NHL DFS Lineup Picks for DraftKings: Goalies, Value Plays, Stacks, and Power Plays Picks (1/8/26)

January 8, 2026

Get today's top DraftKings daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for January 8, 2026. Doug's expert NHL DFS goalies picks, value plays, stacks, and power play picks.

Tonight’s 12-game slate is a little bit larger than usual for a Thursday night, but that just means more hockey for us to dive into as we try to take down a big tournament. A big slate like this means more value to be found and less concern about high ownership on any one team, making for a night full of creative builds.

This is a front-loaded slate, with nine of the 12 games starting at 8 p.m. ET or earlier, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the later games, either. There’s a lot of action all over the slate with Toronto, Edmonton, Colorado, and Carolina all featured. Are these the teams we want to rely on tonight? Read on to find out.

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NHL DFS Analysis And Picks For 1/8/26

Philadelphia Flyers (PHI1 - Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, Christian Dvorak; $16,800 DK)

Defensive Addition: Cam York ($4,100 DK)

I know, I was surprised to see them here as well, but here we are … the Philadelphia Flyers are a (the?) top stack of the night. Philly has been white-hot at home, scoring 3.46 even-strength goals per 60 minutes over its past 10 games. Advanced data suggests that it shouldn’t have been that successful, but sometimes we just have to ride a hot team. 

Its top line of Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, and Christian Dvorak has led the way, averaging 4.51 goals per 60 minutes over this time span. They’ve put a ton of pressure on opposing goalies, combining for an average of 15.04 high-danger chances per 60 minutes in those games, and that kind of pressure generally leads to offensive success. 

Tonight, they face a Toronto squad that is due to get blown out on the road, having allowed half a goal fewer per 60 minutes than expected over its past 10 games. Goalie Joseph Woll has put the team on his back, saving 92% of the high-danger shots he’s faced in those games, an unsustainable number the more of those shots he sees. The team’s defensive pairing of Philippe Myers and Simon Benoit has surrendered nearly 17 high-danger chances per 60 minutes over their past 10 road games. 

This could put Woll in severe danger of facing that regression monster, which could hit him hard against an aggressive Philadelphia top line. The Flyers aren’t overly expensive, meaning you can pair them up with another strong line to form a balanced lineup, something that’s nearly impossible to do with the other top line tonight, the Colorado Avalanche. 

Trevor Zegras says his celebration was a reenactment of how fast Anaheim hung up after telling him he was traded 😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/G0VkOdQOaW

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 7, 2026

Colorado Avalanche (COL1 - Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen; $21,200 DK)

Defensive Addition: Cale Makar ($7,700 DK)

The Avalanche is the best home offense in the entire NHL, averaging 4.5 even-strength goals per 60 minutes over their past 10 games, but it’s going to cost you a huge percentage of your cap space to get them on your roster. That doesn’t mean this team isn’t worth it, as Nathan MacKinnon is one of the three best players in fantasy. 

He’s averaging nearly 22 DraftKings points per game and is so good that he’s scored 10.5 points in each of his past two games despite not registering a single goal or assist. He’s scored over 30 DraftKings points in half of his past 10 games, giving him a monster ceiling worthy of his $10,200 price tag. Your saving grace with this line is Artturi Lehkonen, who is back with a $4,700 price point, replacing an injured Gabriel Landeskog. 

Even with those savings, you’ll be left with about $3,400 per player to round out your lineup if you go with a four-man Avalanche stack and a cheap goalie like Connor Hellebuyck. That leaves you very little wiggle room for a secondary stack, but on a large slate like this, there are avenues to make it work if you’re willing to dumpster dive. 

CAREER GOAL 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ FOR NATHAN MACKINNON‼️ pic.twitter.com/y4I9UWTE4B

— NHL (@NHL) January 1, 2026

Florida Panthers (FLA1 - Eetu Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell; $16,100 DK)

Defensive Addition: Aaron Ekblad ($4,400 DK)

There are other teams that would appear to have better matchups, but I want to take shots against Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault and the Canadiens on the second night of a back-to-back. Montembeault has allowed 5.35 goals per 60 minutes over the team’s past 10 home games, and has given up at least three goals in 75% of the games he’s appeared in. 

Montreal’s defense has plenty of holes, but Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson have played poorly at home, surrendering 15.18 high-danger chances per 60 minutes. Montembeault has struggled when under pressure, saving just 73% of the high-danger shots he’s faced during this stretch. 

The Panthers have been a wagon on the road, scoring 3.8 even-strength goals per 60 minutes over their past 10 road games.  Their top line of Eetu Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart, and Anton Lundell has scored 3.74 even-strength goals and generated over 15 high-danger chances per 60 minutes during this period.

Want more NHL DFS tools and content? Our NHL Premium package includes our daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Research Station, Lineup Optimizer, and access to our VIP Discord Chatrooms. Doug Shain (@BanksterDFS) joined the NHL team in 2023 with his proven track record - join in on the winning!

Back-to-back @DraftKings Fantasy Hockey World Championship trips! Let’s get the main prize this year! Thank you to @banksterdfs for the amazing daily fantasy content! @NHL pic.twitter.com/dONSvJMtIR

— 🇺🇦Shockmain (@Shockmain) January 6, 2023

NHL DFS Value Stack of the Night

Pittsburgh Penguins (PIT2 - Evgeni Malkin, Yegor Chinakhov, Ben Kindel; $12,200 DK)

Veteran Evgeni Malkin looks like he will be returning to the lineup for tonight’s game, which has caused the Penguins to shuffle their second and third lines considerably. Ben Kindel jumps back up to this line, with newly acquired Yegor Chinakhov joining him and Malkin. 

Chinakhov has played three games with the Penguins, recording a goal, an assist, and six shots on goal. He’s yet to play with the kind of talent he’ll be skating with tonight, but his early returns look promising for a player priced at just $2,900. 

Pittsburgh faces a reeling New Jersey team that just allowed nine goals to an average Islanders team on Tuesday night. Granted, it was Jacob Markstrom, and not Jake Allen, in the net for that game, but the defense in front of him hasn’t changed. The pairing we are going to attack is Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes. 

They have given up 16.01 high-danger chances per 60 minutes over their past 10 road games, which will put Allen under a ton of pressure tonight. For his part, Allen has appeared to play well on the road recently, but advanced data shows that he’s allowed nearly a full goal fewer than expected, so regression should be coming his way.

NHL DFS Goalie to Target

Scott Wedgewood (COL - $8,500 DK)

If we were to just look at his past four games, I’d be very concerned about Scott Wedgewood. He allowed 13 goals in those games and has been playing some of his worst hockey of the season. Thankfully, we look a little deeper into these things, and when we do that with Wedgewood, we realize that all four of those games were on the road against top offenses in the league (Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Vegas). 

Wedgewood is a different beast at home, having allowed more than three goals in a game since late October, over eight starts. Wedgewood didn’t score fewer than 11 DraftKings points in any of those games, making him one of the safer goalies on the slate. He’s very pricey at $8,500, but with some of our favorite stacks being on the cheaper end tonight, he’s easily affordable if you choose to spend up at the position. 

Others in consideration: Stuart Skinner (PIT), Connor Hellebuyck (WPG), Jonathan Quick (NYR)

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