NHL DFS Slate Summary: Thursday, January 25th
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 25th
Today’s Games
Slate Overview
We’re at four consecutive days with a Slate Summary, and each one has been progressively better as far as the performance of the picks. So that means today we’re going to bat a thousand and have the best one the world has ever seen. And what a slate it is. There are 3 teams on the elite tier for me, with one more (Calgary) sort of on tier 1.5. The Oilers, Stars, and Lightning (probably in that order) are all in elite matchups and have a projected team total above four goals. They aren’t cheap, so you’re going to have to prioritize and can’t just jam them all in.
There is some significant injury news to monitor, mainly the status of Miro Heiskanen and Zach Werenski, two workhorse defensemen with plenty of fantasy value. Right now, it looks like Heiskanen is almost certain to return, while Werenski’s status is still TBD.
DraftKings is rolling out its usual $555 contest with $20,000 to first and $85,000 in total prizes. The Kick Save ($15 entry, $10,000 to first) is pretty weak by comparison. I’d guess the Kick Save will fill early, while the $555 might have a little overlay. Either way, there’s money out there to be won. And away we go.
Top Skaters
Leon Draisaitl
DraftKings $7,600
UPDATE: It appears that the top line will actually be Draisaitl-McDavid-Hyman instead of what I referenced below. Honestly, I don’t think it changes too much about how I feel about Draisaitl, but it is probably worth a slight bump up.
Last night, I essentially called Nathan MacKinnon a “must play” without officially designating him as that. The rest is history, although it’s not like it was some bold take, and anyone with a brain knew he was in a tremendous spot. For the record, I don’t feel quite as strongly about Connor McDavid as I did MacKinnon last night. He’s still a tremendous play, but I see more ways he ends up not killing you than I did with MacKinnon last night.
The matchup is clearly elite against a terrible Chicago team. Here’s the one thing I’ll point out. Prior to last night, when they were swallowed up by the Kraken, they had been trying to muck up games and essentially lose by as little as possible rather than trying to win the game. I still think the Oilers have their way with them tonight, but there’s a non-zero percent chance it ends up something like 3-0 or 4-1, and the scoring is distributed.
Compared to McDavid, I slightly prefer the savings of Leon Draisaitl. We know about his power-play prowess and the connection he shares with McDavid there. Recently, however, the even-strength game has been better, too, thanks to a budding chemistry with Evander Kane and Warren Foegele (spoiler). He’s -115 to score a goal, which isn’t too far from McDavid (-125), who is $2,000+ more expensive.