NHL DFS Picks & Stacks for DraftKings & FanDuel Lineups | Toronto Maple Leafs & Johnny Gaudreau 1/25/22

COVID protocol has been making a strong onset through the NHL in the past week or so. Keeping an eye on what is new is imperative to succeeding at NHL DFS. Following these Twitter beat writer lists are 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 Wednesday, Jan. 26.

NHL DFS Picks, Top Stacks & Lineup Optimizer Plays

Center

Auston Matthews (TOR vs. ANA): DraftKings – $8,800 | FanDuel – $10,100

With the COVID pauses earlier in the month, the Leafs have just one game played in the last seven days and that was back on Saturday night. It is a fine line between rusted and rested, but the Leafs should be more rested here as they had played a relatively full schedule prior to this little repose.

Toronto has split up their lines and that has left Auston Matthews without either of his usual elite wingers. The good news is that he has played very well with line mates Michael Bunting and Ondrej Kase. Those three help the Leafs control 57% of the shots and 61% of the scoring chances in their small 55-minute sample together. It should be enough for them to generate chances against a mediocre Ducks team tonight.

Now that the Leafs have spread out their talent, how to use them in tournaments is a good question. Matthews has a pair of cheap(ish) wingers, but their power play generates a lot of shots and can score at will against anyone. That brings power-play stacks into range for large-field contests as well. Matthews leads centers in projections and expected ownership tonight, so he will be widely used.

Pius Suter (DET vs. CHI): DraftKings – $3,600 | FanDuel – $5,000

Pius Suter has generally fared well when skating on a line with Tyler Bertuzzi this year, as the team is controlling 61% of the scoring chances with that duo on the ice. They have also scored four goals per 60 minutes in their time together, all signs of a good duo. They have added Robby Fabbri to their line of late and the success has continued, at least offensively. It has helped balanced the lines for Detroit and this second line can now get easier matchups from the opponent with a top-end winger next to Suter.

Notably, Suter has started skating more of late as well, adding a minute of ice time per game since Christmas and hitting the 20-minute mark a couple times of late. He does not shoot a lot, but the additional ice time should help, as will the new line mates.

With Suter’s price, he is fine for anyone needing a cheap second center in their build on DraftKings. His best use is part of some stack in a tournament with either of his wingers. He will get the depth from an at-best mediocre defensive team and that makes him an option along with the wingers tonight.

Winger

Johnny Gaudreau (CGY at CBJ): DraftKings – $6,200 | FanDuel – $8,900

Johnny Gaudreau has seen a price drop on DraftKings despite the fact that he has 18 points in nine games with four shots per game since the All-Star break. It is not the hot streak that makes him valuable; he was over a point-per-game and over three shots per game prior to that. He has been among the elite this year in the league and his pricing is very generous tonight.

It is also a good matchup for the Flames. The Blue Jackets are in the bottom 10 of defensive categories across the board since Christmas while this top line, and Gaudreau specifically, has been prolific offensively. There is not much in the way of a shutdown line that should worry Gaudreau, making his price all the more appealing. The flipside of his price is that he should be widely owned tonight.

A bigger problem for Columbus is that they have been taking a lot of penalties of late, having the fifth-most time short-handed since the holiday break. This Calgary power play, of which Gaudreau is a focal point, could get on the board if they are given enough chances. With his price drop, Gaudreau is in play in all formats as a one-off. He is obviously fine as part of a line stack as well for tournaments.

Troy Terry (ANA at TOR): DraftKings – $4,200 | FanDuel – $6,500

The duo of Troy Terry and Max Comtois have helped generate some secondary offense for the Ducks this season: with the two of them on the ice, Anaheim is controlling 54% of the shots and scoring 2.7 goals. Those are not elite numbers by any stretch, but they are good enough and this is not a large slate of games to work with.

This is a tough matchup going into Toronto, but Terry should see a lot of the Toronto second line at even strength. The duo of Mitch Marner and John Tavares has been very high event and just over breakeven in shot share. They have not been good at all in their 171 minutes together, which makes this new lineup configuration curious. All the same, that is good news for Terry and company for this game.

Terry does not shoot a lot in general and is down to about 2.3 per game over his last 10 games. That is reflected in his price on DraftKings, though, and he does not need a monster game to pay off his price. Awesemo’s ownership does not have him as a very popular player tonight, coming in well under 10%. This makes him fine as a tournament one-off but also can be used with his line mates in a stack.

