Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays for January 19th

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 Saturday, January 19th 2019.

Hopefully you read the Fantasy Hockey lineup picks we had for NHL DFS FanDuel last Tuesday. The vast majority of the lineups we played were returning 4X cash in both cash plays and GPP.

Robin Lehner continued to pay dividends at the goalie spot, rarely giving up goals for the Islanders and locking in win after win. While Brent Burns was a disappointment on Tuesday, Ekholm continued his double-digit point consistency.

Brandon Pirri continues to be a ridiculous value for FanDuel NHL, Blake Coleman stayed hot for the Devils, and Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler were tremendous for the Jets. Hischier and Aho weren’t ideal on Tuesday, but we go over 160 FanDuel NHL points without them.

I haven’t posted a fantasy hockey since Tuesday, but have (of course) continued to play DFS NHL lineups. Last night, I only had time to get into the late night match-ups, but did well sticking with the Flames at goalie and grabbing some sneaky plays like Mike Green and Bo Horvat.

Hopefully we can continue to replicate the success we’ve been having with the Saturday night main slate for FanDuel NHL. We’re going to fade the two early afternoon games, and stick with the evening events.

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 19th:

Rangers at Bruins 7pm ET

Flyers at Canadiens 7pm ET ESPN+

Sharks at Lightning 7pm ET

Senators at Blues 7pm ET

Jets at Stars 7pm ET

Panthers at Predators 8pm ET

Blue Jackets at Wild 9pm ET

Flames at Oilers 10pm ET

Penguins at Golden Knights 10pm ET ESPN+

There are a few games that jump out to me as I’m looking at the schedule for Saturday night. First, the Flames continue to be one of the most successful teams in hockey this season. The Oilers also happen to have one of, if not the, best hockey players on the planet in Connor McDavid. They’re hosting the Flames, but the Oilers have struggled to play great hockey around Connor.

With that in mind, I’m taking a hard look at playing the Flames again on Sunday. I also like the Bruins odds against the Rangers in Boston. The Flyers have been a sneaky DFS NHL team lately, finally generating some scoring, and the Panthers offense is finally chugging along. There’s two great value teams to look at there.

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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

Before you do ANYTHING else in your FanDuel NHL lineup, put Vincent Trocheck ($3,000) into your top center spot. Why? Well, if you’ve been watching hockey over the last few years you already know the answer.

If you haven’t been watching hockey much in the last few seasons, but have been focused on this season, you may still not know much about Vinny. In short, Aleksander Barkov ($6,800) and Trocheck are two incredible talents leading the Panthers top lines and are fantastic for fantasy hockey.

The pair often score and dish the puck each game, getting many shots on goal. But we haven’t seen much of Trocheck because of injuries this season. Vinny has been on the IR since mid-November, and just came off the IR yesterday.

Trocheck played 18 minutes on the ice, had a blocked shot, three shots on goal and an assist for 14.4 FanDuel NHL points. For a rock-bottom $3K salary, that’s a very impressive return.

For some reason, FanDuel maintained his $3K salary, likely because they weren’t sure how much the Panthers will push Vinny on the ice. Last night we got the answer. Trocheck is clearly imbedded back into one of the top spots in their lineup and is playing a high volume of time. You absolutely must play Trocheck at this price…it’s unavoidable.

For my other center pick, I’ve been bouncing around between Matt Duchene ($7,100) and Sean Couturier ($6,500). Both are playing on teams struggling to win games this season. However, they also both are in the middle of a hot streak.

Duchene’s productivity has bene more consistent over a longer period of time. Matt is also facing the Blues in St. Louis, a better match-up than Couturier in Montreal. However, Sean has ten shots in the last three games, a clear sign he’s going to start scoring more often.

Whenever skaters start heavily increasing their shot volume, goals tend to follow…whether it’s deflected into the net or a clear shot. Against a good Bruins team on Wednesday night, Couturier hd a hat-rick and 44.5 FanDuel NHL points. He may not do the same on Saturday, but with at least one or more points in the last five-straight games, Sean is clearly heating up right now.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Wingers

Once again, there’s very clear value at the winger spot you can’t ignore. I’ve been saying this over, and over, and over again…but for some reason Brandon Pirri ($4,000) continues to land around 15 to 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, without any significant salary increase.

He’s finally hit the $4K mark, but we’re talking about a guy who only has ONE game without any goals or assists. I get it, Pirri has been in the NHL since only December 20th this season and he continues to be called in and out of the AHL. But when he’s on the ice, he’s clearly one of the best wingers on a good Golden Knights team right now.

Put Pirri in all lineups and in all formats. Now, we’ve only spent $7K with to key position players. That allows us to really load up with the remaining three winger picks. I’ve been debating with myself about the top overall pick, which we’ll get to in a minute, but let’s go over two picks I absolutely love first.

We’ve been consistently playing Johnny Gaudreau ($8,900) and Elias Lindholm ($7,200) in our lineups each time the Flames are on the ice. They’ve been on fire playing for Calgary’s top line and likely will be solid plays again tonight.

