Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for January 5th

Fantasy Hockey: NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 28: Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders celebrates his goal at 4:51 of the third period against the Ottawa Senators at the Barclays Center on December 28, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Welcome to 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 Saturday, January 5th 2019.

After a great two-day fantasy hockey run, yesterday was a frustrating slate. Nathan MacKinnon performed almost exactly as expected, piling up over 42 FanDuel NHL points with a power play goal and two power play assists.

Sidney Crosby was a bit of a disappointment though. The Penguins blanked the Jets in a great game in Pittsburgh. But Sid only had one assist, two shots on goal, and a blocked shot for 12.8 FanDuel NHL points. That’s not a terrible result, but for a $9,100 salary that’s well below expectations.

Miles Wood ($3,300) and Jakob Chychrun ($3,600) were fantastic value plays. Miles was below 3% owned in most formats and Jakob was sub-10%. Yet they their point yield was a combined 20 FanDuel NHL points on two cheap salaries.

But the real killer to the lineup was MacKenzie Blackwood ($7,500), who has been on fire, leaving the ice with a groin injury early in the game. MacKenzie hadn’t given up any goals and already had eight saves. But the early exit eliminated his win possibility and we only squeezed 6.4 points out of the hot young net-minder.

While we had some disappointing plays, we also had pure back luck on Friday. Hopefully we can rebound on Saturday, for what appears to be an exciting weekend Main slate on 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 Saturday, January 5th 2019:

Sabres at Bruins 7pm ET ESPN+

Canucks at Maple Leafs 7pm ET

Predators at Canadiens 7pm ET ESPN+

Blue Jackets at Panthers 7pm ET

Islanders at Blues 8pm ET

Oilers at Kings 10pm ET

Lightning at Sharks 11pm ET

Of the ground of games this evening, probably the most exciting to watch is the Canucks traveling to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs. We’ll likely grab several players from that game for our lineups.

The Canadiens have some appealing value plays which will come in handy with the expensive, but hard to ignore, Bolts on the ice against the Sharks in San Jose. The Islanders are also in a great position, and the Oilers are a healthy consideration as well.

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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

Connor McDavid ($9,300) is in a great spot to explode with FanDuel NHL points on Saturday night. The Oilers offense travels to Los Angeles were Jonathan Quick and the Kings have struggled. Quick hasn’t played that poorly but the aging Kings team is struggling on the defensive side of the game and McDavid is just too young and fast for that team.

I’ll probably play McDavid in a few cash lineups, but may pivot to a McDavid-linked winger play for better value. We’ll get to that later.

Auston Matthews ($8,400) and Steven Stamkos ($8,300) are also healthy considerations as top center plays. But, are any other hockey fans absolutely excited, as much as I am, to play two hot centers in the same lineup who used to play alongside each other in Long Island, New York?

That’s right baby! John Tavares ($8,200) and Mathew Barzal ($6,800) are not only an fordable combination at the center position for Saturday night, but the point-potential also makes complete sense.

Last season, I loved stacking Tavares and Barzal as an Isles mini or full four man stack. This season, Tavares quickly rose to prominence in Toronto, while we waited to see if Barzal could emerge as a solid Tavares replacement.

Over the last month, Mathew appears to be doing just that. In his last 14 games, Barzal has 15 points with seven goals and eight assists. Four of those points were during a power play. He’s also averaging 19 minutes of ice time per game and has fired off 39 shots in that time.

Barzal’s stats nearly match Tavares in the last 14 games. John has 16 points with nine goals and seven assists. But, only two of those points were during a power play. John is also averaging around 19 minutes of ice time per game but has an amazing 59 shots on goal in just those 14 games.

There are plenty of great options at center tonight, but the Tavares and Barzal stack should yield the most points for the salary you’re giving up.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Before we get into any other winger plays, let’s focus on the obvious top pick. We’ve been on him all week and he consistently plays out well.

You’re giving up a lot of salary for Nikita Kucherov ($9,200), but he hasn’t had less than 18 FanDuel NHL points since December 10th, has more than 22 points in eight of his last nine games, and hit the 40 points mark three of the last five games.

Kucherov is simply on fire. In the last five straight games, Nikita has five goals and 12 assists. That’s right, 17 points in just five games! Not only are we expecting over 20 points from this play, he is a solid shot at another 40+ points. That’s a lot!

For the second winger pick, I’m looking at a mid-salary range option and I’ve been pivoting back and forth between Leon Draisaitl ($7,200) and Mike Hoffman ($6,500). Between the two, I like Draisaitl the most. He gives us great exposure to McDavid without having to pay up for McDavid at center.

However, that still creates a salary problem. If we go with Leon, that will seriously limit our options for the rest of the of the winger position, the defense position, and even goalie. So, it’s not an ideal play, but worth a consideration, especially for GPP plays.

