NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (1/22): Value Plays, Goalies, Stacks

Welcome, RotoBallers. Hockey season is back and I am thrilled to be covering this sport over at RotoBaller! As always, I will do my best to give you the stats and info you need to build the best lineups possible for your GPP and cash game NHL contests on DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft.

If you are new to playing NHL DFS, there are several things to know that will help you get caught up to speed. The first thing to know is that stacking lines is important and correlating your plays can pay off. In hockey, if someone scores a goal, there's a good chance that some on his team will receive an assist on that goal, so you want to build lineups around players skating together. The second thing is to make sure you look at the two sites and see the different ways to obtain points. On DraftKings, you get bonus points for 5+ shots or 3+ blocked shots so someone like Alex Ovechkin who is a volume shooter tends to be a better play there just because he can rack up additional points based on his style of play.

Today I'll be bringing you my NHL lineup picks, analysis and advice for NHL DFS contests on DraftKings, Fanduel, and SuperDraft for Friday, January 22nd, 2020 at 7:00 PM. Be sure to also check out our awesome NHL tools including our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, Projections, and DFS Cheat Sheets! Feel free to follow me on Twitter @jorgepucks as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions. Good luck RotoBallers!

NHL DFS Analysis and Picks for 1/22

• Buffalo Sabres (-130) vs. Washington Capitals - 5.5O
• New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (-162)- 6.5O
• Edmonton Oilers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-155) - 6.5O
• Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks (-132) - 6.5U
• Nashville Predators (-108) vs. Dallas Stars (-113)- 5.5U
• San Jose Sharks vs. Minnesota Wild (-167)- 5.5U
• Vegas Golden Knights (-167) vs. Arizona Coyotes- 5.5O
• Colorado Avalanche (-230) vs. Anaheim Ducks- 5.5O

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

The matrix above takes the averages of four categories and creates a rating scale to help you decide which goalies to use, which goalies to target against, and conversely which teams could be viable from a stacking standpoint. It looks at four categories: Goals Allowed (GA), Shots Allowed (SA), Goals For (GF), Shots For (SF). The higher the overall rating in the last column indicates that it is a more dangerous matchup for that team's goalie while it might be beneficial to stack against him. I match and sync this every day to the actual opponents that they are facing every slate so this is always slate specific.

NHL DFS Power Play Matrix

The Power Play matrix is to help locate matchups that can be exploited should there be an odd-man advantage during the game. Just like the goalie matrix above, the teams are matched up based on their own power play percentage rank and their opponent's penalty kill percentage. When looking at this matrix, you will want to look for teams that succeed in the power play rank while their opponent has a poor penalty kill rank.

Did you know RotoBaller has a Premium NHL DFS subscription? Like what you read today? You can show your support for Jorge by using promo code JORGEPUCKS when purchasing an NHL DFS Premium Pass. You get 10% off, and exclusive access to all of our Premium NHL cheat sheets, DFS research tools, Premium Slack Chatrooms, Stack Builder, Correlation Matrix and Lineup Optimizer!

NHL DFS Core Plays

The Core plays below are the players that you should focus on incorporating into your cash game builds and tournament builds. When it comes to cash games, you want guys that offer high floors that rack up peripheral stats (shots, blocks, etc).

When it comes to tournaments, it is best to take a core play and see who their linemates are and build line stacks based on that. I will give 2-3 plays at each position at different pricing ranges so that you can have a variety of plays to choose from when building your cash builds.

NHL DFS Center Picks

• Sidney Crosby, PIT ($ 7,200 DK / $ 8,300 FD) - While Crosby might not have a high shot volume, he is certainly efficient on the offensive end. Crosby has five points through four games this season with four of those points coming on the power play. Crosby has tortured the Rangers in the past as he accrued eight points in just his four most recent games played.
• Dylan Larkin, DET ($ 6,400 DK / $ 6,900 FD) - The Red Wings will rely on their top line to do the heavy lifting on the offensive end but they are certainly capable of scoring goals, partly due to Dylan Larkin. Larkin has been very active on the offensive end as he has taken 15 shots through his first four games and has scored two goals while also assisting on two goals. The Blackhawks struggle on the defensive end and I expect Larkin to be able to produce in this matchup.
• Roope Hintz, DAL ($ 4,200 DK / $ 4,400 FD) - Hintz will be filling some big shoes for the time being as Tyler Seguin will be missing some playing time due to injury. Hintz was fifth on the team in total points last year with 33 while also finishing third on the team with 19 goals and with the amount of ice time he should see, Hintz could be a viable play in all formats.

Other centers to consider: MacKinnon, Eichel, Draisaitl, Malkin, Kadri, Pavelski, Suter

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Patrick Kane, CHI ($ 7,200 DK / $ 8,000 FD) - Patty Kane is starting to heat up and the Blackhawks will need him to continue firing the puck at will. He has had back-to-back five-shot games and has registered a point in three straight games. Since 2019, Kane has registered four goals in four games against Detroit while totaling 14 shots during that four-game timespan.
• Mark Stone, VGK($ 6,500 DK / $ 7,600 FD) - This Golden Knights offense has looked really good to start the season and Mark Stone has been a major factor in their hot start. Stone has recorded a point in every game so far this season while having three multi-point games. His shot volume has been down but at any moment he can fire away and rack up the shot on goals and points.
• Bobby Ryan, DET ($ 4,700 DK / $ 4,700 FD) - Ryan is having a tremendous start to the season with his first year with the Red Wings. He has registered four goals in his first three games while only taking a total of seven shots. While the shot volume could be higher, Ryan will see a terrible Blackhawks defense that is allowing five goals per game and 33 shots per game to opposing teams.

