NHL DFS Slate Summary: Saturday, January 20th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders NHL DFS Slate Summary. In this article, we’ll concentrate on the key elements of DFS success while delivering analysis on the upcoming slate of NHL games for DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ll discuss today’s NHL DFS player projections, player correlations and NHL stacking, NHL starting lineups, differentiation tactics using NHL projected ownership, and recommendations on ways to create lineup diversity if entering multiple lineups using LineupHQ.
NHL DFS Picks: Slate Summary for Saturday, January 20th
Today’s Games
Slate Overview
I’m not going to continue the ongoing snow bit, but I will say that it’s still in full force and the kid’s school was out all week, so the weekend is very much appreciated. I’ve been open about DK’s poor contest sizing in the past, but it’s hard to blame them for their contest offerings this evening given the huge NFL slate, MMA, and NBA all soaking up attention and dollars from the DFS community.
As for the slate itself, it’s a nice 8-gamer, which is smaller than usual but still an ideal size in my opinion. Six of the eight games are essentially pick’ems, with the favorite at -130 or lower. Then there’s the expected chalk in the Bruins, who are massive -290 favorites at home against the Canadiens. Last is the Oilers, who are moderate favorites against the Flames, and likely will be the second most popular team.
The only noteworthy injury news is that Logan Couture will make his season debut for the Sharks. It doesn’t appear that he’ll have any minutes limitations and should be on the first power play. The matchup against the Ducks is a favorable one and many will take a wait-and-see approach, making him an interesting tournament option.
Let’s get into it.
Top Skaters
David Pastrnak
DraftKings $9,700
I can’t remember a slate of at least eight games where a player was so clearly above the others like Pastrnak is tonight. As of this morning, his projection was almost four points higher than the next-closest skater, which is a crazy margin. Let’s start with the only potential negatives. First is ownership. He’ll see some of the highest we’ve seen on an 8+ gamer this season. Last is the blowout potential. While unlikely, it’s not an impossible scenario that Boston’s secondary lines score most of the early goals and the team doesn’t need to ride Pastnak to 20+ minutes, so he largely rides the pine in the third.
All right, now to the good stuff. Pastrnak has elevated his already stellar play to new heights lately. Over his modest three-game point streak, he has seven points in all, including a hat trick in his last game. Home/road splits were a topic of conversation in the Discord yesterday, and while you may or may not view them as predictive going forward, they have definitely been descriptive looking back for Pastrnak. He’s averaging 24 DK points per game at home versus 16 per game on the road. Last, we have one of the juiciest possible matchups against a leaky Canadiens team.