Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for January 2nd

Fantasy Hockey: NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 27: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal at 12:06 of the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on December 27, 2018 in New York City. The Blue Jackets defeated the Rangers 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Welcome BACK to the NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays column. This is a fantasy hockey column focused on top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Wednesday, January 2nd 2019.

It’s a near year, welcome 2019, and we’re back with another look at fantasy hockey NHL DFS FanDuel lineup options. We had a great start to the 2018-2019 season, in the fall, and followed that up with some up and down swings.

In December, we’ve seen some previously cheap surprises continue to play well, maintaining their previously rising salary. But there are still several value plays that are inexplicably cheap for FanDuel NHL.

Before we get there, a reminder to never take a NHL DFS optimal lineup as ‘bible’ for your personal lineup each day. Use the suggestions as guidance. Also, make sure you follow final lineup thoughts throughout the day on our twitter account @FantasyCPR or me @MattyMcMatt17 look for late breaking lineup news.

Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for the Main slate on Wednesday, January 2nd 2019:

Canucks at Senators 7pm ET

Flames at Red Wings 7pm ET

Penguins at Rangers 7pm ET NBC Sports Network

Devils at Stars 8:30pm ET ESPN+

Sharks at Avalanche 9:30pm ET NBC Sports Network

Oilers at Coyotes 9:30pm ET

With another great Winter Classic in the books, and another two games on New Years Evening, we’re back with a relatively robust NHL schedule for a Wednesday. On a Wednesday night, when we typically have about three games, the NHL doubled their schedule to six games.

So there are plenty of great options, but the list isn’t quite as overwhelming as a typical Tuesday or Thursday. Of these match ups, the game I’m most likely to stay away from is the Canucks and Senators.

The Flames are by far the most intriguing offense, facing the reeling Red Wings in Detroit. The Rangers continue to have some quiet value plays available, and the Sharks and Avalanche both have great skaters on the ice Wednesday. Finally, the Oilers are an offense to consider against the Yotes, but I’m not sure if I’ll pay up for someone like Connor McDavid ($9,200).

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Centers

The top three centers are also the top three most expensive options. But we already mentioned I may not be willing to pay up for someone like McDavid, Sidney Crosby ($8,900), or Nathan MacKinnon ($8,600). We could get more, or similar points, with cheaper plays, allowing us to load up on other positions.

One offense I’m very intrigued by on Wednesday is the Flames, and Sean Monahan ($7,300) is a great way to start a Calgary stack. But, Sean is mostly getting you points by assists. Still, the young star has eight assists in just the last three games, including FIVE against the Sharks on New Year’s Eve.

While Kevin Hayes ($5,800) continues to be an intriguing value, playing well for the Rangers lately, I’ll likely grab a winger from New York later on, instead. In fact, at the mid-salary range for Center I’d rather have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($5,300).

Don’t be thrown off by the 3rd line tag by FanDuel NHL. Nugent-Hopkins has been on the ice around 20 minutes a game, over the last couple of weeks, and is playing on the Oilers first power play line with McDavid, inflating his point potential.

The fact that Ryan is consistently getting double-digit FanDuel NHL points but is somehow still only $5,300 is astounding to me. The more I think about it, I’d probably rather save my money with Nugent-Hopkins than grab Monahan, while still getting Sean’s helpers in the form of goals at the winger spot.

So now we’re talking about going mostly all value at the center position, to raise the tide of the rest of our lineup. And J.T. Compher ($4,800) makes that even easier. In fact, the 23-year-old former Michigan Wolverine captain is in a similar spot as Nugent-Hopkins.

J.T. may appear to be on the Avs second line, which is still a good thing, but he’s also averaging around 20 minutes of ice time each game, piling up points just for being on the ice so much, and has recently played on the same power play line as Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, two of the NHL’s top scorers, further inflating his FanDuel NHL point potential lately.

I love this Nugent-Hopkins/Compher combo at center.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Alright, we just saved a ton of money at the center position. I actually plugged in my goalie next to see how much salary I have left for the winger and defense positions and it’s a lot! Likely for the first time all season, I don’t plan on finding too much, if any, value at the winger spot. I may not spend less than $5.5K in any one winger position.

So who do we spend big on? Well, remember how we like Monahan and his line but would prefer to snag the goal scorers?

Johnny Gaudreau ($8,400) has been a major recipient of Monahan’s helpers. In just the last three games, Johnny has five goals and two assists. Even when not scoring, Gaudreau if firing four or more shots on goal lately, making him a very likely double-digit FanDuel NHL point play.

But we’re not just paying for Gaudreau for 10 to 15 points. We think he can score one or many goals against the Red Wings tonight, hopefully getting us something more like 30 to 40 points. Yes, we’re shooting that high with this pick.

Secondly, we’re picking Monahan and Gaudreau’s top line-mate Elias Lindholm ($5,900). Earlier in December, Lindholm went on a four-game scoring spree, piling up five in that time. Over the last five games, Elias has at least one goal or assist in four games, totaling a goal and six assists.

In between these two salary ranges, I’m grabbing a sneaky Chris Kreider ($6,500) against the Penguins on home ice in Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are having rough season but their top line has played fairly well lately.

