some games, and got as many as eight shots on goal on Tuesday against the Ducks.
Like Edler, Chychrun has quietly emerged doing many of the same things for the Coyotes. Even better, along with five to seven shots on goal and several blocked shots per game, Jakob has provided four helpers in the last six games. With another assist or goal tonight, Chychrun could keep up his nearly 20 FanDuel NHL point-per-game average over the last three games.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Jan 6th
Before we talk about anyone else, Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,600) may be very expensive tonight, but he’s absolutely on fire right now. In six games, and five starts, Vasilevskiy has only give up two goals, with four shutouts. He’s averaging over 26 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, but over the last three weeks he’s averaging over 30.
Tonight, the Bolts travel to Ottawa to play a hot Senators offense, but the Ligthning are the top-scoring road-ice team in the NHL right now, and the Senators have been terrible on defense at home. This should be another great win for Vas, even if the Senators get a couple by him tonight.
We love how Tuukka Rask ($8,900) and Pekka Rinne ($8,300) are playing over the last couple of weeks, but they effectively cancel each other out tonight. That leaves Henrik Lundqvist ($9,100) and Jonathan Quick ($9,000) with the best match ups of the night. On paper, Lundy has the better situation, even on road ice, but the Yotes offense has been showing signs of life over the last couple of weeks.
We prefer the match up Quick has against the Predators. Yes, the Preds are a great team, but on the road, they’re only putting up 2.64 goals per game, 21st in the NHL and not a great stat against the Kings. On home ice, the Los Angeles Kings are only giving up 2.21 goals per game, third best in the NHL.
Quick had a shutout on Tuesday, but he gave up four goals in Calgary on Thursday night. However, the Flames offense has been playing well at home, and the Kings defense is better at home as well. So we can fully expect Quick to continue his dominance in L.A. tonight.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Saturday, January 6th:
C MacKinnon (COL $7,900)
C Point (TB $5,600)
W Boeser (VAN $6,700)
W Nylander (TOR $5,900)
W Johnson (TB $5,800)
W Silfverger (ANH $5,400)
D Edler (VAN $4,800)
D Chychrun (ARI $3,900)
G Quick (LA $9,000)
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!