NHL Daily Plays: Sunday, January 18th
I hope this past week treated everyone as well as it did me. I was lucky enough to punch my ticket to the WFHC finals on FanDuel. I hope to see some of the fellow Grinders out there in the finals.
This is a sad day for DFS with a four-game slate in the NHL and a three-game slate in the NBA. Even with only two NFL games, it seems that football has stolen the show. I suggest playing less volume than normal today and to just kick back and enjoy the conference championship games this afternoon.
Goalies
Make sure to check the Starting Goalies Page to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting prior to game time.
Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings – Mrazek’s price has certainly come up in the last week due to the injury to Jimmy Howard. I am going to keep it simple in net tonight and target Buffalo yet again. Detroit is playing great hockey right now having won seven games in their last ten. The Wings are a great home team with a 14-4-6 record while Buffalo comes into the contest with an abysmal 4-16-1 mark on the road this season. The only concern with Mrazek for GPPs is that Detroit should control the puck for most of the game and he will not face many shots. With the short slate, this is a little less important to me, as he has the best chance to earn a shutout.
Others to target: Michael Hutchinson, Corey Crawford
Centers
Brad Richards, Chicago Blackhawks – Richards’ asking price is not going to kill you tonight, and will allow you to fit some of the elite forwards this evening. Anytime Chicago is at home against a one-line team I love to target the Hawks’ second line. You will often see Jonathan Toews being matched up against the top line of the opposition due to his great defensive play at the forward position. This should lead to the Richards-Kane-Bickell line getting shifts against the weaker lines for the Stars and should lead to better scoring chances.
Bryan Little, Winnipeg Jets – Yet again we have a player that has been underpriced as of late on both of the major sites. Little has three goals and eight assists in his last ten contests, and that type of production is well worth the asking price. Winnipeg was one of the few teams that had the night off last night, and the Coyotes may have tired legs after their game in Minnesota. Arizona has the league’s 27th ranked penalty kill and is always a squad to target.
Others to target: Pavel Datsyuk, Mark Scheifele
Wingers
Justin Abdelkader, Detroit Red Wings – This is a rare situation with Abdelkader only having six points at home this season and 18 on the road. I am going to ignore that for tonight, as I think it is such a small sample size, and that there is no reasonable explanation for it. Abdelkader is skating with two great playmakers in Datsyuk and Zetterberg, so the defense will focus on them and make Abdelkader a great value play.
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks – Kane comes in as my top play on the slate. Pairing him with Richards is a strategy that has worked well for me in the last few weeks, as Richards will provide the salary relief needed to afford Kane. On this short of a slate, you need to capitalize on the few goals by getting the assists on them too, and pairing these two tonight is one way to do that without breaking the bank.
Others to target: David Perron (early game), Evander Kane
Defensemen
Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks – Seabrook was given the opportunity the skate with the top power play unit for Chicago in their last game, which puts him in a fantasy-friendly lineup with Toews and Kane. He comes in at a discount to Duncan Keith on FanDuel, while on DraftKings the price is equal. For GPP’s on DraftKings that makes Seabrook even more enticing, as he should be very low owned because anyone spending $4,400 on a defenseman will almost certainly go with Keith.
Alex Goligoski, Dallas Stars – With the injury to Trevor Daley, Goligoski has taken over the ice time with the top power play unit for Dallas. Chicago has the league’s best penalty kill at 88.6%, so this increased time with a man advantage does not give Goligoski as big of a bump as it normally would, but with 3 games on the later slate, there is not much to pick from.
Others to target: Niklas Kronwall, David Runblad