Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for January 4th

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 Friday, January 4th 2019.

Well, the yield of 170+ FanDuel NHL points per lineup continued yesterday. You did especially well if you pivoted one of your fantasy hockey wingers to James van Riemsdyk, who finally scored another despite the Flyers continued woes last night.

I didn’t win every cash and GPP play with the suggestions I laid out on Thursday. However, I did win most cash plays and at more than half of the GPP plays. With lower scoring outcomes last night, compared to Wednesday, it was easier to conquer the slate.

Fortunately, Friday night’s Main slate is very much like the last two days. We don’t have a small slate, as we typically do on a Friday, and yet there aren’t too many games to overwhelm the options. Also, there are plenty of red-hot skaters back on the ice for Friday night.

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 Friday, January 4th 2019:

Jets at Penguins 7pm ET ESPN+

Predators at Red Wings 7:30pm ET

Blue Jackets at Hurricanes 7:30pm ET

Capitals at Stars 8pm ET

Rangers at Avalanche 9pm ET

Devils at Coyotes 9pm ET

Golden Knights at Ducks 10pm ET

The Jets in Pittsburgh is a great game, either team is in play there. But between those two teams, the Penguins have the hottest offense, arguably in the NHL, right now. The Predators playing in Detroit makes them appealing, but I’m staying away from the Hurricanes and Red Wings on home ice.

The Blue Jackets are another hot team taking the ice on Friday, and along with the value we can get from teams like the Coyotes, Devils, and Golden Knights, it won’t be hard to stack some of the more expensive top plays of the slate.

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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

Well, on Wednesday we had some success playing two solid mid-salary range centers with high point potential. Yesterday, we went with a more expensive top play and used a very good value pick, both of which played out nicely.

So, why not switch it up again, right? Well, I am. The opportunity at the center position for Friday night is too good to pass up. Also, there are plenty of value options in the goalie, defense, and winger spots to make this happen.

Sidney Crosby ($9,100) is playing elevated ice hockey lately. He resembles Kucherov’s surge of multiple points per game, consistently, over the last couple of weeks. In the last five straight games, Sid the Kid has three goals and nine assists, scoring a power play goal in two of the last three games.

The match-up for the Penguins against the Jets may seem like a tough one, but the Penguins are on home ice and playing better hockey than we’ve seen them play all season.

It might seem impossible to do something like then pair Crosby with Nathan MacKinnon ($8,700) but it’s a plausible situation on Friday night, as you’ll see later.

As you can likely pick up from his over 22 point-per-game FanDuel NHL average this season, MacKinnon has been one of the best, and most consistent, fantasy hockey options for NHL DFS optimal lineups this season.

Not only does Nathan have at least one point in each of his last five games, but he’s firing off five or more shots and has been providing blocked-shot points as well. Against the Rangers on home ice, MacKinnon has an opportunity to put up more than one point in this game as well.

Similar to yesterday’s two big winger plays, this pairing has a decent shot at getting you 80 to 100 points, which is a great way to start a lineup. Most nights the salary and value options don’t allow for this to happen, without taking on huge right, but I believe it’s fairly reasonable to do this Friday night.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Before we get to the top play at winger, let’s talk about value for this position on Friday night. There’s plenty of it, but most of the value plays are in the lower mid-salary range for FanDuel NHL.

Before we get to that, though, I like the potential Miles Wood ($3,300) has for points per salary. While he’s on the Devils third line, he’s involved in their power play and has been on the ice around 15 minutes per game lately.

In the last four games, Miles has a goal and two assists, and is averaging around 4 shots on goal per game in the last two weeks. Even if he isn’t involved in point scoring on Friday night, Wood is still a cheap shot for at least six to eight points, with the potential to go higher than 20.

A more expensive value play, but a must-have in your lineup for Friday is Brandon Pirri ($4,500). If you’ve been following these posts, this pick should be no surprise to you. I’ve loved playing Pirri consistently since being called up to play on the Golden Knights top lines, and he consistently rewards me with value.

For only $4.5K, we’re getting a guy who has six goals and three assists in just seven games this season. That is why his average is hovering around 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game. Will we eventually see regression for Brandon? Potentially. But there’s also the possibility that he continues to play way and his minutes on the ice climb.

At the mid-salary range level, I’ve been debating between Patric Hornqvist ($5,300) and Craig Smith ($5,100). Hornqvist is more of a shot at a higher ceiling of FanDuel NHL points, but also has the potential to drop sub-five points. Patric has been ebbing and flowing constantly this season.

