FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: January 17
By Matt Rogers
Welcome to FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays for Wednesday, January 17th. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
On Tuesday night, we had some expected and unexpected results, leading to a difficult result for many of our cash and GPP plays. Our top player in goal last night was Marc-Andre Fleury, who had a solid game with 26 saves, only giving up one goal, against the Predators. But Fleury and the Golden Knights fell to the Predators, in Nashville, 1-0 despite 43 shots on goal from the Knights.
The difference maker was Juuse Saros, who had 43 saves in a shutout on home ice against Vegas. Saros ended the game with 54.4 FanDuel NHL points, the most of any other player last night. Given the spread of unique results across the six games, if you had Juuse in your lineup, you immediately had an advantage.
While we were focused on the Flyers offense, who scored the first goal of the game against the Rangers in under three minutes, the Rangers had other ideas. Last night was Brian Elliott‘s worst game in over a month, and Brandon Manning, a Flyers defender, consistently let Rangers skaters gate behind him, including Rick Nash ($5,700), who scored on a breakaway.
Nash ended up being one of the other top players of the night, last night, with seven sots on goal, a blocked shot, and two goals for 36.8 FanDuel NHL points. Considering his cheap $5,700 salary, Rick was also one of the better values of the night. Shayne Gostisbehere ($6,200) was one of the few Flyers players worth owning from our list of suggestions, providing six shots on goal and a blocked shot for 11.2 FanDuel NHL points.
Two players who continue to play well, consistently, were Jonathan Marchessault ($7,300) and Brent Burns ($7,400). Given what you’re paying for both, you better get double-digit points, and they each provided that. While the Golden Knights were shut out, Marchessault still peppered an amazing ten shots on goal for 16 FanDuel NHL points, and Burns provided an assist and three blocked shots for 16 points.
Still, many of our suggestions yesterday were flat. So we’ll consider what we learned yesterday and look forward to a shot-slate today. Let’s take a look at the NHL schedule for Wednesday, January 17th:
Canadiens at Bruins (7:30pm ET NBC SN)
Penguins at Ducks (10pm ET NBC SN)
Given the abbreviated schedule for tonight’s slate, we’re going to slim down this article compared to previous nights. There are only so many options to consider at each position, including only four goalies to evaluate. That being said, with a shorter schedule and smaller list of players, it’s easier to focus on your top options of the night.
Montreal is traveling to Boston in a common NHL match up. These two teams have battled each other since the existence of the league, and they’re facing off against tonight. The Bruins pulled off a 4-3 shootout win against the Canadiens on Sunday. Tuukkk Rask and Carey Price were in goal on Sunday, and we expect a similar match up today. With the Bruins winning seven of their last ten games, and losing three in overtime only, we favor the Bruins over the Habs tonight.
The Penguins and Ducks match up is hard to gauge. These two coast-to-coast teams don’t face each other often, so there isn’t a solid history. Both teams are hovering around the wild card spot in their respective conferences, and the Penguins are 6-4 while the Ducks are 6-3-1. So they’re both playing mildly well lately. But the Pengs have won each of their last four games, and could stay hot tonight. Our best best is likely to target the offense from both teams.
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 17th
With two of the leagues top centers on the ice for a hot Penguins team tonight, we like Sidney Crosby ($9,000) or Evgeni Malkin ($8,600). It’s difficult to stack them together, but it’s fairly easy to afford one, even with the hefty price tags. Between the two, we like Crosby the most, as he’s provided three goals and eight assists in the Penguins last four games. But Malkin has fared well too, providing five goals and three assists in the same period of time. Evgeni was quiet on Sunday against the Rangers, though.
While there were six goals scored in regulation between the Canadiens and Bruins on Saturday, we’re focusing most of our offensive picks on the Ducks and Penguins and fading the Bruins and Habs. That being said, Patrice Bergeron ($7,700) could bounce back tonight after a quiet game against the Stars. Price has struggled this season, and until Tuesday, Bergeron had a point in each of his previous five games.
Ryan Getzlaf ($7,300) and Ryan Kesler ($5,600) lead the top two lines for the Ducks. Kesler just returned from a ‘lower body’ injury in late December, so there’s reason to be cautious with his pick. But over the last four games, Kesler has two power play goals, and a blocked shot in three of four games. Kesler allows you to load up on many of the other positions, if you play him with Crosby or Malkin.
But we prefer Getzlaf with Sidney or Evgeni, even with the high price tag. It’s possible to match Getzlaf with Crosby, for example, and have plenty of salary for two great picks at wing and defense, and still grab one of the most expensive goalie options. Getzlaf has had two low scoring games on the road lately, but in his last seven, Getzlaf has two goals and seven assists, plenty of shots on goal and blocked shots, with around 22 minutes of ice time per game.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Jan 17th
Before we continue with the stacking focus, Max Pacioretty ($7,200) is back on the ice and we’ve liked Max over the last two weeks, with solid results. Max has a point in each of his last five games, including a goal in each of the last four Habs games. On Saturday, Pacioretty put a puck past Rask, who should be in goal again tonight. He’s worth a shot at seeing if he’ll continue his streak. Hot players often work out well in FanDuel NHL.
