Hockey Picks Daily Fantasy Expert Advice
Daily Fantasy Hockey Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 1/21/20
Welcome back hockey fans. Just two more slates until the All-Star Break so let's dive in and take a look at some core plays at each position for Draftkings and FanDuel.
Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NHL optimizer! Get started for free by clicking the button below.
First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.
GOALIE
Alexandar Georgiev FD - $7500 DK - $7400
Opponent - NYI
Proj Pts FD - 19.94 DK - 15.16
From a fantasy standpoint, these last few slates before the All-Star Break are horrendous. Tonight is definitely the best of them with five games but still not great and it starts with goaltending, or the lack thereof. I will be focusing on Georgiev who has faced these Islanders in each of his last two starts beating them both times and stopping 70 of 74 shots(.946 save %) in the process. Overall, he has flashed all season and sits with a .913 save % coming into this one where the Rangers are small favorites over the Isles and their 18th ranked road offense. Given the lack of options and the fact Georgiev comes in the mid $7K range on both sites, he will be my core goalie in all formats.
Also Consider: Matt Murra(PIT) as a GPP play, especially on DraftKings, coming in hot having won five straight while posting a .926 save % or Sergei Bobrovsky(FLA) as a value option coming in hot winning three straight starts with a .925 save %
CENTERS
Mika Zibanejad FD - $7500 DK - $6900
Opponent - NYI
Proj Pts FD - 19.04 DK - 14.95
At center, I am going to build around Mika Zibanejad for multiple reasons starting with the slight discount from the Penguins centers who face a Flyers team that has been much better defensively at home. After that, it comes down to shot volume as Zibanejad is coming off a six-shot game against Columbus and five-shot, two-point game against these Islanders. He has tallied 33 shots in his last 10 games and for the season averages over four combined shots/blocks per game giving him a high floor and with the upside, he is my favorite play at the position tonight.
Stack with: Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin(PP)
Sean Couturier FD - $6700 DK - $6000
Opponent - PIT
Proj Pts FD - 13.09 DK - 10.25
On the season, Coots hasn't been as consistent as the Flyers or their fans(me!) would like but he stands out tonight as a nice mid-tier value at the position. The issue has been similar for the team as a whole as they just have not been as good on the road. The good news is that they are at home tonight where Couturier is averaging nearly four fantasy points per game more whole also averaging almost a full shot per game more. Seeing as every single Flyers/Penguins game hits the over, this is a great game to get offensive exposure to and Coots is in play in all formats tonight.
Stack with: Jakub Voracek
Also Consider:
WINGERS
David Pastrnak FD - $8800 DK - $7400
Opponent - VEG
Proj Pts FD - 23.46 DK - 18.11
There are only two teams ranked outside the Top 20 in defense so we will have to take risks tonight and no better player to do that with than MVP candidate, David Pastrnak. He leads the league with 37 goals and trails only McDavid, Draisaitl, and MacKinnon in points with 70. On top of the elite upside he provides, Pasta also gives us a very high floor averaging 3.9 shots per game backed up by a 22.0 iCorsi/60(shot attempts) on the season. The Golden Knights do rank out as the 10th best road defense on the season but have struggled a ton lately going 4-6 on the road while giving up 3.3 goals per game. All things considered, Pastrnak is an elite play in all formats on this small five-game slate.
Stack with: Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand
Dominik Kubalik FD - $5200 DK - $5300
Opponent - FLA
Proj Pts FD - 14.14 DK - 10.48
From a PTS/$ value perspective, Kubalik pops in the system for both sites tonight and I have to agree here. He was drafted back in 2013 but is just making his rookie debut this season and has really come on lately with a whopping 14 points in his last 10 games to go along with 32 shots on goal. He is getting time on the top line with Jonathan Toews and also skates on the second powerplay unit. The price is rising but still has room to grow as long as the opportunity is there and it appears it will be, so lock him into your lineups in all formats tonight as my top mid-tier value play.
Stack with: Jonathan Toews
Also Consider: Mike Hoffman(FLA) who has been red-hot with points in nine straight games and is still priced in the mid-range
DEFENSEMEN
Jacob Trouba FD - $5100 DK - $5200
Opponent - NYI
Proj Pts FD - 13.77 DK - 10.9
Brady Skjei FD - $4100 DK - $3500
Opponent - NYI
Proj Pts FD - 11.09 DK - 8.81
The Rangers are high on my board tonight and it doesn't stop at defense as they have viable options in every price range. Let's start with Jacob Trouba who has seen his price down in the short term which piques my interest right away considering the high floor he has been providing. Over his last 10 games, he has tallied 26 shots and 23 blocks and with just four points has averaged 11.4 DK/11.9 FD points per game. Sign me up!
If you are looking for even more savings, consider Brady Skjei who skates with Trouba on the top pairing and has been getting over two minutes more ice-time on average than his season numbers. He isn't going to win you a GPP, by any means, but the PTS/$ floor is high as he has tallied four or more combined shots/blocks in four of his last five games and is averaging 9.5 DK/10.6 FD points per game over his last 10 More than enough for me to lock him into my cash lineups tonight.
Also Consider: Connor Murphy(CHI) as an excellent mid-tier value who has tallied 53 combined shots/blocks over his last 10 games
Hockey is back and with it comes 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.