We have a nice eight-game slate with a lot of tight matchups. Let’s dig through the slate, and try to uncover some spots to attack. 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.
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NHL Power Plays: DraftKings + FanDuel DFS Picks | Feb. 8th
NHL DFS Picks: Forwards
Auston Matthews ($8,500 DraftKings / $8,700 FanDuel), Grades
Matthews and the Leafs’ top line continue to wreak havoc in the NHL with points in 11 games straight. Meanwhile his linemate Mitch Marner has tallied points in nine of the 11. Toronto leads the league in goals per game and Matthews is the reason why. Depending on the ownership tonight, I think the Leafs could be a decent leverage play. The Canadiens are one of the best possession teams in the league and people tend to shy away from playing anyone against them. I think both sides of this game have great upside for NHL DFS tonight, and it should be a great game to watch.
Elias Lindholm ($6,800 DraftKings / $6,300 FanDuel), Grades
Targeting the Canucks has been a profitable endeavor this year. Lindholm has come on strong with points in seven of his last eight games. He’s pivoting the top line with a good physical winger in Brady Tkachuk. Both Lindholm and Tkachuk will line up on the top power play and get you exposure to the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. The individual line matchups are what brings me to the Flames top line. Lindholm will likely see the better matchups. The Canucks have last change and they will likely send out the Bo Horvat unit against the Johnny Hockey line. That leaves the Elias Pettersson line to see the Lindholm line. The Pettersson line has been the weaker defensive line of the two and with the special teams advantage, I’ll be on the Flames top line.
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NHL DFS Picks: Wingers
Patrick Kane ($7,800 DraftKings / $8,300 FanDuel), Grades
The Blackhawks haven’t had much to hang their hat on this year, but they are starting to find some chemistry. Kaner has points in six of his last seven games, and he’s also tallied multi-point games in three of the last four. Playing alongside Alex DeBrincat gives the line a massive jolt on offense with a ton of firepower. These teams just played on Thursday and it was a track meet. That’s expected when both teams have been allowing a ton of shots against and scoring chances. Over the last 10 games, the Blue Jackets are in the bottom five of every metric we like to look at for NHL DFS. Columbus is 25th SA/60, 22nd GA/60, 25th in XGA/60. The Jackets are also allowing the eighth most scoring chances and sixth-most high-danger chances.
Patric Hornqvist ($6,000 DraftKings / $5,700 FanDuel), Grades
Hornqvist has been a steady net front presence with the ability to put pucks in the net for years now. He’s a grinder that loves to get dirty rebounds and make teams pay. If you’re looking to go contrarian tonight in larger-field tournaments, this could be a spot. Steven Stamkos has been placed in the COVID-19 protocol, so the Lightning will be missing one of their best players on the team. In addition to Stamkos, Anthony Cirelli appeared to injure his arm in the third period last game. These two played each other on Thursday and the Panthers pretty much ran the Lightning out of the building possession wise. Florida controlled possession for the entire game pretty much and the scoring chances were extremely lopsided. The panthers lead 28-9 in scoring chances and they amassed 8-1 in high-danger chances. Missing Stamkos is a big deal for the Lightning as they are already down Nikita Kucherov. Look for Hornqvist to get in the greasy areas tonight.
Cam Atkinson ($5,100 DraftKings / $6,100 FanDuel), Grades
Atkinson has always been a volume shooter that can get a ton of pucks to the net. He’s playing alongside newcomers Jack Roslovic and Patrik Laine on the top line. It’s going to take a little time to gel together with his new linemates, but they should certainly have a ton of firepower. This is another matchup that played out Thursday and Atkinson looked great. The Blackhawks are still trying to find their identity as they work through a rebuild process. Jeremy Colliton has been shifting lines around constantly and trying to get Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat more ice time. But the Hawks defense hasn’t been too stout. Over the last ten games, Chicago ranks 29th in Corsi, 30th in shots against per 60, 30th in scoring chances against per 60 and 21st in high-danger chances against. Atkinson doesn’t fully correlate with his linemates on the power play, but I wouldn’t worry about that with the ‘Hawks being the seventh most short-handed team in the league. Atkinson should get plenty of looks tonight.
NHL DFS Picks: Defensemen
Roman Josi ($7,000 Draftkings / $6,700 FanDuel), Grades
When you’re paying up for a blue liner you need to make sure that player has a solid floor with a good matchup. Josi checks all those boxes tonight. $7,000 on DraftKings is a steep price tag, but if you have the salary available he’s a strong play as a one off or even as a stack. Josi is averaging almost 27 minutes of ice time, to go along with over five shots / blocks per game. He’s the quarterback on the top power play unit and that’s where I’m looking to take advantage of Detroit. Over the last ten games, the Predators’ power play numbers have jumped and they are starting to find some success. They rank third in shots for per 60 and they are seventh in expected goals per 60 on the man advantage. Detroit has the fourth-worst penalty kill in the league, with a 70.5% kill rate. If you need to save a little salary, Ryan Ellis will also play on the top power play alongside Roman Josi and makes for a fine play as well.
Seth Jones ($5,000 DraftKings / $5,100 FanDuel), Grades
Jones’s numbers have been down on the year, but it seems that he is starting to find his groove again. With the COVID situation and short training camp some guys need to take more time to get back into game speed and playing situations. Jones has a five game point streak going and he has started to get his shot volume back. He’s now registered five shots on goal in each of his last two games. Jones is quarterbacking the top power play unit and he’s getting all the ice time he can handle. If you’re stacking up some Jackets tonight, adding in Jones is a fine play.
EDIT: We need to keep an eye on the news because Zach Werenski could be back tonight and he could possibly bounce Jones out of the top pp. He’s still a fine play but stacking purposes may change things up if Werenski is back.
Top Stacks
Toronto 1: Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Calgary PP: Brady Tkachuk – Elias Lindholm – Johnny Gaudreau
Montreal 2: Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson
Chicago 1: Alex DeBrincat – Pius Suter – Patrick Kane
Value Stacks
Calgary 3: Mikael Backlund – Andrew Mangiapane – Milan Lucic
Columbus 2: Max Domi – Kevin Stenlund – Nick Foligno
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