DraftKings & FanDuel NHL DFS Picks: It’s Saturday and that means some big NHL DFS contests on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo, and FantasyDraft. This eight-game main slate is a great one but is full of traps. Let’s get into some top NHL DFS picks for Jan. 18, including Auston Matthews and Elvis Merzlikins yet again with some new wrinkles too. As always, you can follow us on TWITTER!
Don’t forget to check out the NHL Strategy Show this afternoon with Jake Hari
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NHL DFS Schedule for Saturday, Jan 18th (1/18)
| AWAY – the opening line | O/U | HOME | TIME – EST |
| Los Angeles | 5.5 | Philadelphia -160 | 7:00 PM |
| Vegas -130 | 6 | Montreal | 7:00 PM |
| Chicago | 6.5 | Toronto -210 | 7:00 PM |
| Florida -200 | 6 | Detroit | 7:00 PM |
| New Jersey | 5.5 | Columbus -185 | 7:00 PM |
| Buffalo | 6 | Nashville -185 | 8:00 PM |
| Dallas -120 | 5.5 | Minnesota | 9:00 PM |
| San Jose | 6 | Vancouver | 10:00 PM |
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DraftKings & FanDuel NFL DFS Picks: Centers
Auston Matthews — TOR vs CHI — ($8,400 DraftKings, $8,600 FanDuel)
Matthews will be highly-owned on this slate as it qualifies as a medium slate. Also, the matchup is against a Chicago team that allows 35+ shots a game on the road. Consider that the center is averaging 5.2 shots per game over his last ten contests and it is no secret why he must be rostered. Furthermore, the center has ten goals and 14 points during this period. When a player is getting 4+ scoring chances a night, he is extremely hard to pass up. Chicago is allowing the second-most points in DFS to centers.
Pivoting to Aleksander Barkov or Jack Eichel could pay off as their matchups are favorable. Barkov’s is against the league-worst Detroit Red Wings. However, Dylan Larkin could be a contrarian play.
Elias Pettersson — SJS vs VAN — ($6,700 DraftKings, $7,300 FanDuel)
For now, Pettersson is a solid GPP option on Saturday because of the void that San Jose has with Logan Couture injured. In two games against the Sharks, Pettersson has two goals and six scoring chances. He becomes a decent late-hammer pick on a night where Dallas plays Minnesota (that is a true crapshoot). San Jose’s penalty kill has suffered some since Couture’s absence and another reason why to consider the Pettersson line in lineups and especially later lineups.
Players are out there and pricing is soft in places but watch for some back-to-back risers. Again, remember this is an eight-game slate, so take your time and take a long look at the slate itself. Even lesser-named centers are out there. Just look at matchups and try to exploit them, whether at even strength or special teams. Therefore, it will be intriguing to see how high-owned Nashville players are given how up and down Buffalo has looked of late. Nashville has been inconsistent as well and could be a wildcard matchup.
DraftKings & FanDuel NFL DFS Picks: Wingers
Max Pacioretty — VGK vs MTL — ($7,300 DraftKings, $7,500 — FanDuel)
Montreal’s 75% home penalty kill going up against a motivated Pacioretty spells trouble here. Remember that the winger generates high shot volume at the level of an Alex Ovechkin. Pacioretty averages around five shots a contest. He has four goals and nine points over his previous nine games. His slightly cheaper price than some of the chalk centers makes him a slightly more attractive option on Saturday night.
Also, watch this game. Even this game has a high potential for 7+ goals which makes for some stacking with Montreal and Vegas on multiple fronts. These two teams should be able to trade goals given the fact that their defenses give up inopportune high-danger chances in abundance.
Blake Coleman — NJD vs CLB — ($5,200 DraftKings, $4,900 FanDuel)
The secret is out. Coleman is getting opportunities to fire from anywhere and everywhere. He is taking advantage despite seeing little or no power-play time. That suits his game and the results have followed. He has eight goals and 49 shots on net in his previous ten contests. That is no misprint! Coleman is also a threat short-handed with four points and three goals. His price has finally come up to the level of a middle-tier player on the rise. Coleman has a good matchup against a still fairly depleted Columbus lineup. The Blue Jackets do not allow a ton of quality chances but Coleman generates so much off the rush.
There are abundant values on Saturday, so look around. Look at Los Angeles and Philadelphia in particular. Travis Konecny has excellent home splits and needs to be looked at. Then there is the idea of exploring that Buffalo and Nashville game further with Matt Duchene and Filip Forsberg.
DraftKings & FanDuel NHL DFS Picks: Defensemen
PK Subban — NJD vs CLB— ($4,300 DraftKings, $4,100 FanDuel)
So, the Subban choice seems nuts. However, he has 11 shots in his last two games as coaches are telling him to just let it rip. The more time he sees on the power play means the more chances for shots. He has 36 in the last ten games. His floor is five-shot and blocked shots a night. That is a very solid number. Columbus may be disciplined but Subban has more confidence in his shot than ever. New Jersey playing more wide open benefits the defenseman immensely.
Also, consider Seth Jones in this spot along with Roman Josi from the upper-tier. They provide even more floor and point-potential on a night with plus matchups. The penalty kills for New Jersey and Buffalo have been among the worst in the league over the past month. How bad? We are talking in the 72-73% range on the road.
Rasmus Dahlin — BUF vs NSH — ($3,900 DraftKings, $4,800 FanDuel)
Dahlin is a risky play because he shoots just twice a game on net and blocks maybe a shot a night, if lucky. However, he does have six points in his last nine games. That includes a goal in his last outing and Nashville sometimes plays some stinkers at home unexpectedly. Buffalo is the type of team that can frustrate opponents at times. Dahlin must hit the net more with his shot (particularly his wrist shot). It is above average and often results in rebounds.
Again, this is all about searching for value, there will be more picks in the Slack chat as line shits and some injuries are sorted out. We do advise you to watch for line shifts as the day goes on. Some teams may opt to alter the ice time of players to maximize rest as well. Keep this in mind. Also, this is the night before the bye week for half the league. Expect some unusual results. Look back to the Christmas break where Washington got their lunches handed to them by Boston.
DraftKings & FanDuel NHL DFS Stacks
CLB 1 – Gustav Nyqvist – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Emil Bemstrom
There is nothing to expect but quality chances with this group. Using Jones as a kicker here is reasonable or even sliding down to Zach Werenski. New Jersey gives up nearly 12 high-danger chances per 60 which are up from the 8.4 during the first 26 games that John Hynes coached. With Cory Schneider starting tonight, Columbus getting an early goal is paramount because that could open up the floodgates. Also, this line should be very low-owned on a night with some good star power.
NSH 3 – Rocco Grimaldi – Nick Bonino – Viktor Arvidsson
This will be a solid matchup for the Predators and DFS players to exploit. It is a different way to spend to get some high-chance potential against awful special teams in Buffalo. This “checking” line looks more like a great counterattacking trio that has players who can put the puck in the net. It is a cheaper stack on a night where few can generate numbers like they can. Nashville’s second line is in a great spot for this reason but is higher-priced.
TOR 1 or FLA 1Â
Both are very good choices with excellent matchups. Toronto goes up against the second-worst team defense in Chicago while Florida goes up versus the league-worst Detroit team. These should be the highest-owned matchups. Toronto’s top line will be tougher to fade while Florida offers the chance to dangle some Detroit possibilities. Tyson Barrie comes in at a solid price which can help absorb the elevated cost of Matthews and maybe even Mitch Marner.
As always, there will be more NHL DFS news via Slack chat and social media. Good luck with your NHL DFS contests tonight! This expects to be a slate with a metric ton of chaos.
