Chris Durell's NHL DFS advice for 1/12/17 - daily fantasy hockey FanDuel and DraftKings cheat sheets. His lineup picks, sleepers and stacks for cash games and GPPs.

RotoBallers, welcome back to our daily fantasy hockey (NHL DFS) lineup picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and FantasyAces. Below you will find our NHL cheat sheet - DFS lineup picks, sleepers and stacks for Thursday, January 12 of the 2016/2017 NHL season.

Thursday brings us our biggest slate of the week with nine games on tap. Only the Penguins and Habs are playing a back to back but the Habs and Stars are also playing a third game in four nights. Five of the Top 10 offenses are in action and looking at the matchup chart, three teams have double-digit offensive matchup advantages. Let's take a look at some of the top skater values for tonight.

Editor's Note: New users that sign up on Fantasy Aces, make a $20 deposit, and enter any game will receive our full season NHL Premium Pass (DFS Cheat Sheets) for free, a $99.99 value. Just email [email protected] with your new FantasyAces username - and boom, that's it! We will email you with your Premium pass.

NHL Daily League Lineup Picks for Thursday, January 12 

For those that are new to this, each day we'll be providing you with a few of our top DFS lineup picks for daily league cash games on FanDuel, DraftKings, and FantasyAces. We will also provide you with one of our favorite teams to stack for GPPs. You can grab the rest of our Premium DFS lineup picks and stacks through the NHL Cheat Sheet and DFS Premium Pass below.

Brayden Schenn (C, PHI)

DraftKings - $6,000, FanDuel - $6,300, FantasyAces - $5,050

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native comes in at a terrific value tonight on all sites. He comes at a very nice discount from teammate Claude Giroux and has been outperforming him lately with seven points over his last 10 games including three powerplay goals. The Flyers are in a plus matchup tonight facing a struggling Canucks team that hasn't been very good on the road this season.

Jakob Silfverberg (W, ANH)

DraftKings - $6,400, FanDuel - $5,900, FantasyAces - $5,000

The Ducks are going to be a great team to target tonight in any format with an elite matchup. They face the Avs who sit dead last in defense, allowing 3.31 goals per game and, surprisingly, have been much worse on home ice(5-13-1). Silfverberg has recorded a point in two straight games and has seven points over his last 10 games. He is a much better value on FanDuel and safe in all formats.

Alec Martinez (D, LAK)

DraftKings - $5,000, FanDuel - $5,200, FantasyAces - $5,300

As long as his price sticks in the mid to low tier, Martinez is a very safe pick in any format. He has provided a consistent floor for cash games with his shot blocking and shot volume and has also provided nice upside this season with 23 points, seven coming on the powerplay.

Stacking Option

Pittsburgh Penguins PP - Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Kris Letang

After watching Ovechkin score twice and reach 1,000 career points last night the Pens will look to get back on track in Ottawa tonight. Although they lost, their powerplay picked up another two goals and has now scored in three straight games and ranks #2 in the league. Any combination of the above players up to four is a viable play on both sites.

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• Daily NHL Projections: Our secret sauce - the Optimizer Tool provides DFS points projections for FanDuel, DraftKings and Yahoo scoring.

Lineup Optimizer/Generator & Sleepers Tool

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Premium NHL DFS Lineup Picks & Cheat Sheet

Want to know what the Premium NHL DFS Cheat Sheets looks like? Below is a sample. We go above and beyond standard daily fantasy hockey analysis.

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Bonus: General NHL DFS Strategy Notes

For cash games, look at players who can contribute to your score even when they are not providing offense. Some examples are guys who take a ton of shots and defensemen who block a lot of shots. Also, look for guys who get power play time. You can find value in players who join a new line due to an injury, or just get a promotion and more ice time. It is also recommended to spread out your exposure to three or four different lines, and not put all your eggs in one basket.

For large field tournaments (GPPs), find payers who have multi-point upside and can grab double-digit fantasy points. If you want to stack the most upside in your forwards, a common strategy is to punt the defense position. This doesn't mean just grab anyone - try and look for a defenseman who will get power play time, or a playing time boost due to an injury. For a contrarian approach, paying up at the defense position can be a great strategy - but it also comes with more risk. GPPs bring a great opportunity for goaltenders in the value price range - you can look for backups on good teams.