Daily Fantasy Hockey Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 12/19/16

Hello NHL fans and welcome to a beautiful five game Monday slate. Every team playing today should be fresh as nobody is playing in back to back games. That makes it more exciting for everyone involved. Enjoy the games today. Let's dive right in.

Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get access to our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.

If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.

GOALIES

Cam Ward FD - $8200 DK - $7500
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 14.68 DK - 3.67

This is a very difficult day when trying to chose a cash game goalie, so we have to dig a little deeper to find the best option. Actually today looks like it has GPP only written all over it, but if you're like me and insist on trying to play cash games no matter what, then we may have hope. I'll do my best in explaining why I like Cam Ward and the Hurricanes at home against the Red Wings. First of all Detroit's offense is punchless, and Carolina is four whole points higher in their corsi % then Detroit, which means that the puck should be in Detroit's end a lot more often then in Carolina's end tonight. Also the Red Wings are 4th worst in the league in goals scored with 2.31 per game, they own the worst power-play in the entire league, and the 'Canes are #1 in the league at killing penalties. Ward has been up and down all season, but he is coming off of a good game against Buffalo by allowing only one goal in a shootout victory on home ice. Carolina is currently listed as -142  home favorites according to Vegas, so the chances of a victory for them is half decent. The Red Wings are also third worst in the NHL in the shots for category by firing only 27.7 pucks on net per game. This limit's Ward's upside, but if you're looking for the safest goalie today, then Ward is your man. It's not a safe pick by any means, but he looks like the best option for your cash games.

Steve Mason FD - $8400 DK - $7800
Opponent - NAS
Proj Pts FD - 15.61 DK - 3.9

Here we have the complete opposite of safety, but if it's massive upside potential you're looking for then Mason is your man today. The Predators own the seventh best offense in the league, and they fire a fourth best 32.5 shots on goal per game. What this means is that Mason could get lit up today. On the other hand he could stand on his head and score a boat-load of fantasy points and help you take down a massive tournament. Up until last game Mason had an 8 game win streak, and last game he only gave up two goals in Dallas. Like I said, there is no safety here but Mason is by far my favorite gpp play today because of the amount of shots the predators take per game.

CENTERS

Brayden Schenn FD - $6200 DK - $6100
Opponent - NAS
Proj Pts FD - 10.66 DK - 3.75

This game could be high scoring today, and we want to choose a guy who's not too expensive, has a bit of safety, and has monster upside potential. Enter the former Brandon Wheat King Brayden Schenn, who plays on Philly's #2 line and their lethal #1 Power-play unit which is ranked 9th in the NHL. Schenn has nine goals, 12 assists, and 69 shots on goal with six power-play goals already this season, and he's sniped five goals in his last four games. You would think Nashville is good on defense but they aren't as they rank 19th in the league, and they are 23rd in the league in killing penalties. I prefer Schenn in gpp's today stacked with his power-play line-mates, but I think he is cheap enough that we can consider him in all formats.

PP Stack With: Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux, Jacob Voracek

Auston Matthews FD - $6800 DK - $7400
Opponent - ANA
Proj Pts FD - 11.36 DK - 3.43

Wow the center position is tough again today, but we nailed it yesterday so let's try our best again. Here we have the rookie phenom who hasn't been great lately, but I love his matchup today against the Ducks of Anaheim who have allowed a whopping 15 goals in their last three games. Wow is that ever bad and Matthews will be licking his chops today. So far this year the rookie has 14 goals, nine assists and 107 shots on goal which is pretty darned good. He plays on Toronto's #1 Power-play unit and one of their top two lines. Safety is an issue with him as well but I don't hate him for cash games. Where I love Matthews today though is in gpp lineups stacked with his power-play line-mates against Anaheim's 17th ranked penalty kill unit.

Stack with: Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov

 Also Consider: Ryan Johansen

WINGERS

Johnny Gaudreau FD - $7600 DK - $7100
Opponent - ARI
Proj Pts FD - 13.57 DK - 4.59

Hello Johnny Hockey and welcome back to our article. I can't remember how long it's been. Gaudreau and the Flames have the pleasure of travelling to Arizona to play the Coyotes this evening. In case you didn't know, Arizona is a pretty bad hockey team in all aspects of their game. They own the league's 26th ranked offense, and the give up a league worst 35.6 shots per game. Ouch!!! Calgary is also four points higher than Arizona in corsi %. Here comes Johnny who has played six games since coming back from his hand injury. Well he just happens to be on a six game point streak as he has two goals and eight assists during that span. The Flames should score more than a few goals today and look for Johnny Hockey to be heavily involved. He also plays on Calgary's #1 power-play unit. Lock him and load him in all formats today.

PP Stack with: Sean Monahan, Troy Brouwer

Jeff Skinner FD - $6900 DK - $6700
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 13.15 DK - 4.13

Remember when I mentioned that Carolina is a lot better at puck possession than Detroit. Well then we want a decent amount of exposure to the Hurricanes today and it starts with Jeff Skinner who enjoys shooting the puck on the opposing net, as evident by his 24 shots on goal in his last four games. He also has three goals and two assists during that span. Skins always has massive upside potential, and with his high shot output he makes a great play in all formats today. Enough said here. Moving on...

Stack with: Viktor Rask, Derek Ryan

Rickard Rakell FD - $6000 DK - $6400
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 13.52 DK - 4.15

Holy Mackerel is this guy ever on fire and it helps that he plays on the top line in Anaheim with Perry and Getzlaf. I don't think we can fade him as long as he stays on the top line and he's doing dangerous things like this. Like seriously most people don't even know who he is and he's on a six game point streak with three goals and three asissts and 17 shots on goal during those six games. Toronto is an improved hockey team this year overall, but they still struggle on defense as they rank 21st in the league in that category. The Leafs are good at killing penalties as they rank 9th, but Anaheim owns the 2nd best power-play in the league. There should be some goals scored in this game, and look for Rakell to be heavily involved today. He is too cheap vs. his current production so play him with confidence in all formats.

Stack with: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf

DEFENSEMEN

Cam Fowler FD - $5100 DK - $5500
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 10.04 DK - 3.47

I just mentioned that Toronto isn't very good at playing defense, and here we have Anaheim's #1 power-play quarterback. Seriously? This guy gets to keep feeding the puck back and forth to Perry, Kesler and Getzlaf over and over again? We better pay attention to him then. Fowler is on the ice for 24 mintues per game, and he has a goal, two assists, seven shots on goal, and 10 blocked shots in his last 4 games. He has safety written all over him lately, and because of the fact that he plays on the #1 power-play unit, he makes a great play in all formats today.

Jaccob Slavin FD - $3500 DK - $4200
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 7.17 DK - 2.18

Here we have our favorite value play over at fanduel today as he is near the top from a points per dollar perspective. He just simply cannot be ignored against the Red Wings as he has averaged at least 10 fanduel points over his last 10 games. He plays on Carolina's top power-play unit and he averages 23 minutes of ice time per game. He is way too cheap to ignore, so let's take advatange and play him in every single one of our lineups today.

Also Consider: Mike Reilly

Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get accessto our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.

If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.