NHL DFS Picks & Stacks for DraftKings & FanDuel Lineups | Nashville Predators and Shea Theodore 1/8/22

COVID protocol has been making a strong onset through the NHL in the past week or so. Keeping an eye on new is imperative to succeeding at NHL DFS. Following this list of Twitter beat writer is 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’s go position by position and pinpoint some of the top plays and stacks for Saturday, Jan. 8.

NHL DFS Picks, Top Stacks & Lineup Optimizer Plays

Center

Tomas Hertl (SJS at PHI): DraftKings – $6,500 | FanDuel – $6,700

Both teams are enduring injuries, but what the Flyers are enduring is something else right now. With Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Ryan Ellis, and Ivan Provorov all out of the lineup, the Flyers are missing their top line and a top-pair-quality duo of defensemen. That is on top of all the ancillary players they’re missing as well. Long story short, with Philadelphia’s Kevin Hayes among the worst defensive centers in the league this year, there is no line capable of slowing down Tomas Hertl and San Jose’s top trio.

As a duo, Hertl and Timo Meier help the Sharks generate 66 shot attempts and 37 scoring chances per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, just fantastic offensive numbers. While they are being saddled with a weak winger in Alex Barabanov, they are more than good enough on their own to take care of a depleted Flyers roster. Hertl is averaging nearly three shots per game over the last five weeks, skating nearly 20 minutes a night. He should skate at least that with Logan Couture out of the lineup. Hertl is fine to use by himself in all formats because he’s a goal scorer who can finish plays by himself, but the entire threesome is fine in tournaments tonight.

Jack Roslovic (CBJ vs. NJD): DraftKings – $2,800 | FanDuel – $4,400

We got hoodwinked last game, as we expected Cole Sillinger to lineup as Columbus’s second-line center, but Jack Roslovic took that spot during warmups. Either way, this is a role that is worth of our discussion.

Skating on the second line means getting Oliver Bjorkstrand as a line mate, and that’s great news for Roslovic: on the ice together, that duo controls 52% of the shot attempts and is generating 2.7 goals per 60 minutes, both marks more than adequate for a cheap second line. That doubles for a line going into the depth from New Jersey, which has taken a hit of late due to a mix of injuries and COVID protocols.

The issue with Roslovic is he doesn’t shoot much; 1.4 per game this year and he’s shooting less per 60 minutes than notorious non-shooter teammate Jakub Voracek. This is reflected in Roslovic’s price, but it also makes him difficult to use without at least one other line mate, or a defenseman, or something along those lines. Either way, he is on a good offensive line playing for a team with a 3.3 total tonight, and at home. This is a great matchup and spot for Roslovic, so anyone looking for a punt at the center position can look no further.

Winger

Viktor Arvidsson (LAK vs. DET): DraftKings – $5,300 | FanDuel – $5,600

Before we get to Los Angeles, we have to talk about the Wings, because it’s the matchup that really draws us here. In short, the Red Wings’ second line has been night-and-day with and without Filip Zadina on it, which he won’t be this evening: controlling 53% of the shot attempts with him and just 37% of the shot attempts without him. Zadina has really taken a step forward this year and that he’s being left off that line just makes them considerably worse.

That is where Viktor Arvidsson will come in for us. He is lining up on the second line with Phillip Danault, and that duo has been generating north of 75 shot attempts and 3.3 goals per 60 minutes together this year. The second-line duo for the Kings has been dynamic for them, and tonight they get a supremely favourable in-game matchup.

One of the big reasons for gravitating towards Arvidsson is his price. He is priced in a range with other 50- to 60-point wingers, but the difference is he averages over 3.5 shots per game, and is a nightly threat for the DraftKings shot bonus. He is just fine by himself in all formats tonight, or as part of some sort of second-line filler stack in tournaments.

Ilya Mikheyev (TOR at COL): DraftKings – $3,300 | FanDuel – $5,200     

The Toronto Maple Leafs have some injuries and COVID issues of their own, and this has pushed Ilya Mikheyev to the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander. That duo has been very good for Toronto this year, controlling 56% of the shot attempts and scoring 3.9 goals per 60 minutes. Mikheyev will walk onto a line that is scoring at a true first-line rate this year.

