NHL DFS Slate Summary: Thursday, January 11th
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 Thursday, January 11th
Today’s Games
Slate Overview
I deemed Tuesday night’s slate the “hardest of the year,” and I think tonight returns to some normalcy. That’s not to say it’s completely straightforward, but I think it’s a lot easier to navigate through the options than Tuesday. The Hurricanes top the list of expected goals, although the usual DFS challenges with them still apply, which should mean their ownership won’t be as high as the projected total would imply. Then there’s the Oilers after a letdown on Tuesday, the Jets, Sabres, and Rangers. Montreal’s team total has dropped significantly since the initial lines and is now down to 3.4 after opening at 3.7. I still think they will be one of the highest-owned teams of the night, as many projections were already out, and they aren’t terribly expensive.
There’s no shortage of star power in the form of Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, Nikita Kucherov, William Nylander, and Artemi Panarin. Because of that, and the fact that none of them have absolute dream home matchups, I do expect ownership to be fairly spread out tonight. So while ownership is always a consideration, it might be more of a “play the best plays” and correlate well type of night than freaking out over a few ownership percentage points.
I also remembered there’s nighttime PGA tonight, too, thanks to the event being in Hawaii. So it’ll definitely be a two-screen (or more) kind of night while hopefully sweating some NHL wins. As Bart Scott would say: “Can’t wait!”
Top Skaters
Auston Matthews
DraftKings $10,200
The other night was an anomaly; the Maple Leafs scored seven goals, and Matthews was somehow only involved in one of them. Unless there’s an injury, I’d say that outcome is probably a single-digit one, given how integral he is to the offensive production. He’s not far removed from a 13 SOG performance just a week ago. Speaking of absurd shot totals, tonight he faces an Islanders team he peppered for 11 SOG in his only other appearance this season. His price tag and the other quality options on the slate should keep his ownership from reaching ridiculous levels.