NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (1/24): Value Plays, Goalies, Stacks

3 years ago by Jorge Pucks

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 Sunday, January 24th, 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!

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NHL DFS Analysis and Picks for 1/24

New York Islanders (-155) vs. New Jersey Devils - 5.5U
New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (-135)- 6.5O
Colorado Avalanche (-205) vs. Anaheim Ducks - 5.5U
Los Angeles Kings vs. St. Louis Blues (-200) - 5.5O
San Jose Sharks vs. Minnesota Wild (-155) - 5.5O
Nashville Predators (-110) vs. Dallas Stars (-110)- 5.5U
Edmonton Oilers (-135) vs. Winnipeg Jets - 6.5U

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

Team	Rank GA	Rank SA	Rank GF	Rank SF	Total
New York Islanders	9	17	10	28	13.5
New Jersey	28	6	7	21	18
New York Rangers	23	2	27	19	14.75
Pittsburgh	11	26	22	12	20.75
Colorado	6	15	28	9	12.75
Anaheim	25	11	3	27	18.25
Los Angeles	14	26	2	4	19.5
St. Louis	5	28	17	21	9.75
San Jose	27	22	4	26	23.5
Minnesota	23	21	20	25	18.5
Nashville	19	15	16	5	15.75
Dallas	2	14	6	23	9.25
Edmonton	15	12	17	28	14.75
Winnipeg	10	7	15	17	15.5

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

Matchup	PP%	Opp PK%
New York Islanders	24	7
New Jersey	21	15
New York Rangers	7	8
Pittsburgh	16	23
Colorado	19	24
Anaheim	31	13
Los Angeles	26	18
St. Louis	3	23
San Jose	23	25
Minnesota	10	1
Nashville	24	17
Dallas	13	27
Edmonton	1	22
Winnipeg	15	2

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!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.

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 (varies on slate size) 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

Connor McDavid, EDM ($ 8,400 DK / $ 8,700 FD) - McDavid is playing at an above point per game basis to start the season and has looked more active over his last two games. He has taken 11 total shots in his mini-series against Toronto and has registered a point in back to back games. Going back to 2018, McDavid has faced iff against Winnipeg six times and has produced four multi-point outings during that stretch.
Joe Pavelski , DAL ($ 5,700 DK / $ 5,600 FD) - Pavelski had a fantastic opening game against Nashville as he recorded two goals and two assists while also taking four total shots on goal. Pavelski got off to a very slow start with the Stars last season but found his stride later on during the playoffs as he was tied for the third-most points on Dallas as well as leading them with 13 goals scored.
Logan Couture, SJ ($ 4,500 DK / $ 7,200 FD)- This is the lowest price over on DK that we have seen for Couture in quite some time, and while he is coming off of a stinker of a game, the upside for this price is too good to pass up. Couture has taken at least three shots per game in three out of five games played and has registered double-digit DK points in three of five games played.

Other centers to consider: MacKinnon, Scheifele, Barzal, Crosby, Malkin, Draisaitl, Hertl, Hughes, Eriksson Ek, Bjugstad

NHL DFS Forward Picks

Mikko Rantanen, COL ($ 7,400 DK / $ 7,900 FD) - If you are looking for one of the more consistent fantasy wingers in the league, look no further than Rantanen. He has produced a point in four games straight and has actually scored a goal in every game during that four-game stretch as well.
Alexander Radulov, DAL ($ 5,700 DK / $ 6,500 FD) - Radulov had a very complete game against Nashville as he registered two goals and one assist while also taking three shots on goal as well. Radulov developed good chemistry with Pavelski towards the end of last season and it seems like they will be a strong duo for the Stars this season.
Mikael Granlund, NSH ($ 3,000 DK / $ 4,600 FD) - Granlund returned to the Preds lineup on Friday which should help their second line on both ends of the ice. Granlund should see top-six minutes and in his return, took four shots and blocked two shots. For the price point that he is at over on DK, he is viable in all formats and could be a cheap cash game play.