That line will also go into Colorado’s second line, and they have been weakened due to the injury to Valeri Nichushkin: 59% shot share with him and 54% without, allowing roughly 14% more shot attempts when he’s not on their line. That weakened second line is a target for Mikheyev and company tonight in a game with a 6.5 total.

The question is how to use him. Because of his price and the team’s matchup, he’ll probably draw reasonable ownership even on a 10-game slate. He can be used as a one-off in tournaments but should strongly be considered as part of a line stack. He is not bargain-basement priced like the next winger we’ll discuss, so including him with line mates makes a bit more sense, particularly where he’s priced down on DraftKings compared to FanDuel.

Matthew Boldy (MIN vs. WSH): DraftKings – $2,500 | FanDuel – $3,800

After scoring in his first NHL game, DraftKings has given us a gift and left Matthew Boldy as a min-priced winger. While it isn’t a particularly great matchup for the winger with Washington in town, the Capitals played last night and are still missing several prominent regular forwards. Washington is a good team, but this is about as easy a matchup can be against them.

For those unfamiliar with Boldy, he is one of the top NHL prospects right now, along with teammate Marco Rossi. For his AHL career, Boldy has 28 points in 24 games, averaging 3.7 shots per game. For a prospect that is still 20 years old, those are absolutely superlative numbers in the minors. It shows why the team, and many hockey people, are very high on him as an offensive dynamo.

With so many injuries on the Minnesota side, it can make them tough to stack, as lines could be constantly in flux; Kirill Kaprizov’s injury last game shifted Boldy around the lineup. But at his price, he’s worth the risk tonight in tournaments as a punt. Just beware of line combinations because, as mentioned, he was moved around in their last game.


Latest NHL DFS Content


Defensemen

Shea Theodore (VGK vs. CHI): DraftKings – $5,500 | FanDuel – $6,200

By our defense projections, the top-projected blue liner on the slate is Alex Pietrangelo. The second-highest projection belongs to teammate Shea Theodore, and the price difference makes Theodore a much better value.

Tonight, Chicago is in town and the team has improved defensively over the last six weeks, being close to the middle of the league at 5-on-5 by shot attempts allowed. Their penalty kill is still atrocious, though, ranking in the bottom-5 of the league by mot metrics in that span. With Theodore cheap and earning significant PP minutes, he is a target for us tonight.

Alex Goligoski (MIN vs. WSH): DraftKings – $3,400 | FanDuel – $4,900

As mentioned in the Boldy section, even on a back-to-back, this is a tough spot for the Wild. All the same, with the injuries on defense, Alex Goligoski has been moved to the top PP unit. He has also cracked 20 minutes in ice time in three of his last five games, posting an assist in four of them. Guys playing over 20 minutes a night and running their team’s top PP unit don’t get priced in this range often, regardless of matchup. Goligoski requires our attention in tournaments as a lower-priced option on the blue line.

Goalie

Alex Nedeljkovic (DET at LAK): DraftKings – $7,100 | FanDuel – $7,000

By our projected stats, we have Alex Nedeljkovic for more than 30 saves tonight and fewer than three goals allowed. It makes him one of two goalies to fit this projection tonight, along with Andrei Vasilevskiy, but there’s an $1,100 difference between the two on DraftKings. Goalie Ned is one of our tournament targets in net tonight.

Top NHL DFS Stacks

NSH1: Granlund-Duchene-Forsberg

By our Top Stacks tool tonight, this Nashville top line is one of our top half-dozen lines by expectation of success tonight. While Arizona has improved defensively over the last month or so, Nashville’s price has also dropped on some sites, so the trade-off is there. With Nashville being one of the most consistent top lines this year, and good leverage by our tools, they are a target for us tonight.

VGK2: Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith

One of our top-10 lines by success probability tonight according to our Top Stacks is the Vegas second line. Chicago is in town tonight and in the section on Theodore, we mentioned the poor Chicago penalty kill, and that’s where this line can really take advantage: they generate nearly 11 expected goals per 60 minutes with the man advantage, an utterly dominant number. This is a great PP matchup, and that’s why VGK2 is listed here.

*Stats 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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