Smith is more appealing to me because he’s a safer bet for double-digit points and I’m already taking big shots with my salary on guys like Crosby, MacKinnon, and now Cam Atkinson ($7,500) as my top winger pick.

That’s right, I’m still spending a bunch of money on at least one winger pick and it’s still affordable with Sidney and Nathan in my lineup as well.

The Blue Jackets top line offense has looked better lately, and that’s mostly due to Atkinson waking up and playing like he did most of last season. In the last six games, Cam has five goals and three assists, and he’s firing enough shots on goal each game that he’s nearly a lock for over ten points and his ceiling is closer to 40 Friday night.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Before we get into the top pick, I’m looking for value again at this position to afford the other big plays I made. Also, I’m not likely to pick an expensive top pick for this position, which I’ll get to in a few mins.

First, the value play. This won’t surprise you if you’ve been following along this week. Jakob Chychrun ($3,600) only got us 4.8 FanDuel NHL points on Wednesday. Frankly, that was a disappointment after six or more since beyond December 20th.

However, we also know that’s likely Jakob’s floor and he can do better Friday. Chychrun is averaging around two blocked shots already, and has been firing several shots on goal in the last month. Chychrun is also on the ice for around 20 minutes per game. This is more of a ten-point play, but there’s potential upside.

Now, the top defensive play. There are plenty of expensive options, especially Kris Letang ($6,900) paired with Sidney Crosby if you are going cheaper with the other center or top winger picks. I also like Roman Josi ($6,300) and Seth Jones ($6,000).

But my two favorite top D-man picks are Tyson Barrie ($5,500) and Zach Werenski ($5,400). Of the two, Werenski is the hottest, most consistent, and will likely see the most ice time. But Barrie is a similar play with a better match up. Still, I’m probably going Werenski in most of my lineups.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

I wasn’t confident picking MacKinnon, Crosby, and Atkinson all in the same lineup unless I felt like we could get some deep value at the winger and defense position, and could snag a decently priced top goalie pick. Fortunately, depending on how the starters line up Friday, I think there’s a good one.

Keith Kinkaid ($7,500) has been pegged as the starter, currently while writing this post, for FanDuel NHL. However, I think it’s more likely MacKenzie Blackwood ($7,500) continues to block shots between the pipes for the Devils on Friday.

I could be wrong, and either Devils net-minder is a good play against the Coyotes, but Blackwood’s point potential is enormous, considering his salary. He did give up five goals in a loss against the Stars in Dallas last outing. But, MacKenzie also had 35 saves in that game, so you have to wonder was it really Blackwood or the Devils defense?

For now, I’m going with Blackwood bounces back seeing around 30 shots on goal with nearly as many saves and a win for at least 20+ FanDuel NHL points. Hopefully he starts, but I may also consider a bounce-back opportunity play from Kinkaid if he gets the nod instead.

If you’re going to spend big in the goaltending position, the best plays are obvious. Marc-Andre Fleury ($9,200) has been on fire and his salary depicts that. Matt Murray ($8,800) is a great play likely getting a lot of saves against a good time, for the win, in Pittsburgh, and Pekka Rinne ($8,400) has a great match up as well.

But, of all of the goalie options on Friday, I like Blackwood’s value the most.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays January 4th 2019 Summary

As we just mentioned, while there are three great goalie options for Friday, I don’t like how expensive and limiting they are for the rest of the lineup. I also think Blackwood’s value is too juicy to pass up Friday. So I’m likely going with the Devils’ net-minder.

So with some goalie value already in my lineup, I’m going to keep looking for value in the defense and winger position and find plenty. Chychrun is on our radar again Friday for defense and the Devils’ Wood seems like a sneaky value pick as well.

Pirri is a slam-dunk value pick and should be in all FanDuel NHL lineups Friday, although he may be chalky. From there, I’m picking either Craig Smith or Hornqvist as a mid-salary range winger play and the Blue Jacket’s Werenski for my final defense pick.

Now, I have plenty of cash left over. And with that big pile of cash, we plan to see great things from MacKinnon and Crosby in the center spot, and Atkinson as a top winger pick.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Friday, January 4th 2019:

C       Sidney Crosby ($9,100)

C       Nathan MacKinnon ($8,700)

W     Cam Atkinson ($7,500)

W     Craig Smith ($5,100)

W     Brandon Pirri ($4,500)

W     Miles Wood ($3,300)

D      Zach Werenski ($5,400)

D      Jakob Chychrun ($3,600)

G      MacKenzie Blackwood ($7,500)

Remaining Salary: $300

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!