Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for January 3rd

Welcome to NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays. This is a fantasy hockey column focused on top lineup plays each day. This edition is focused on the Main slate for Thursday, January 3rd 2019.

Depending on which NHL DFS formats you played or who you picked from our FanDuel Power Plays column yesterday, you likely had a good or great Fantasy Hockey day on Wednesday. However, with so many high scoring match ups, it may have been difficult to crack the cash mark in the GPP’s.

Earlier in the game, after going down 0-2 to the Red Wings in Detroit, the Flames stack seemed to be in jeopardy. Fortunately, and one of my favorite things about the NHL, the team swing quickly to the plus side, ultimately winning 5-3.

We initially thought Rittich would be in net, but the Flames went with Mike Smith ($7,400) instead. It appears Rittich may be dealing with a new injury issue. Still, I played Smith and for an even cheaper salary he gave me a solid 23.2 FanDuel NHL points.

Chris Kreider and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were very disappointing, totaling just over six points combined. But, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, and Brent Burns were three of the top fantasy hockey plays on Wednesday night. Two of those guys are back on the ice for Thursday. So, do we take them again?

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 Thursday, January 3rd 2019:

Flames at Bruins 7pm ET ESPN+

Panthers at Sabres 7pm ET

Hurricanes at Flyers 7pm ET

Blackhawks at Islanders 7:30pm ET NBC Sports Network

Canucks at Canadiens 7:30pm ET

Capitals at Blues 8pm ET

Maple Leafs at Kings 10:30pm ESPN+

While the Bruins in Boston are a more difficult match up than the Red Wings in Detroit, I still love how well the Flames offense is playing right now, especially that top line. For fantasy hockey purposes, the Panthers and Sabres game doesn’t interest me as much tonight, but they’re typically two teams we like.

The Flyers and Hurricanes are also sort of a ‘meh’ kind of game for NHL DFS, but I love the value we can get out of the Blackhawks and Islanders game. The Canucks and Canadiens also give us some value, and I may look for some cheaper Caps plays in Saint Louis tonight.

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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

Like Wednesday, there are some tempting expensive plays at center on Thursday night but I’m probably fading most of them. We almost played Sean Monahan ($7,600) who had a goal and assist last night with 26.9 FanDuel NHL total points. However, the Lindholm and Gaudreau, arguably, paid off more.

While Monahan is a solid consideration again on Thursday, I’m more intrigued by what Mathew Barzal ($6,600) has been doing lately. While Monahan had a goal last night, most of his fantasy hockey points have been coming from assists lately. Barzal is the opposite.

The 21-year-old is emerging from John Tavares‘ shadow, now that Tavares is in Toronto, and is beginning to look as good as many Isles fans hoped he look without John’s help. In the last three games, Barzal has five goals and two assists, and has at least one point in each of the last five straight games.

The Blackhawks looked better, compared to the rest of the season, during the Winter Classic on Tuesday. But their defense and goaltending is still lacking. That should be a problem for them in New York, but a benefit for those plugging Barzal into their lineups for Thursday.

For the second center pick, I’m likely going with a value play. This is a pivot from last night’s two low-to-mid salary range picks.

My favorite value play at center tonight is the Bruins Sean Kuraly ($3,200). Typically on the bottom two lines, Kuraly has been on the ice more often lately, around 15 minutes per game. That’s not surprising, given his current scoring surge of three goals and one assist in the last five games.

There’s some risk with the Kuraly value play, but Sean has nine shots in the last two games, so there are signs his fantasy hockey value is on the rise, at least for the time-being.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Oooooh Boy! Much like last night, I absolutely love the options at winger on Thursday. We need to spend some major dough here because we just can’t pass up the opportunity to play some of these skaters in the same lineup for a night. That means we’ll have to spend light in some other spots, which we’ll get to soon.

In the meantime, how about the idea of having a red-hot Nikita Kucherov ($9,100) in the same lineup as red-hot Johnny Gaudreau ($8,600)? Frankly, at first I didn’t think it would be feasible, but it’s not only possible, we can do it without sacrificing too many sure points.

So why those two? First of all, Kucherov, as you may have read in one of our recent posts is rapidly climbing up the top total points list in the NHL, recently replacing Mikko Rantanen at the top of the list.

Over the last six games, not only does Nikita have a least two points per game, but he also has a at least one goal and one assist in five of the last six games. That is insanely consistent fantasy hockey production! You must have him in your lineup!

Ironically, Gaudreau is quickly climbing up the list as well, now fifth in the NHL with 59 points in just 41 games. Doing very basic math, you realize he’s nearly a lock for a goal or assist per game, and averages more than that.