If you go with Hoffman, you still have a solid shot at 20 points with enough money left over to get decent defensive picks and a solid goalie pick. Still, with either you need to find value with the next two winger picks.

Fortunately, there are two solid value plays at the winger position. First, remember that we have Tavares in most of our lineups and we also like Matthews. With that in mind, Andreas Johnsson ($3,600) is a great possibility. Johnsson plays on the same line as Matthews and centers the Leafs second power play line.

Joel Armia ($3,000) is dirt cheap and playing on the Canadiens third line. But, he also plays wing with Max Domi on the Habs top power play line. This has allowed Armia to pile up nearly 15 minutes of ice time per game, and several shots on goal per game.

He also has a goal and three assists in the last five games. That’s a lot of production for a guy at the bottom of the FanDuel NHL salary list for winger. Alright, let’s look at a few top picks on defense…

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

The two picks you make at defense will depend on the route you take paying for the top center and winger picks. Before we even get there, one of my favorite plays on Saturday night is a guy we’ve been on all week.

He isn’t flashy and doesn’t hit the 20 point mark that often, but Jeff Petry ($4,900) continues to be an affordable way to get double-digit FanDuel NHL points each time he’s on the ice. In his last 13 straight games, Jeff has at least ten or more points, hitting only 6.4 as a floor.

Petry is on the ice for 20 to 25 minutes per game, often gets two or more blocked shots per game, has a goal and two assist in his last six games, and has 12 shots on goal in the last three Habs games.

For the second pick, I prefer to go with Alexander Edler ($4,800), who’s a play very much like Petry. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I like Hoffman as a second pick for winger. Between the two, we have a solid shot at around 40 FanDuel NHL points without giving up too much salary.

If you go with Draisaitl at the winger spot instead, or pay up more at the center position, you’ll need to find a cheaper second defense pick. Ryan Murray ($3,700) or Anton Stralman ($3,900) are two cheaper options who could get you eight to ten points without cracking the $4K mark.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

While Jonathan Quick ($8,600) is playing solid goaltending lately, I don’t love the team in front of him. I also don’t love the fact that he’ll see McDavid flying all over the ice, and have flash-backs of how the Bolts destroyed him this week.

That being said, the Oilers are very weak after their top line is off the ice, so if Quick can hang in there, he’s worth a flier. But, I’m not sure that I’m willing to pay that much for a risky goalie play on Saturday night.

A safer expensive bet is Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,300), mostly because of what we just said the Bolts offense did to Quick this week. Tampa’s offense, including Kucherov, are red-hot right and Vas is likely going to get 30 to 40 points against a solid Sharks offense in San Jose Saturday night.

But, all of that said, we’ve had better results by picking a more affordable hot goalie lately. Blackwood could have been a great pick last night, and we’ve had great success with other picks like Robin Lehner ($7,900).

Speaking of Lehner, while FanDuel NHL doesn’t have Robin pegged as the starting goalie at the time of writing this post (as they didn’t with Blackwood last night), I suspect Lehner may get the nod for Saturday night.

Why? Well, simply put…he’s a ‘man on fire.’ In his last six outings, Robin has only given up five goals, so less than one per game. That includes a shut out of the Senators followed by a shut out of the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

I have to believe the Isles will start Lehner again in a winnable game against the Blues, in Saint Louis. If Lehner doesn’t go, another value consideration could be Michael Hutchinson ($7,400).

I don’t love this play, as he’s seen little action in the NHL and only starting because the Leafs backup, Sparks, is currently injured. But, there’s a solid shot at a win with lots of shots on goal, on home ice, for a good tam.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays January 5th 2019 Summary

Our favorite center tandem on Saturday night is bringing Tavares and Barzal back together, at least through the fantasy hockey channels. From there, I have to have Kucherov in my lineup as the top winger play.

The hard part is the second winger pick. I could go with either Draisaitl or Hoffman, and I’m only leaning Hoffman because of the value. I’ll likely us Leon, too, in some lineups as the Oilers top line could have a good night against the Kings.

Regardless, I need at least two value plays at the winger position on Saturday, and Johnsson and Armia are my favorite combination. We should have two shots at double-digit points, per play, for only $6,600 of my FanDuel NHL salary.

At the defense position, my favorite combination is Edler and Petry. The pair mirror each other and could get us 30 to 40 points. If you need cheaper picks here, consider Murray and Stralman. And at goalie I’m hoping for another Lehner gem, assuming he starts. The top expensive net-minder is Vas, but you could also consider Hutchinson as a value play.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Saturday, January 5th 2019:

C       John Tavares ($8,200)

C       Mathew Barzal ($6,800)

W     Nikita Kucherov ($9,200)

W     Mike Hoffman ($6,500)

W     Andreas Johnsson ($3,600)

W     Joel Armia  ($3,000)

D      Jeff Petry ($4,900)

D      Alexander Edler ($4,800)

G      Robin Lehner ($7,900)

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!