NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (1/31): 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 Sunday, January 31st, 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 1/31

• Dallas Stars vs. Carolina Hurricanes (-137) - 5.5U
• Florida Panthers (-177) vs. Detroit Red Wings- 6O
• Columbus Blue Jackets (-118) vs. Chicago Blackhawks  - 5.5U
• New York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers (-122) - 5.5U
• St. Louis Blues (-168) vs. Anaheim Ducks - 5O
• Colorado Avalanche (-155) vs. Minnesota Wild - 5.5O
• Ottawa Senators vs. Edmonton Oilers (-225) - 6.5O

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 (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 ($8,500 DK / $8,800 FD) - McDavid is coming off of a monster night as he recorded two goals and one assist as he outdueled Auston Matthews in an OT thriller. McDavid has 17 points in 10 games this season and gets a favorable matchup against a Senators team that is allowing 4.5 goals scored per game to opposing teams.
• Vincent Trocheck, COL ($5,100 DK / Not On Main FD) - Trocheck has made an impact early on for the Canes as he has recorded six points in five games played. He has produced a goal in three out of his last four games played and is averaging close to four shots on goal per game.
• Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN ($4,800 DK / $4,700 FD) - The Wild have some really good young pieces and one of them is Eriksson Ek. Eriksson Ek has moved up the depth chart and is now centering the second forward line and is seeing time on the second power-play unit as well. Ek leads the Wild in goals scored and is tied for the second-most points scored on the team so, at his current pricing on both sites, he could make for a nice contrarian one-off for your tournament lineups.

Other centers to consider: Draisaitl, Barkov, Larkin, Aho, Schenn, Kadri

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Mikko Rantanen, COL ($8,200 DK / $7,900 FD) - Rantanen had himself a very good day Saturday night against the Wild as he scored a goal and added an assist while taking three shots on goal. In nine games played this season, Rantanen has produced a point in seven of those games while also having seven of his ten points come from goals.
• Patric Hornqvist, FL ($5,300 DK / Not On Main FD) - The pricing on Hornqvist keeps going up and we are finally at a point where he is reasonably priced. With that being said, Hornqvist keeps producing and should not be overlooked in this matchup against Detroit. He has generated double-digit DK points in every game this season and has the green light shooting the puck as he is averaging close to four shots per game.
• Jordan Kyrou, STL ($3,800 DK / $3,900 FD)- Kyrou is really emerging as a star for the Blues and this speedy winger is a tough matchup for opposing teams. He has generated six points over his last three games and is averaging four shots per game over his last four games played.

Other wings to consider: Kane, RNH, Svechnikov, Huberdeau, Bjorkstrand, Verhaeghe, Burakovsky, Duclair, Mantha, Hoffman, Necas

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• John Klingberg, DAL ($6,900 DK / Not On Main FD) - Klingberg is the top spend up option at the defensive position for this Sunday slate and he has been a very consistent player for the Stars throughout the first five games of their season. Klingberg has notched a point in all five games this year and has generated eight total points. While the Canes are a sound defensive team, Klingberg is very involved on both ends which means he can rack up peripheral stats that give him a solid floor regardless if he records a point or not.
• Darnell Nurse, EDM ($5,100 DK / $4,800 FD) - Darnell Nurse is seeing tremendous amounts of ice time as he is skating on the top defensive pairing as well as the top power-play unit. Nurse has been more active on the offensive end as he has taken at least two shots over the last four games as well as recording five assists over that four-game span as well.
• Mike Reilly, OTT ($3,400 DK / $3,800 FD) - The Sens top defenseman Thomas Chabot could be potentially out for Sunday's game against Edmonton, and if he does miss time, Mike Reilly could be slotted in for more minutes while also see extra time on the top power-play line.  While he isn't the best defenseman, he isn't afraid to put the puck on the net and can rack up some shots on goal peripheral points.

Other defensemen to consider: Ekblad, Makar, Provorov, Jones, Pulock, Dobson, Larsson, Girard, Slavin, Gostisbehere, Byram, Gardiner

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Chris Driedger, FLA ($8,100 DK / Not On Main FD) - With Bobrovsky getting the nod on Saturday night against Detroit, Chris Driedger could be in line for the start on Sunday. Driedger has been very solid for Florida as he is 1-0-1 with a 1.92 goals allowed average and a .934 save percentage. Detroit is only scoring two goals per game so the upside for Driedger lies in the ability to get the win and a possible shutout.
• Kevin Lankinen, CHI ($7,600 DK / $7,000 FD) - One of the bright spots for Chicago very well could be Kevin Lankinen. The young goaltender is 2-1-2 this year with a 2.16 goals allowed average and a .930 save percentage in five games this year. He looks to have taken over as the top goalie for Chicago and has fared very well as he has hit double-digit DK points in four straight games.
• Brian Elliott, PHI ($7,600 DK / $8,100 FD) - The Flyers and Islanders are on the end of a back-to-back so we could see Brian Elliott get the nod in the net for the Flyers. Elliott has been very solid for Philly as he is 2-0 with a 1.98 goals allowed average and a .938 save percentage. The Islanders are only scoring two goals per game and their offense is really stalling out outside of their top line so going back to the well and rostering a Flyers goalie could be the move on this slate.

Other goalies to consider: 

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

• EDM 1
  • RNH/ McDavid/ Puljujarvi (Nurse, D-men add on)
    • This line is extremely dominant on the offensive end and McDavid put on a show last night against Toronto. So far this season, this line has skated together for 51 minutes and in this span, they are producing a 3.99 expected goals for per 60 minutes,  39.77 scoring chances for per 60, and 21.05 high danger chances per 60 minutes. The Senators as a team has allowed the third-most scoring chances per 60 (30.4), carry the highest expected goals allowed average in the league with a 2.82 xGA/60, and allowing a league-high 12.91 high danger opportunities per 60 minutes.
• COL 1
  • Rantanen/ MacKinnon/ Landeskog (Makar, D-men add on)
    • While the Wild have some young pieces, the Avs are just too fast and too deep for the Wild to keep up on both ends of the ice. The MacKinnon line saw a heavy dose of the third line from Minnesota and generated a 65 corsi for percentage throughout the contest. In addition, the MacKinnon line generated four scoring chances throughout the game which led all Avs lines. The price tag is a hefty one to pay to fit this whole line in but they could do some damage if they are able to control the pace and generate some opportunities.
• STL 2
  • Schwartz/ Schenn/ Kyrou (Parayko, D-men add on)
    • This Blues second line has gotten off to a great start and is one of the more underrated lines in the entire league. In last night's game against the Ducks, The Schenn line produced two goals in the first period while generating four scoring chances and two high-danger opportunities. They saw a good chunk of the Ducks second and third lines throughout the night and the ducks were unable to keep up with the speed of the Blues second line. On the year, this line has generated a 3.99 exepcted goals for per 60, 43.22 scoring chances for per 60, and 16.87 high danger chances per 60.

Other Stacks to consider: FLA 1, CAR 1, CHI 2, FLA 2, DET 1

SuperDraft NHL DFS Picks

C: McDavid (1X),MacKinnon (1.25X), Barzal(1.4X), Schenn (1.45X)

W: Kane (1.15X), Yamamoto (1.3X), Tkachuk (1.35X), Rantanen (1.6X)

D: Nurse (1.25X), Parayko (1.35X), Provorov (1.5X), Makar (1.55X

G: Merzlikins (1.4X), Lankinen (2X)

*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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