Kreider, specifically, has five goals and three assists in the last five games. The Penguins are still a tough team to play, but they’re also struggling this season. Even better, the Pengs are struggling most in goal and on defense, a great time to grab Kreider with a reasonable salary and likely low ownership.

Every time I see the Sharks on a NHL DFS slate, I’m reminded of our excitement for Tomas Hertl ($5,500) at the start of the season. We’ve been talking about how sneaky Hertl’s fantasy value is since the first week of this season, and he’s still a great play.

The Sharks winger is also averaging around 20 minutes of ice time per game, and has four goals and two assists in the last four games. He’s hot, and the Avalanche defense is cooling off a bit. Now is a great time to play Hertl again.

Alright, let’s look at a few top picks on defense…

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Before I get into my top defensive plays, I want to start with the value pick. Why? Because when I was building my lineup, that’s exactly what I did, and I somehow ended up backing into the top defensive pick in the end. It’s a strategy I hadn’t used before, but seemed to work for Wednesday.

For value, I can’t understand how someone like Jakob Chychrun ($3,500) is so cheap. We’ve even used Chychrun before, with mild success, but that’s more or less what I’m expecting from this pick.

We’re getting a Coyotes top two line defensive man who’s on the ice for 20 to 25 minutes per game, he’s likely going to see two to four blocked shots, and will slap several shots on goal against the Oilers on home ice.

Jakob also has two goals in the last three games, and an additional two assists in the last six games. So an eight to 12 point play is likely here, but we have a decent shot at 20 or more points using hardly any salary.

Alright, so who’s the top defensive pick on Wednesday night? Well, after plugging in my reasonably priced center, loading up on winger plays, finding my goalie, and grabbing an obvious value play with the other d-man pick, I have $7,300 in salary left.

So, quite frankly, you can grab anyone other than Erik Karlsson ($7,400). But, I’m OK with that. I haven’t played Karlsson much, yet, this season because he isn’t getting you enough points, in return, for his high-priced salary.

However, while Kris Letang ($6,800) is still an option and Mark Giordano ($6,200) is a great cap to a potential Flames stack, I’m likely going with Brent Burns ($7,200) instead.

Burnsy had a disappointing start to the season, especially considering Karlsson is now also on the ice, on the same team. But that may be part of the problem.

Now leading the D-men on the top regular line, Brent is firing off around five shots per game, still getting a few blocked shots each game, and has two goals and three assists in the last three games. One of those goals was of the power play variety. He’s hot right now, and a great play if you can afford him.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Frankly, the goalie position wasn’t an easy pick to figure out for Wednesday. There are several marginal options because of mach ups and injuries. For example, one of the reasons I’m OK playing Sharks in Colorado is that Semyon Varlamov ($8,300) is dealing with some apparent injury issues, lading to the Avs starting Philipp Grubauer ($7,600). Against the Sharks? No, thanks.

Casey DeSmith ($8,200), in theory, is a decent play against the Rangers. But the Rangers look like a different team right now, and I don’t know which DeSmith I’m getting tonight. Ben Bishop ($8,700) is a similar play, although probably one of my top three options tonight.

Jacob Markstrom ($8,400) is also a solid play against the Senators in Ottawa Wednesday night. In fact, I was about to go with Markstrom and Bishop, when the thought occurred to me…wait, who’s in net for the Flames tonight?

Even in Detroit, the Flames are a big favorite to win, so we’re likely getting at least 12 points from that play. Secondly, With David Rittich ($7,800) likely in goal, I know I’m getting nearly 30 saves for a solid shot at 25 to 35 points.

Rittich has struggled, at times, against good teams over the last month, but he’s also dominated bad teams and held his own against some of the top teams in the past two weeks, like the Jets.

Also, David and the Flames match up very well against the Red Wings, likely eliminating a five goals against situation like he saw against the Sharks. There’s some risk, but if this play gets us nearly 30 points on Wednesday, this lineup will be hard to beat.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays January 2nd 2019 Summary

While there are some center plays I like on Wednesday, most are too expensive considering some of the best options at the other positions. I started off likely Monahan the most at center, but can’t pass up the value Nugent-Hopkins and Compher give me as a dual-value play in the position.

After I grabbed Rittich as my goalie and found Chychrun as a value play at center, I realized I had tons of cash to use with the remaining five picks. So, I’m doing a mini-Flames top line stack at the winger position with Gaudreau and Lindholm, getting a piece of whatever Monahan does on Wednesday as well.

I’m also snagging a sneaky high-point potential play from the Rangers Kreider, along with Hertl who has a solid goalie match up on Wednesday. That left me with $7,300 to spend on the remaining defensive pick, and Burns is a guy I finally want in my lineup.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Wednesday, January 2nd 2019:

C       Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($5,300)

C       J.T. Compher ($4,800)

W     Johnny Gaudreau ($8,400)

W     Chris Kreider ($6,500)

W     Elias Lindholm ($5,900)

W     Tomas Hertl ($5,500)

D      Brent Burns ($7,200)

D      Jakob Chychrun ($3,500)

G      David Rittich ($7,800)

Remaining Salary: $100

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

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