If you picked a mid-salary (around $5K) player or cheaper in your center picks, you should consider Phil Kessel ($8,300) at winger. He may be listed as a third line wing, but Kessel is heavily involved in the man-advantage for the Penguins and sees about 18 minutes of ice time per game. The veteran has a point in each of the last four games, and six of the last seven for Pittsburgh. During that period of time, Kessel has four goals and seven assists. And with a 17+ FanDuel NHL point-per-game average, you’re paying for double-digits tonight from Kessel.
From the Ducks, especially if you have Getzlaf in your lineup, grab Rickard Rakell ($6,500). When the top line for the Ducks plays well, both Getzlaf and Rakell typically do well. In the last four games, Rickard has been fairly quiet, but prior to that, Rakell had been on a six game point streak, and he had an assist on Saturday against the Kings.
Murray has been struggling in net for the Penguins lately, and Rakell has an opportunity to get back to his late December surge. Rakell’s assist on Saturday was to Corey Perry ($6,100) who you could also stack with Getzlaf and Rakell for a complete top-line stack from the Ducks. Also, if you need to save $400 of salary, Perry is a riskier, but still solid, pick tonight against the Penguins.
Finally, Jakob Silfverberg ($5,800) is a great way to get exposure to the Ducks second line. Silfverberg is a cheap way to get an eleven FanDuel NHL point-per-game average from 40 games this season. Jakob only has 11.2 FanDuel NHL points in his last two games, but prior to that Silfverberg had double-digit points in six of seven games. With the Ducks moving back home to play the Penguins tonight, we expect each of the top-two lines to bounce back against Murray tonight.
The Penguins offer two great value picks from their top two lines, 29-year-old Swede Carl Hagelin ($3,600) and 20-year-old Dutchman Daniel Sprong ($3,800). Hagelin has a sleepy 5.61 FanDuel NHL point-per-game average over the course of 45 games. But Carl has a point in each of the last three Penguins games, something he hasn’t done all season. With 15+ minutes of ice time for a surging offensive player like Hagelin, paying $3.6K is a bargain.
We’re paying $200 more for the 20-year-old Sprong, but the young winger is averaging 10.29 FanDuel NHL points in just seven games this season. Since December 31st, when Daniel was called up to the NHL, he’s been on the ice around 15 minutes per game, playing alongside Crosby and some of the Penguins’ top talents. On January 5th, Sprong had two goals and one assist, with six shots on goal and 41.6 FanDuel NHL points. This pick could go south, so there’s risk, but we’re paying a cheap salary for big-point potential.
Top FanDuel NHL Defenders: Jan 17th
Kris Letang ($6,400) has been battling injuries this season and fairly disappointing for Fantasy NHL players. But with a nearly 13 FanDuel NHL point-per-game average in 43 games, and a goal and two assists in the last three games, Latang is the best option to pile up ten-plus points tonight. If you can afford him, and it’s certainly possible, Letang is a great way to help complete a Penguins stack in your lineup.
While not as dominate as Letang, Cam Fowler ($5,200) is an ice-hog for the Ducks. With 24 to 27 minutes of ice time each game, Fowler provides ample opportunity to be involved in scoring for great offensive match ups like the Ducks could have tonight. In his last seven games, Cam has two goals and two assists. Even if he doesn’t score, Fowler likely gets a few shots on goal tonight, along with a couple of blocked shots for nearly ten points anyway.
We haven’t talked about the Bruins much for our lineup tonight, but rookie Charlie McAvoy ($4,700) is hot right now. In his last two games, Charlie provided three helpers, and five in the last six games. If the Bruins can slip a few past Price tonight, McAvoy likely gets involved.
Another cheaper option, like McAvoy, is Hampus Lindholm ($4,500). Despite his second-line tag, Lindholm sees nearly 25 minutes of ice time and is averaging over ten FanDuel NHL points-per-game. In the last five Ducks games, Hampus has four assists.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Jan 17th
We think the starting goalies are narrowed down to Tuukka Rask ($9,100) for the Bruins versus Carey Price ($8,600) of the Canadiens and John Gibson ($8,500) and the Ducks hosting Matt Murray ($8,200) and the Penguins. But keep an eye on the goalie confirmations today. For example, Murray has struggled in net lately, and if the Penguins decision to swap in Tristan Jarry ($8,200), we may favor Jarry has a top goalie and suggest you fade the Ducks on offense.
However, with the current FanDuel NHL pegged starters in mind, we favor Rask the most. In his last eight starts, since mid-December, Tuukka has seven wins and only one overtime loss to the Penguins last week. Rask’s last win was over the Canadiens, in Montreal, on Saturday. Assuming the hot Bruins offense can overcome Price tonight, Rask should be a slam-duck 20 to 30 FanDuel NHL point play tonight and a great way to cap off your lineup.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Wednesday, January 17th:
C Crosby (PIT $9,000)
C Getzlaf (ANH $7,300)
W Rakell (ANH $6,500)
W Silfverberg (ANH $5,800)
W Sprong (PIT $3,800)
W Hagelin (PIT $3,600)
D Fowler (ANH $5,200)
D McAvoy (BOS $4,700)
G Rask (BOS $9,100)
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!