This Monday of the NHL DFS season features a shorter slate. First off, let’s remind everyone of the Votts media list and a few links to follow.
When you are making your teams, one needs to make sure your goalie is confirmed and starting. Sites like Dailyfaceoff.com, Leftwinglock.com, and Goaliepost.com are great places for information. Another great source exists in team the form of team beat writers. Jeff has created a list on Twitter @Votts_DFS  for all of the NHL teams, and a separate list of all the beat writers for you to follow, it’s a great tool and a necessity. The advanced stats that I use and reference in this article come from Corsica.hockey and naturalstattrick.com.
If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact me on our premium Slack chat, or you can hit me up on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS.
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A Quick Note…
The picks below cover the Monday evening slate of five games.
Full Schedule For Monday, January 7th, 2019
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Prices are in DraftKings format unless noted. FanDuel prices will be included as well.
NHL DFS GPP Plays For Monday
High Priced Shots
Auston Matthews ($8,000) — The play should be higher owned just because regardless who Toronto is playing. One reason for this exists because it is just a five game slate. Two, this is a marquis matchup. Three, the expectation is for goals. Matthews was at a point a game pace over the last nine contests before his three point game against Vancouver on Saturday. Arguably, the center may have scored more. He is averaging three shots a game over this span which is down a tick from his season totals. There are ways to differentiate your lineups even with Matthews. That will be vital on Monday night. Taking the high profile plays and mixing them with power play options if necessary. This expects to be that kind of night. Watch for line shifts at morning skates. Also remember, Matthews is $8,500 on FanDuel.
Johnny Gaudreau ($7,700) — The Calgary winger expects to see increased ownership on Monday against a not rested Chicago Blackhawks team. Gaudreau firing away at will is another reason. He has netted 11 goals in his last ten contests on 42 shots (20 points overall). Next to Nikita Kucherov, Gaudreau has been the hottest fantasy hockey player out there…period! His $8.800 price on FanDuel is an indication of that assessment. Chicago is awful on the penalty kill at 73.2%. They also allow the third most points to wingers in DFS. This sets up well for Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm as well. The reality is that the first unit power play for Calgary stands to benefit. Do not sleep on Chicago as a semi-contrarian option, however.
DraftKings Only Play
Claude Giroux ($6,300) — Giroux winding up off some radars may be a good thing. He has not scored in five straight games now and has one multiple point performance in that span. His shots have dropped as well as scoring chances. Things are not sunny in Philadelphia right now. However. St. Louis coming into town and being as bad defensively may help. This could be a game with some deficient goaltending that goes off. Expected goal totals should keep the over/under around 6.5. Should. Lesser risk play of the night would be Zach Parise.
Into The Middle
Craig Smith ($5,100) — Smith surprised many with his latest goal outburst — now three consecutive games with a tally. Overall, he is averaging over three shots a night lately and seeing high-danger chances at an elevated rate. More importantly, he is getting into the slot with his shots. He has five goals and eight points in his previous nine contests. Also, Toronto may be stingy but did yield 14 goals in their last four before the Vancouver shutout. Smith comes in at just $5,500 on FanDuel. This is not a bad price to get for a one-off with a pretty good floor. The other risky play would be Jaden Schwartz of St. Louis at the same price and even higher shot volume.
Charlie Coyle ($5,000) — Coyle makes for a solid play here as his shots have gone up, along with chances, and most importantly his confidence. He has netted seven points in his previous nine starts and has averages just about three shots a night. Montreal presents as a good enough matchup to take a risk or dart here. Worst comes to worst, one pivots over to Brendan Gallagher at around the same price range. Coyle comes in at $5,600 on FanDuel. Even William Nylander may be on some radars on this night. His price has plummeted to almost a value pick ($4,100 0n DraftKings).
DraftKings Only Play
Evander Kane ($5,600) —Â Kane going up against a slower Los Angeles team in a rivalry game sets up well. The strange thing is that Kane’s shots per game have dropped but selection has greatly improved lately. He has five goals on his last 28 shots. This has boosted his shooting percentage to 9.5% on the year. Even his presence on the power play has been more noted (two power play goals recently). If Kane can continue this, he makes for a slightly under the radar play on Monday night.
Throwing Some Darts
Jesperi Kotkaniemi ($3,500) — Kotkaniemi becomes risky only because of his goal total on the year (just four on 78 shots). However, he does have assists in three of his last four games with better shot volume. His FanDuel price rings in at $4,200 which is a little dangerous again given his goal total. His floor mitigates it some but not as much on FanDuel. Mark Jankowski at $3,900 on DraftKings and $3,700 on FanDuel offers a possible flier as well.
Rocco Grimaldi ($2,600) —Â Grimaldi has quietly put together a nice little streak. He scored five points in his previous four contests and even is seeing a boost in his ice time (14 minutes in back to back games). The speedy forward shows an ability to get behind defenses and create. However, sometimes this causes him to look pass first as opposed to shoot quickly. On the other hand, his price is still so low ($3,200 on FanDuel) that value is not hard to reach or exceed. Finding gems at this price is usually harder honestly.
Goading The Goalies
Again, our best bet with this slate is to simply wait for confirmations to come in. The problem lies in that there are no confirmations so far. Morning skates reveal a few more but alas sometimes the wait can be right until warm-ups on a lighter Monday. Looking towards the lesser games tonight might actually pay off in GPP’s. Can Montreal pile on enough shots to make Devan Dubnyk a possible option?
Watch to see who starts whom. Would anyone risk Michael Hutchinson against Nashville (even in Toronto)? Someone may take a flier on him but at $7,600 on FanDuel. He comes in at $8,100 on DraftKings and that is a bad idea. Plus, Filip Forsberg might return for the Predators. Even if he does not, Toronto goalie not named Andersen is too tough to stomach right now.
The slate offers up few ways to get fancy. Carter Hart is only $7,200 on DraftKings and $7,300 on FanDuel. For going way off the grid, Jordan Binnington starts for St. Louis and is just $7,000 on FanDuel. If one expects 30+ shots from each team, then one of these goalies may be a risk/reward option on Monday night. Collin Delia is probably only a DraftKings only choice at $7,000 because his FanDuel price has climbed. Would I look at Martin Jones tomorrow? It’s tough and honestly spending down at goalie is acceptable.
More picks and choices will be available on Slack and social media later.
Best of luck on Monday! This expects to feature a lot of unexpected, slate wise.
