This Thursday of the NHL DFS season features a shorter slate than usual for Thursday. First off, let’s remind everyone of the Votts media list and a few links to follow.
When you are making your teams, one needs to make sure your goalie is confirmed and starting. Sites like Dailyfaceoff.com, Leftwinglock.com, and Goaliepost.com are great places for information. Another great source exists in team the form of team beat writers. Jeff has created a list on Twitter @Votts_DFS for all of the NHL teams, and a separate list of all the beat writers for you to follow, it’s a great tool and a necessity. The advanced stats that I use and reference in this article come from Corsica.hockey and naturalstattrick.com.
If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact me on our premium Slack chat, or you can hit me up on Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS.
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A Quick Note…
The picks below cover the Thursday evening slate which is seven games in all.
Full Schedule For Thursday, January 3rd, 2019
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Prices are in DraftKings format unless noted. FanDuel prices will be included as well.
NHL DFS GPP Plays For Thursday
High Priced Shots
Patrice Bergeron ($8,000) — The play should be higher owned just because of Boston playing a Calgary team on zero rest. Boston’s power play converts at too high of a rate (27.1%) to be ignored. Boston is a chalky choice to be honest but hard to fade on Thursday night. Remember his FanDuel price comes in at $8,300 which may be a bit too steep for some. There exists enough ways to maneuver around to field a lineup with ease on Thursday night. Claude Giroux is our high-risk pick at $6,600/$7,300. Expect a few fireworks in Philadelphia as the Flyers will try anything to ignite their lackluster offense.
Nikita Kucherov ($7,800) — The Tampa Bay forward is over $9,000 on FanDuel but for good reason. He has seven goals and 22 points in his last ten games. Six of those points came on the man advantage. Los Angeles lacks the speed to keep up with Tampa’s top line and man advantage. Tampa outscoring its opponents has become a mantra of sorts. They have not lost in regulation in over a month. Kucherov is a big reason for that. David Pastrnak is an easy choice but Vladimir Tarasenko presents a high risk option and will be low owned on Thursday night. This is because so many have soured with St. Louis even when they play in St. Louis.
DraftKings Only Play
Mathew Barzal ($6,300) — Barzal is riding the wave! He assisted on a goal against Buffalo, hit a post, and had a few high quality scoring chances. His price is reasonable enough across the board but on DraftKings, this is okay to try because of roster construction. The utility position helps especially in allowing a third center essentially. Chicago’s penalty kill puts Anders Lee in play as well.
Into The Middle
Dylan Strome ($4,800) — Strome firing four more shots against Boston on Tuesday was encouraging and he played over 21 minutes. His increased ice time has been noticed by many. The $5.200 FanDuel price tag seems steep but given his production over the last ten games, it really is not. Some will call a different option with Alex DeBrincat as a target and rightfully so. However, other options in tournaments could include Ryan O’Reilly and Max Domi.
Jakub Voracek ($5,400) — Voracek becomes a decent play as he scored on Monday against Carolina. He has to shoot more to be effective and too often this year, Voracek has taken himself out of games. Lately, he does have 3+ shots in seven of his previous ten contests. Part of the key to Philadelphia’s floundering power play is getting guys like Voracek going. Then the key after that is consistency at both even strength and the man advantage. That has been something which Voracek has had issues with most of the season. However, Carolina gives up enough counter attacks that Voracek is a viable option. Sam Reinhart is a decent option with 13 assists in his last ten games. The goals are bound to come.
DraftKings Only Play
Andrei Svechnikov ($4,900) — Svechnikov against a porous defense like Philadelphia is a solid one-off for his goal at any time potential. He tallied five goals in his previous nine contests on just about three shots a night. His line deployment is mostly top six at this point and the Russian has played 17 minutes a night over the previous ten contests. A game with two teams struggling to score goals may surprise. There should be ample opportunities for chances with high event chances likely.
Throwing Some Darts
Evan Rodrigues ($3,300) — Rodrigues played over 21 minutes in a loss to the New York Islanders earlier in the week. With Jack Eichel likely out again, the Buffalo center will be on the first unit power play and top line against a Florida team that suffers from poor goaltending and defense (allowing over 34 shots per 60). His FanDuel price comes in at around the same amount so this is quite a steal and minimal risk. Henrik Borgstrom is another good option on Thursday night as a slightly contrarian pick and still garners top six minutes.
Dominik Kahun ($3,200) — Kahun’s risk comes in at very high. He has seven shots in his previous two starts. There is much risk in playing a punt like him because of deployment. Top six ince time has been there and that is enough with the low FanDuel price to at least be worth a one-off on Thursday night. Michael Frolik is our other choice at just $2,900 on DraftKings. He has three points in his first two games after a healthy scratch. The price relief alone from the utility position will allow for upper tiered stacking options.
Goading The Goalies
Again, our best bet with this slate is to simply wait for confirmations to come in. The problem lies in that there are no confirmations so far. Morning skates reveal a few more but alas sometimes the wait can be right until warm-ups on a lighter than usual Thursday. Looking towards the lesser games tonight might actually pay off in GPP’s. Can teams on no rest pike up enough shots to make Boston and Montreal viable options?
Watch to see who starts whom. Expect the unexpected again as Robin Lehner is somehow low priced on FanDuel at $7,500. See if he starts to make sure but the goalie is the projected play for the New York Islanders. Los Angeles goalies are priced at less than $7,000 on DraftKings if one wants to take a GPP risk. They project to allow over 30 shots with ease.
The slate offers up few ways to get fancy. Jake Allen and Carter Hart are high danger plays as well but again, wait for confirmations. Morning skates could be chaotic in certain places. The last week featured some unexpected last minute news.
More picks and choices will be available on Slack and social media later.
Best of luck on Monday! This expects to feature a lot of unexpected, slate wise.