Other wings to consider: Kane, Rantanen, Fiala, Mantha, DeBrincat, Fiala, Radulov, Kubalik, Kapanen, Labanc

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• John Carlson, WSH ($6,700 DK / $ 6,500 FD) - With Ovechkin out, the Caps will need some of their other stars to step up in his absence. One of them should be John Carlson who has been relatively quiet offensively since their opening game of the season. Carlson recorded a goal and an assist during their first game but since then, has only had one point and taken two shots. Carlson would be better for tournaments as his price tag should warrant a better floor but if he heats up, he could do some damage in tournament builds.
• Brent Burns, SJ ($6,200 DK / $ 6,800 FD) - This is the cheapest price point we will see for Burns on DK so it's best to take advantage of him in all formats. Burns is averaging 3.5 shots per game and while he hasn't racked up the points, he sees a large amount of ice time and can explode for a multi-point performance at any moment.
• Adam Larsson, EDM ($ 3,500 DK / $ 3,700 FD) - From a cheaper defenseman standpoint, Larsson is one that could be considered for cash game builds. While he only has one goal and one point on the season, Larsson racks up peripheral stats which is what makes him so viable. He is averaging over four blocked shots per game and averages close to two shots per game.

Other defensemen to consider: Pietrangelo, Theodore, Letang, Heiskanen, Dumba, Karlsson, Nurse, Brodin, Holl

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Philipp Grubauer, COL ($ 8,500 DK / $ 8,500 FD) - The Avs are on an end of a back-to-back and with Hunter Miska getting the nod on Thursday night against the Kings, we could expect Grubauer to geet the start Friday night against the Ducks. Grubauer is 2-1 on the season with a 2.01 goals allowed average and a .923 save percentage. The Ducks are only scoring 1.5 goals per game which is 29th in the league. The Ducks do not shot at a high volume but in this kind of matchup, we are hoping Grubauer can get a win and hopefully pitch a shutout.
• Anton Khudobin, DAL ($ 7,900 DK / $ 7,900 FD) - Ben Bishop will be missing a good chunk of the season which means Anton Khudobin will be slotting in as the primary goaltender for the Stars. Khudobin went 16-8-4 last season with a 2.22 goals allowed average and a .930 save percentage.  In two games against Nashville last year, Khudobin went 1-1 with a 1.54 goal allowed average and a .957 save percentage.
• Martin Jones, SJ ($ 7,100 DK / $ 7,000 FD) - With how well Jones played against the Blues on Wednesday, it would not be surprising to see him get the start on Friday against Minnesota. He stopped 22 of 23 shot attempts that game and held on for the win in overtime. Jones has gone 2-1 this season with a 3.08 goals allowed average while also having a .893 save percentage. The Wild are averaging 34 shots per game so Jones should see enough volume but will he be able to stop it is the major question.

Other Goalies to consider: Ullmark, Jarry

Note: If you do roster a goalie listed above, it is sometimes best to make a hedge lineup in tournaments and take the opposing offense against them incase he gives up a few goals while that opposing team carries lower ownership.

Favorite NHL DFS Line Stacks

• PIT 1
  • Guentzel/ Crosby/ Kapanen (Letang, D-men add on)
    • The Penguin's top line has been great to start the season as both Crosby and Guentzel lead the Penguins in total points scored. The Crosby line tends to hard match with the opposing team's top line which means they would draw the Zibanejad line. That top line for the Rangers has an xGA/60 of 2.31, allows 27 scoring chances, and 12 high danger chances per 60 minutes of ice time.  With a lot of other big-time scoring lines on this slate, the Penguins top line and top power-play lines could be a tad overlooked.
• COL 1
  • Landeskog/ MacKinnon/ Rantanen (Makar, D-men add on)
    • The Avs are coming off of a back-to-back situation where they lost to the Kings last night but luckily for them, won't need to travel much since they will be playing just down the road in Anaheim. The Colorado top line is extremely expensive and you'll need to find value if you want to squeeze this whole line in. Colorado 1 could see a mixture of lines as the Ducks play their lines pretty evenly from a time on ice standpoint, but it seems as if the second Ducks line would be the one that could draw the MacKinnon line the most throughout this game. They have very limited ice time together as a trio but Silfverberg and Henrique skated a bunch together last season and their stats were pretty average so Colorado looks to be a playable stack in tournament formats.
• BUF 1
  • • Hall/ Eichel/ Reinhart (Dahlin, D-men add on) 
      • Washington will be without Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Orlov, and Samsonov as they have all been placed on the COVID-19 protocols list which means the Caps will be without some of their biggest names offensively and defensively. The top line for Buffalo has gotten off to a good start and actually produced points against the Capitals last week when both teams were at full strength. This line does a great job at possessing the puck as they have posted a 71.65 CF rate, an xGF/60 of 2.51 while generating 29.71 scoring chances for per 60 to start the season.

Other Stacks to consider:  CHI 1, DET 1, PIT2, VGK 1, VGK 2, SJ 2

SuperDraft NHL DFS Picks

C: Crosby (1.1X), MacKinnon (1.25X), Eichel (1.35X), Pavelski (1.55X), Karlsson (1.75X)

W: Kane (1.15X), Stone (1.4X), Hall (1.5X), Rantanen (1.6X), Mantha (1.65X)

D: Carlson (1.15X),Theodore (1.25X), Pietrangelo (1.25X), Josi (1.3X), Heiskanen (1.55X)

G: Lehner (1.35X), Khudobin (1.5X), Jarry (1.6X)

*Core 4 for SuperDraft are Bolded

Key Abbreviations:

xGF/60= expected goal for per 60 minutes of ice time

GF/60= goals for per 60 minutes of ice time

SC/60= Scoring Chances per 60 minutes of ice time

If you have any additional questions, make sure to reach out to me on twitter or in our NHL room at the RotoBaller slack chat!

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