With an 11-game slate tonight, there’s no shortage of options to choose from for your NHL DFS lineups. In this Power Plays article, the goal is to highlight several NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy hockey tournaments. Using Awesemo’s premium proprietary player projections and the top stacks tool, we will highlight several players and situations that will help your team rocket up the leaderboard.
As always, be sure to check our premium Slack for crucial fantasy hockey lineup information in the 20-30 minutes leading up to every game’s lock. With the COVID-19 pandemic still looming, teams have taxi squads and are ready to fill positions daily as teams scratch players. Our Slack chat is hands down one of the best places to get fantasy hockey news and line change notifications.
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NHL Power Plays: DraftKings + FanDuel DFS Picks | Jan. 30
NHL DFS Picks: Centers
Connor McDavid ($8,400 DraftKings / $8,900 FanDuel), A/B/A Grades
When it comes to finding the back of the net, not many do it better than McDavid. The pivot is already leading the NHL in points with 14. Coming off an unusual zero-shot-on-goal game against the Maple Leafs, McDavid looks to turn it around. In the two previous meetings McDavid has registered 11 shots on goal and four points. With the Oilers having last change tonight, McDavid will likely see the Auston Matthews line most of the night, which has been the weaker defensive line of the Top-6 this year. Since Jesse Puljujarvi has joined the top line, their metrics have been very good offensively. Albeit a very small sample, they have a 4.63 XG/60 while creating 21 high danger chances. This game should have a ton of pace and there will be plenty of chances for the studs to tally points tonight.
Elias Pettersson ($6,300 DraftKings / $6,500 FanDuel), C/C/B
This game has goals written all over it, and betting the over 6.5 isn’t crazy. Both the Jets and Canucks have very good offensive numbers, but their defensive numbers are just as bad. The Jets are bottom eight in every five-on-five metric we like to look at for NHL DFS. Winnipeg has also struggled immensely on the penalty kill, with a 68.4% kill rate. Pettersson has found a groove of late, coming in with goals in three of the last four games. Pettersson pivots the top line between JT Miller and Brock Boeser. They will likely face off with the Jets top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler most of the night. The Scheifele line has a pretty solid sample and they have proven to give up a lot of high-danger chances. This game looks prime on both sides of the puck and getting exposure to this game in cash is a must.
Latest NHL DFS Content
NHL DFS Picks: Wingers
Steven Stamkos ($6,300 DraftKings / $8,500 FanDuel), A/B/A
Stamkos and the high-powered offense of the Lightning were shut out last game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina is a very good possession team with a ton of defensive depth, but it’s still a tad surprising to see. The Lightning top line has a ton of firepower and it all funnels through Stamkos, even on the power play. Stamkos shot volume has been down for the last couple games, but that’s expected after seeing their opposition of the Hurricanes and Blue Jackets. The Predators have been good possession wise, but they are still struggling to put pucks in the net like last year. Stamkos will likely get the better matchups with last change and the over the edge kicker for me is the Predators penalty kill has been pretty bad with a 70.6% kill rate.
Nikolaj Ehlers ($6,300 DraftKings / $6,400 FanDuel), B/B/A
Ehlers has been en fuego, with goals in four games straight. The Danish rocket is averaging just under four shots per game, to go along with his 11 points in seven games. Swerving to the Jets second line will be a good contrarian option tonight. The top line of Mark Scheifele-Blake Wheeler-Kyle Connor will likely be the popular Jets play. Not just because they fully correlate on the power play, but they are averaging four points a game since being put together. The price and opportunity share will likely lead me to the Jets second line a good bit tonight. Ehlers should see the Horvat line mostly tonight, which has been more forgiving than the Elias Pettersson line. A game stack could be in the cards tonight if you’re feeling the scoring side of things as well.
Carter Verhaeghe ($3,800 DraftKings / $4,400 FanDuel), E/B/B
We are going to need some value on this slate to pay up for the stud lines, and Verhaeghe helps us get there. The Panthers top line has been very good in a small sample. Playing alongside Alexander Barkov and Anthony Duclair, the trio has a massive 65 CF% while creating 50 SF/60 and 25 HDCF/60. Those numbers are certain to regress to the mean, but they are still a promising sign. The Redwings are still the Redwings and they will surely give up a ton of scoring chances tonight. Even though the Dylan Larkin line will most likely match up with the Panthers top line, Larkin has been dealing with some health issues and I think the Barkov line can take advantage of the decent matchup. Verhaeghe has been playing 20 minutes a night and he is getting looks on the second power play unit
NHL DFS Picks: Defensemen
Roman Josi ($3,600 DraftKings / $6,500 FanDuel), A/A/A
Josi may have a tough matchup against the Lightning tonight, but his price is too low on DraftKings at $5,800. Josi is averaging almost 25 minutes of ice time, while contributing 5.5 shots/blocks per game over the last four games. The Preds offense runs through Josi while he quarterbacks the top power play unit. He will surely get his shots off, and he has a good matchup for the double bonus with blocked shots tonight.
Darnell Nurse ($4,500 DraftKings / $4,800 FanDuel), C/A/A
Nurse has been making the most of his move to the top power play unit, while averaging over 23 minutes of ice time. The blue liner has five points over the last three games, and he’s averaging three shots/blocks per game. This game will have a ton of action and plenty of chances on both ends of the ice. Getting exposure to Connor McDavid through Nurse is a great idea tonight.
Noah Dobson ($3,600 DraftKings / $3,500 FanDuel), E/B/A
Dobson makes for a decent value punt tonight as he’s been a strong value contributor in the DFS world. He’s playing over 20 minutes regularly and he’s also quarterbacking the top power play for the Islanders. Getting exposure to the likes of Matt Barzal, Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee. Philadelphia has had a middling penalty kill unit, but at $3.6k Dobson doesn’t need to do a ton to pay that tag off.
Top Fantasy Hockey Stacks
Edmonton 1: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Jesse Puljujarvi
Winnipeg 1: Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler
Florida 1: Carter Verheaghe – Alexander Barkov – Anthony Duclair
Vancouver 1: J.T. Miller – Elias Pettersson – Brock Boeser
NY Islanders 1: Anders Lee – Matt Barzal – Jordan Eberle
Value Stacks
Winnipeg 2: Andrew Copp – Paul Stastny – Nikolaj Ehlers
Florida 2 / pp1: Jonathan Huberdeau – Patric Hornqvist – Aaron Ekblad
Anaheim 2: Danton Heinen – Adam Henrique – Jakob Silfverberg
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