NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (1/27): Value Plays, Goalies, Stacks

4 years ago by Jorge Pucks

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Patrick Kane leads the way in NHL DFS on Monday night.

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 Wednesday, January 27th, 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 1/27

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators (-182) - 6.5U
Ottawa Senators vs. Vancouver Canucks (-150) - 6.5U

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

Team	Rank GA	Rank SA	Rank GF	Rank SF	Total
Chicago	16	1	14	13	9.5
Nashville	19	15	16	5	15.25
Ottawa	30	3	7	23	18.75
Vancouver	19	4	24	18	13.25

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%
Chicago	28	27
Nashville	24	8
Ottawa	30	16
Vancouver	4	27

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

Bo Horvat, VAN ($ 7,000 DK / $ 6,800 FD) - Horvat has been playing great to start the season and his line as a whole is playing as extremely well. Horvat has registered a point in four straight games and has had a multi-point effort in three of those games as well. The Sens are allowing over four goals a game to opposing teams and with the form that Horvat is in, it is hard to imagine not plugging him into any cash game builds.
Matt Duchene, NSH ($ 5,000 DK / $ 5,100 FD)- Duchene was active on Tuesday night against Chicago as he had four shots on goal which tied his season-high for most shots taken during a game this year. Duchene is on a bit of a cold streak as he hasn't recorded a point in his last three games but his line was very active and generated chances so this rematch on Wednesday could be the day where he gets back on the scorer's sheet.

Other centers to consider: Pettersson, Strome, Norris, Suter, Johansen, Anisimov

NHL DFS Forward Picks

Patrick Kane, CHI ($ 8,000 DK / $ 8,200 FD) - With all of the injuries to the Blackhawks, Patrick Kane will be needed more than ever to generate points on the offensive end of this game. Kane is riding a five-game point streak and has produced back-to-back multi-point efforts as he came into Tuesday night's game against Nashville.
Mikael Granlund, NSH ($ 3,400 DK / $ 4,800 FD) - The pricing is still really down on Granlund and he is one that provides a solid floor, especially when he is under 4k on DK. Granlund will see close to 20 minutes per game and can rack up points through peripheral stats while also being apart of the top six for Nashville. Granlund had a very good game Tuesday night as he notched a goal and an assist while also attempting five shots on goal against Chicago. With his price being so low, he makes for a cash game lock on this slate.

Other wings to consider: Tkachuk, Forsberg, Miller, Boeser, Kubalik, Batherson, Kunin, Hoglander, Pearson, Janmark

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

Roman Josi, SJ ($6,500 DK / $ 6,300 FD) - Josi has been a little bit of a disappointment to start the season but there is no doubt that he will get going soon from a point production standpoint. Josi can get it done by racking up peripheral stats but the Preds will need him to contribute offensively in order for the Preds offense to really get going.
Mattias Ekholm, NSH ($ 3,800 DK / $ 3,800 FD)- If you wanted to save some money on the defenseman position while also wanting someone who will see over 20 minutes per game, Ekholm should be your choice. Ekholm is blocking over two shots per game and he has been one of the cheaper cash game defensemen to roster over the past several seasons. He skates on the second defensive line while also seeing time on the Preds second power-play unit.

Other defensemen to consider: Hughes, Ellis, Chabot, Murphy, Myers, Edler, Benn

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

Thatcher Demko, NYI ($ 8,300 DK / $ 7,700 FD) - Demko is coming off of a strong outing against Ottawa on Monday night as he stopped 35 of 36 total shots he faced. Demko has struggled so far this season as he is 1-3 with a 4.33 goals allowed average and s .890 save percentage. While the numbers aren't pretty, part of Demko's struggles has been the Canucks defensive effort as a whole as they have allowed way too many high-quality chances and opportunities. The Senators are a good young team but they do have lapses on offense and they are only averaging 2.5 goals per game on the offensive end so this could be another good matchup for Demko.
Kevin Lankinen, CHI ($ 7,300 DK / $ 7,100 FD)- The Blackhawks rookie goaltender has played well in the limited action that he has seen thus far. Lankinen is 2-0-1 with a 2.63 goals allowed average and a .909 save percentage. He is one of the cheaper goalies and his team is the largest underdog on the slate so you might be able to get him at lower ownership which is ideal for tournament builds.

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

VAN 2
- Pearson/ Horvat/ Hoglander (Hughes, D-men add on)
  - The second line for the Canucks has been the best offensive line on this team to start the 2021 season. This line generated eight scoring chances and four high danger scoring opportunities Monday night against the Senators and has produced a 3.1 xGF/60 rate, 34.13 SCF/60, and 17.07 high danger opportunities in 59 minutes of total ice time this season. They are somewhat underpriced as a line and could see some heavy ownership but with how well they are playing, they are certainly one of the best lines to consider on the entire slate.
NSH 2
- Granlund/ Duchene/ Kunin (Ekholm, D-men add on)
  - Time to go back to the well with this Predator second line. In their matchup against Chicago on Tuesday night, they generated six scoring chances while also generating one high danger opportunity. They posted a 70% corsi for rate and seemed to be matched up with the second line of the Blackhawks for a good chunk of the night which definitely favors Nashville. This line is once again underpriced but is worth considering for tournaments due to their matchup, price, and overall play.