NHL DFS Picks Today: The Pittsburgh Penguins are Hard to Ignore Tonight

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. day in the United States, meaning there is a hefty dose of afternoon action across the league. Nonetheless, let’s dive into some NHL DFS picks and picks at each position for this five-game main slate. Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins are a can’t miss stack on DraftKings or FanDuel and there’s a no-doubter going between the pipes.

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Best NHL Picks Today | January 16

Top Stack, Pittsburgh Penguins EV2. Jason Zucker, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell
$17,200 DraftKings | $19,700 FanDuel

It’s clear that the Pittsburgh Penguins sport the top matchup on the slate as they take on the lowly Anaheim Ducks tonight on home ice.

The top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Bryan Rust leads Stokastic’s player projections relative to this stack, but we also get a cheaper version of the Penguins here with a second-line stack while also getting to players on the top power-play unit in Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell.

Malkin has as much explosion upside as Crosby, demonstrated by a four-point effort three games back against the Canucks. The big Russian has collected 39 points in 42 games on the season and while we’re used to a higher point-per-game clip from him his value is through the roof facing the NHL’s worst overall defense in both standard and advanced statistics.

Both Rakell and Jason Zucker have played well on Malkin’s flanks this season. Rakell has tallied 15 goals and 26 points in 42 games on the season with a quality 129 shots on goal. He’s notched two goals over his last three contests and averaged a healthy 18:25 of ice time per game.

Zucker has 10 goals and 26 points in 38 games along with 85 shots on goal but also has two goals and three points over his last four. He settles for second-unit power-play duties but has still notched seven man-advantage points on the season.

In such a favorable matchup, using the Pens’ second line allows us to open up the wallet for higher-priced additions throughout the rest of our lineups.

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Forwards

Alexis Lafreniere: $4,200 FanDuel | $3,500 DraftKings

You’re not going to see Alexis Lafreniere’s name near the top of Stokastic’s player projections unless you scroll over to the value column as he brings plenty of that to the table in a matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It’s a road matchup, however, the Blue Jackets sit 31st in overall defense and tied for second-last in home defense where they allow an even four goals per game. Lafreniere enters this one with just five goals and 18 points across 43 games as part of another underwhelming season for the former first-overall pick, however, it’s his spot in the lineup that increases his value potential tonight.

Indeed, Lafreniere gets to skate alongside Mika Zibanejad on the team’s top line but is also getting first-unit power-play reps with Chris Kreider out of the lineup. As a result, he’s logged at least 18:02 of ice time in each of his last three games — and as much as 21:21 in that time — despite failing to hit the scoresheet.

The price is right on the young winger for a wildly favorable matchup on the Rangers’ top line this evening.

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Jordan Kyrou: $8,000 FanDuel | $7,700 DraftKings

This is where getting the Penguins’ second-line stack into lineups really helps as it could allow you to fit a highly-priced Jordan Kyrou into your lineup as he takes on the Ottawa Senators on home ice.

The Blues are beat up at the moment which only forces them to increase their reliability on Kyrou. The young forward is enjoying a big season with 20 goals and 42 points in 41 games along with 136 shots on goal. He’s averaging 18:13 of ice time per game, a nearly two-minute increase from a season ago.

Of course, the matchup makes sense against a Senators defense that sits 19th overall, but also 25th on the road where they’ve yielded 3.50 goals per game. They actually have a productive penalty kill, however, their even-strength defense has struggled, especially on the road despite owning the league’s sixth-ranked road penalty kill.

There is a big floor but a high ceiling with Kyrou in this matchup.

Defenseman

Justin Faulk: $6,100 FanDuel | $5,500 DraftKings

With Torey Krug out of the Blues’ lineup, Justin Faulk is easily the team’s best offensive defenseman and fits nicely in a stack with Kyrou at a reasonable price tag this evening.

Faulk has notched six goals and 22 points in 44 games on the season along with excellent peripherals in the form of 111 shots on goal and another 75 blocks as well. He’s collected six man-advantage points on the season and has skated big minutes of late, skating at least 25:54 in three of his last five games despite being held off the scoresheet in that span.

He’s one of the more well-accomplished goal-scoring d-men in his NHL career and is coming off a 16-goal campaign from a season ago. Faulk is the top power-play unit quarterback and despite facing a tough Sens’ penalty kill that’s always a bonus on the Blues’ 12th-ranked power play.

The price is certainly reasonable enough to slide him into your lineup alongside Kyrou.

Goaltender

Casey DeSmith: $7,400 FanDuel | $8,500 DraftKings

Casey DeSmith owns massive value potential at FanDuel tonight but if you can afford him at DraftKings he makes plenty of sense despite the increased price tag.

Now, DeSmith has been shelled a couple of times over his last four games but has also been excellent in two of his last three. He is coming off a big performance against a tough Hurricanes team when he turned aside 34 of 36 ‘Canes shots but took the tough-luck loss in the process. That shouldn’t be the case tonight as Pittsburgh’s offense should be able to provide more than enough run support to hand DeSMith the win.

He’s also taking on a brutal Anaheim offense. The Ducks sit dead last in overall offense and also 32nd again in power-play efficiency. While their road offense improves ever so slightly to 30th on the road, their 2.14 goals per game away from home is certainly a figure we can target with confidence here.

The Pens need DeSmith to hold down the fort in Tristan Jarry’s absence and tonight is a great night to put forth another strong effort against the worst offense the NHL has to offer.