Other wings to consider: Connor, Panarin, Wheeler, Lee, Guentzel, Rust, Fiala, Kane, Ehlers, Gurianov, Hoffman, Kempe, Kiviranta, McCann

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

Brent Burns, SJ ($6,500 DK / $ 6,800 FD) - While I must admit that I am a Brent Burns homer, he does carry one of the higher ceilings for all defensemen, and at his given price on both sites, its hard to not press the lock button for your tournament builds. Burns has a green light when it comes to shots on goal and is averaging over 28 minutes of ice time per game.
John Klingberg, DAL ($4,400 DK / $ 3,700 FD) - Klingberg has been one of the steadier offensive defensemen in the league and he got going on opening night for the Stars as he collected three assists while taking two shots on goal and blocking a shot. Klingberg skates on the top defensive unit as well the top powerplay unit so he will have plenty of opportunities to rack up points.
Tyson Barrie, EDM ($ 5,700 DK / $ 5,900 FD)- Barrie is slowly climbing the defensive line chart for the Oilers as he is now sitting on the second defensive line as well as the top power-play unit. Barrie is seeing ample amounts of ice time as he has seen 23 minutes in three of his last four games played.

Other defensemen to consider: Josi, Heiskanen, Fox, Klingberg, Karlsson, Lindell, Lindholm, Morrissey, Ekholm, Spurgeon, Larsson, Dobson

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

Philipp Grubauer, COL ($ 8,400 DK / $ 8,400 FD) - Grubauer gets one of the better matchups on the slate as he should be potentially in the net again against Anaheim. Grubauer is 3-1 on the season with a 2.00 goals allowed average and a .931 save percentage. Grubauer looked solid against the Ducks during Friday night's win as he stopped 36 of 38 shots on net while only allowing two goals. If you have some salary to spend up, he is the top high-priced option on the slate.
Semyon Varlamov, NYI ($ 8,200 DK / $ 8,100 FD) - The New York Islanders have gotten off to a solid start and partly due to the play of Varlamov. The Islanders goalie has gone 3-0 in his first three starts with a .33 goals allowed average and a .988 save percentage. The pricing on Varlamov seems to be down on both sites and based on the matchup against the Devils, he is certainly viable in all formats.
Anton Khudobin, DAL ($ 8,800 DK / $ 7,900 FD) - The Stars dominated the Predators on Friday by scoring seven total goals but one thing that was not overlooked was the performance of Khudobin. Khudobin stopped all 34 shots he faced and pitched a shutout in his first game of the year. If Khudobin draws the start again, he could be a fine play in tournaments based on his price and the matchup.

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

DAL 2
- ~~Kiviranta~~ Gardner/ Pavelski/ Radulov (Heiskanen, D-men add on)
  - The Stars had a dominant performance against Nashville on Friday and we get the same matchup on this slate. The second line for the Stars matched up with the second line for the Predators for a good portion of the game and they dominated this line match. The Stars second forward line generated five goals and nine total points in this game and should draw a similar matchup again. When looking at last season, the combo of Pavelski and Radulov had an xGF/60 of 2.65, 29.4 SCF/60, and 13.24 high-danger opportunities per 60 minutes.
PIT 2
- ~~Zucker~~ McCann / Malkin/ Rust (Morrissey, D-men add on)
  - The Penguins second line matched up with the Rangers second line and they controlled this matchup. The Malkin line generated 12 scoring chances while also generating five high-danger opportunities which were both team highs in this game. They are priced moderately as a line and with them drawing the same matchup as before, could be one of the higher upside stacking lines on the slate. Over the past year, this line has generated an xGF/60 of 2.61 while generating 32.53 SCF/60 and 11.54 HDCF/60.
COL 1
- Landeskog/ MacKinnon/ Rantanen (Makar, D-men add on)
  - The top line for Colorado is tough to fade and while they are very expensive to roster, they have one of the higher ceilings as a stack on this slate. In their game against the Ducks on Friday, the top line generated 12 scoring chances while also creating five high danger opportunities. The Ducks hard matched their fourth line to the Avs top line but that proved to be a bad decision as the top line scored two goals and applied offensive pressure the entire game.