On a big night, hopefully on Thursday, Johnny and Nikita have the ability to build you close to 100 FanDuel NHL points with just two picks.

From there, I’m looking to spend no more than $10,400 with any combination of two wingers. The two I like most in the mid-value range is Dylan Strome ($5,200) and Tom Wilson ($5,200). But I’m also toying with the idea of playing James van Riemsdyk (5,200) against the Hurricanes in Philly.

Strome’s seasonal FanDuel NHL point-per-game average doesn’t tell his current story well. Since coming to Chicago in the a trade, Dylan has been heating up quickly on the ice. You likely know Wilson’s story now, and he’s still a good play, and van Riemsdyk is inconsistently trying to break through with the Flyers, now playing on their top line.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

OK, I honestly didn’t leave much FanDuel NHL salary left over for the defense and goalie positions. However, I do think we can get a great goalie pick below $8K, which we’ll get to later, so that leaves me with just under $10K left to find two solid defensive picks.

Fortunately, there are two in that range I already loved. I toyed with the idea of playing Alexander Edler ($4,700) on Wednesday night, but given the expectations we had for Burns, we decided to spend big then find a very cheap value play.

While the Burns pick yesterday was worth it, in some way I had buyers remorse watching Edler hand out three assists for the Canucks against the Senators in Ottawa. That’s now six assists and a goal in the least six games.

It’s great to see this type of production from Edler, who started off well and was a hot fantasy hockey play until an injury in mid-October. Returning to the ice in late November, Alexander appeared to be getting back to his early season form, but cooled off for a period. Well, that may have ended and we may be getting the old Alex back in January.

In the same game, but different team, I also like Jeff Petry ($4,900) playing over 20 minutes on the Habs second line while hosting the Canucks in Montreal.

Jeff is consistently piling up blocked shots, at least two per game over the last four games Petry is also getting more shots on goal lately, and has a goal and three assists in the last six games. Petry is more of an eight to 15 point play, were Edler has the potential to break 20 points. I’m happy with that production given what we’re hopefully getting at the winger spot as well.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

Oh, suddenly David Rittich ($7,800) is healthy and can play between the pipes on Thursday? Eh, no thank. After yesterday’s research I want to grab Dave, but I don’t like that they may have held him from the ice Wednesday because health reasons and now they’re playing a tougher team on road ice. Still, it’s a solid GPP play.

Another tempting play from a very hot net-minder is Linus Ullmark ($8,100). I started looking at Ullmark yesterday, and the Sabres play well on home ice. But the Panthers have some dangerous top line scorers, and I’ve see Linus get absolutely lit-up by the Flyers on home ice recently.

Instead of paying up further, and not getting much cheaper, I like Robin Lehner ($7,500) in net on home ice against a beat-able Chicago Blackhawks team. Lehner is probably the hottest goalie starting in net tonight, at least right now.

Over the last five games, Robin has given up only three total goals, no more than one goal per game, and won all five games. Before that, Lehner has showed signs of doing this, just not as consistently. However, now that the Islanders are getting this much dominance from their backup net-minder, he’s likely about to take the starting position with a win tonight.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays January 3rd 2019 Summary

We’re taking a different approach at the center position for Thursday, spending a little more on a red-hot Barzal and significantly less on Kuraly for some great value. The value play at center should pay off, because we’re going to spend big on two red-hot skaters with incredible FanDuel NHL point ceilings.

Kucherov and Gaudreau are basically the hottest skaters in the NHL right now. Not only are they consistently providing goals and assists, but they’re often doing both in the same game, multiple times. That vies us a shot at 80 to 100 points from just two great players.

We’re not getting two cheap with the other two winger picks, and will plug the Blackhawks Strome and Caps Wilson into the other two slots. Their mid-range salary should yield decent points, hopefully around 20 a piece. But, van Riemsdyk is also a healthy consideration tonight.

From there, I’m going to use Edler for a cheap shot at over 20 FanDuel NHL points, and Petry for a solid eight to 15 point finish in the second defensive pick. Lehner is red-hot in goal right now, and he’s a very reasonable price with a great match up on Thursday night.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Thursday, January 3rd 2019:

C       Mathew Barzal ($6,600)

C       Sean Kuraly ($3,200)

W     Nikita Kucherov ($9,100)

W     Johnny Gaudreau ($8,600)

W     Dylan Strome ($5,200)

W     Tom Wilson ($5,200)

D      Jeff Petry ($4,900)

D      Alexander Edler ($4,700)

G      Robin Lehner ($7,500)

Remaining Salary: $0

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!