Covid protocol has been making a strong onset through the NHL in the past week or so. Keeping an eye on news is imperative to succeeding at NHL DFS. Following my twitter beat writer lists is a huge advantage for getting last-minute news and scratches. This Power Play article will use Awesemo’s Premium NHL Tools to help dole out the NHL DFS advice to help with building lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight. The Awesemo NHL projections and ownership projections are two of the best tools to utilize when constructing stacks and making the optimal NHL DFS picks. Let us go position by position and pinpoint some of the top plays and stacks for Thursday, January 27th.
NHL DFS Picks, Top Stacks & Lineup Optimizer Plays
Center
Sidney Crosby (PIT vs SEA): DraftKings – $8,200 | FanDuel – $8,500
Crosby and the Penguins’ top line should go overlooked tonight with their inflated salaries. They continue to score goals and put points on the board, but they also break the bank on this large slate, so finding a value line to go along with them is going to be imperative. Crosby has points in five of the last six games and his shot volume has been steady at over four shots per game over the last five. Seattle has been a team that grinds games down and limit shots but the Penguins’ offense is lethal and they can light the lamp at any time. Vegas has them pegged as the third-highest team total on the night for a reason. Awesemo has the Penguins as an 18.9% top stack percentage with a 16.6% leverage score.
Crosby is one of the top five centers popping up in the Awesemo NHL DFS lineup optimizer. For all of our free NHL DFS picks tonight, check out the DraftKings NHL cheat sheet and FanDuel NHL cheat sheet.
Mikael Backlund (CGY @ STL): DraftKings – $3,400 | FanDuel – $4,500
The Flames’ top line has been one of the best lines in hockey, but the second line has been one of the best possession lines. Backlund has been one of the best two-way pivots in the league for years now. Historically he has not been a shoot first type of player but he is a great distributor and back checker. Lately, he has been shooting the puck a ton though. He had eight shots on goal last night and had seven shots on goal against the Blues on Tuesday. At $3,400 on DraftKings, he will smash that price tag if he can keep half of that shot volume. Backlund will likely see the Blues’ second line with Vladimir Tarasenko, which is actually the better matchup on paper. The Blues’ second line has a 41% Corsi, with an expected goal of 2.91 xga/60, while giving up 37 shots and 17 high danger chances. The Blues have struggled as a team over the last ten games in their metrics as well, ranking in the bottom five of Corsi, expected goals and scoring chances against. I think the Flames on the hind end of a back-to-back could be sneaky.
Winger
Artemi Panarin (NYR @ CBJ): DraftKings – $6,400 | FanDuel – $8,000
Panarin’s price was kind of shocking to me when I saw it. Columbus is an awful team and Panarin has been on fire. He will line up against his former team with four multi-point games in his last five, and he has also hit the shot on goal bonus in two of the last three. I do not see how anyone from the Blue Jackets will be able to hold down this top line. Over the last ten games, Columbus is 31st in expected goals against, 30th in shots against and 31st in high danger chances. Jamming in the top line is a great play as they all fully correlate on the top power play as well.
Andrei Svechnikov (CAR vs OTT): DraftKings – $6,000 | FanDuel – $7,100
Svechnikov continues to be an offensive threat with 15 points in the last ten games. Vegas has assigned the Hurricanes with the second-highest team total on the night, as the Senators have been extremely leaky on the defensive end. Although Ottawa has played better hockey over the last ten games, they are in the bottom eight of every advanced metric we like to look at for NHL DFS. Svechnikov will likely see the Josh Norris line most of the night, which is a plus matchup. Since Zach Stanford has moved to the top line, the trio carries a 44% Corsi, 3.81 expected goals against, allowing 42 shots against and 20 high danger chances per 60. Svechnikov will get plenty of opportunities in the high danger areas tonight.
Ondrej Palat (TB vs NJ): DraftKings – $4,700 | FanDuel – $6,300
With Nikita Kucherov going to Covid-19 protocol, Palat figures to see a promotion to the top line and will get top power play duties. Palat was playing very good hockey before missing a couple of games with a lower-body injury. He was averaging double-digit fantasy points over the last ten games, as well as 12 points and just under three shots on goal. The Devils are down to their third goalie, Jon Gillies, after losing MacKenzie Blackwood and Jonathan Bernier to the injured reserve. Tampa figures to be a massive favorite tonight and they should be playing downhill hockey, with the highest team total on the night. The only question is, how will the ownership shake out?
Latest NHL DFS Content
Defensemen
Adam Fox (NYR @ CBJ): DraftKings – $6,400 | FanDuel – $7,100
The Rangers get one of the best matchups of the night. Columbus has been brutal defensively, giving up the second-most fantasy points in the league to opposing defensemen. Fox is averaging over 24 minutes of ice time, to go along with over four shots/blocks per game. He will also quarterback the top power play unit and makes for a great fourth man in a Rangers one stack.
Tony Deangelo (CAR @ OTT): DraftKings – $6,100 | FanDuel – $6,500
Deangelo is a great addition to your Hurricanes stack just like Fox is with the Rangers. Deangelo is a great way to get exposure to the Hurricanes’ forwards as he quarterbacks the top power play unit and logs over 21 minutes of ice time a night. The Senators are in the bottom 10 of shots against metrics and they give up a ton of chances from the blue line.
Top NHL DFS Stacks
CGY 1: Johnny Gaudreau – Elias Lindholm – Matthew Tkachuk
Calgary’s top line comes in with the second-best leverage on the slate. Playing on the hind end of a road back to back will get some people off them, but they have been phenomenal. At five on five, they carry a 58% Corsi, 3.16 expected goals for per 60, while creating 36 shots for and 14 high danger chances. They will likely see the Ryan O’Reilly line for most of the night, which historically has been a very tough matchup. But as our own Mike “Slim Cliffy” Clifford has stated, since O’Reilly has come back from Covid he has not been the same player. The Blues’ top line carries a 42% Corsi, 2.46 expected goals against while allowing 29 shots against and 12 high danger chances. That is not their usual lethal shut down line. The Flames’ top line has so much fire power that I think they can overcome the matchup, even on the hind end of a back to back. With multiple lineups, getting the second-best leverage line of the slate is a good idea.
*Additional Data from Natural Stat Trick
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