However, another pivot from that obvious play is going with a cheaper, and just as productive lately, Matthew Tkachuk ($6,900) along with a great play from another team like the Predators Viktor Arvidsson ($7,300).

Why? Well, Johnny and Elias are becoming almost automatic, which is likely to end at some point. Also, you can easily avoid a chalky play like that while still benefiting from the team’s great offensive production through Tkachuk.

Meanwhile, someone like Arvidsson may have as good or a better result tonight. Viktor had a hat-trick against the Caps on Tuesday night, and now has six goals in the last five games. Tonight on home ice against a vulnerable defense like the Panthers, Arvidsson likely stays hot.

OK, we still have plenty of FanDuel NHL salary for a big top play at the winger spot. This is where I’m getting hung up. I could try to still have Johnny in my lineup, or save some money and grab Brad Marchand ($8,300) instead. That move leaves me with plenty of salary for solid plays at the defense and goalie position.

But, you can also go with some less expensive picks like David Pastrnak ($8,100), Blake Wheeler ($8,000), or Artemi Panarin ($7,900). Of those three, I like Panarin the most, but Marchand is red-hot right now and I think I can afford him and still be comfortable with my defense and goalie picks. I’m likely using both approaches on Saturday night.

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

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Defenders

Depending on who you went with for your top winger, you can likely grab an expensive pick on defense like Mark Giordano ($6,600) or Roman Josi ($6,400). Between those two I like Giordano the most. But I’m unlikely to pay up for a Brent Burns ($7,600) or Erik Karlsson ($7,200) in Tampa against a very good Lightning team.

We do like the Boston Bruins hosting the Rangers on Saturday, and Torey Krug ($6,100) has one goals and two assist in the last two games. It’s a solid mini-stack option with Marchand. However, I like the mid-salary range defenders the most on Saturday night.

Specifically, John Klingberg ($5,800) and Thomas Chabot ($5,500) seem like a steal at this price. Of those two, I like Chabot the most. Coming back from an injury, Thomas is finally looking as strong as he did earlier in the season, when he resembled someone like Burns on the ice.

Chabot was, at one point, the top scorer for the Senators this season. And that was for an extended period of time. Now, Chabot has an assist five blocked shots, and ten shots on goal in his last two games. With ten shots on goal, I’m also encouraged he’ll begin scoring more often soon.

For a second pick, I’m sticking with the mid-salary range level and grabbing the obvious Mattias Ekholm ($5,500) play. Considering Ekholm’s current hot streak, this may seem like a chalky play, but he’s a very solid shot at 20 points while we sneak in Chabot as another top play likely lower owned.

Fantasy Hockey: NHL DFS FanDuel Power Plays Top Goalies

This is another position I’ve been moving guys in and out of all morning. With nine games on the ice, we have 18 goalies to consider, and Saturday night lists some of the top goalies in the NHL.

While Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,300) is clearly the best fantasy hockey goaltender this season, his salary against a good Sharks team (at least right now) seems like a rip-off. If I’m going to pay a lot for the goalie position, I’d rather save some salary with Tuukka Rask ($9,000), who’s FINALLY hot this season.

But, there are two other cheaper plays I also love, Carey Price ($8,600) on home ice against the Flyers and David Rittich ($8,000) against the Oilers in Edmonton. Price and Rittich each have a favorable match up, but Carey has the home-ice advantage.

So, I’m assuming most FanDuel NHL players will go with Price. But, that could be a trap. Yes, the Habs are playing better hockey with Price in goal lately. But the Flyers are demonstrating a current burst in scoring against seemingly good teams. So this seems like a super risky chalk play to me for Saturday.

I’d rather play the safer, and less sexier, bet with Rittich. He’s giving up two to three goals almost every game, but he’s also snagging around 30 saves per game. With a win, he’s a solid shot at 20 to 30 points for Saturday night.

Fantasy Hockey: FanDuel Power Plays January 19th 2019 Summary

We’re going with either Price or Rittich in net on Saturday night. If I had to lean one way, it would be toward the safer Flames net-minder play in Edmonton. We don’t necessarily need to save the salary, but that allows us the option of paying up for someone like Marchand at winger.

Speaking of winger, we have another dirt-cheap Pirri night tonight, and we’re easily able to afford other very good winger options like Arvidsson and the Flames Matthew Tkachuk. Wait, how can we spend that much money with the winger position on Saturday? Are we taking on too much risk at the center position?

Answer: Nope. Fortunately, FanDuel still has Vinny Trocheck priced at only $3K, which is a ridiculous steal. That allows us to easily grab a Couturier or Duchene and afford three high-priced wingers. Also, big point mid-salary range picks like Chabot and Ekholm on defense allow us to add another 20 to 40 points with only $11K of our salary.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the NHL DFS FanDuel Main slate on Saturday, January 19th 2019:

C       Vincent Trocheck ($3,000)

C       Sean Couturier ($6,500)

W     Brad Marchand ($8,300)

W     Viktor Arvidsson ($7,300)

W     Matthew Tkachuk ($6,900)

W     Brandon Pirri ($4,000)

D      Thomas Chabot ($5,500)

D      Mattias Ekholm ($5,500)

G      David Rittich ($8,000)

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!