Valeri Nichushkin (COL vs. BOS): DraftKings – $3,500 | FanDuel – $6,300

One reason for mentioning him here is the pricing difference between the two sites. Just look at it!

A big reason for the jump in production from Valeri Nichushkin is ice time, skating an extra four minutes per game this year compared to either of his prior two seasons in Colorado. That has persisted as he returned from injury a couple of weeks ago, skating over 19 minutes a night spanning his last six games.

Tonight, Boston is in town and that is a difficult matchup, no doubt. The upside is Nichushkin will avoid the top line for much of the game, and that is the toughest matchup on the Bruins side. He should match a Bruins second line controlling just 52% of the scoring chances in their minutes together. That is why despite Boston being in town, the matchup could work out in Nichushkin’s favor. There are also just a handful of games to work with today, and ignoring one of the top teams in hockey seems foolish, regardless of who is on the other side.

Down at his price, Nichushkin can be a punt-ish type winger in tournaments, helping us get up to more expensive options. All the same, he is not a volume shooter and for that reason is likely best used as part of a line stack.

For a mispricing in FanDuel’s favor, David Pastrnak is outside the top five wingers by FanDuel pricing but is third on DraftKings. That is a pricing discrepancy that can favor FanDuel players.


Latest NHL DFS Content


Defensemen

John Carlson (WSH at SJ): DraftKings – $5,600 | FanDuel – $6,400

This is a case of relative pricing differentials. Over on FanDuel tonight, John Carlson is the third-most expensive defenseman on the slate, whereas on DraftKings he is sixth. This is not to say one or the other is the correct pricing, all this is to say that he is relatively cheaper on DraftKings compared to those around him, and that makes him one of the better expensive d-men tonight.

Our Top Stacks tool has the Washington top line coming in with high ownership, and Carlson is priced down on DraftKings. He is a fine option by himself, but mixing in with those power-play options on a short slate is probably a better idea.

Carlson was the top defenseman popping in the Awesemo NHL DFS projection models today. He is a top option on tonight’s slate. Check out all of Awesemo’s free NHL DFS optimizer picks tonight in Awesemo’s DraftKings Fantasy Hockey Cheat Sheet and FanDuel Fantasy Hockey Cheat Sheet.

Brandon Carlo (BOS at COL): DraftKings – $2,600 | FanDuel – $3,900

Heading into Colorado should provide the Boston Bruins defensemen with plenty of opportunity to block some shots tonight. With Matt Grzelcyk potentially missing this game – his status is TBD – there could be more minutes for Boston’s regular blue liners. Tonight, among defensemen priced under $3,000 on DraftKings, Brandon Carlo is near the top of Awesemo’s projections and that is what makes him a target tonight. Rearguards who can block shots and get lucky on assists are always great plays, and Carlo fits that bill tonight.

Goalie

Elvis Merzlikins (CBJ vs. CGY): DraftKings – $7,500 | FanDuel – $7,000

Over the last three seasons, Elvis Merzlikins is top three in the NHL in high-danger save percentage, one metric used to evaluate goaltending. Just ahead of him is Andrei Vasilevskiy and just behind him is Tuukka Rask. Calgary is in town tonight and they are third in the league in shot attempt rate since the holiday break. With Merzlikins having a relatively cheap price tonight, he is a target in any format on any site, given the expected workload.

Top NHL DFS Stacks

TOR PP: Matthews – Nylander – Rielly

With Toronto changing around their lineup so much, it throws stacks into disarray and makes them difficult to use by even-strength slotting. Mixing some of their power play guys together is a way to get the most important pieces of the even-strength lines while not relying on lesser players. The Toronto top power play has generally been good this year, scoring over nine goals per 60 minutes with the man advantage. Any of the five guys are fine to use in some combination.

COL2: Burakovsky – Kadri – Nichushkin

This iteration of Colorado’s second line has been superb all season long, controlling 61% of the shot attempts and 52% of the scoring chances in their near-130 minutes together. Offensively, they are scoring 3.3 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 and with Boston in town, they are unlikely to draw heavy ownership, as they are at 7% in Awesemo’s early ownership run. Leaving someone like Nazem Kadri off the stack to get a lot cheaper is just fine as well.

*Additional information from Natural Stat Trick

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Michael has been writing about fantasy hockey for over a decade, and has been playing Daily Fantasy for just as long. He has contributed to both the Chicago Tribune and the Boston Herald, has worked for Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and is now in his fifth season with Stokastic. He lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, and can be reached on Twitter @SlimCliffy.

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