NHL DFS Slate Summary: Tuesday, February 6th
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 Tuesday, February 6th
Today’s Games
Slate Overview
Guess who’s back (back) again? Hockey’s back (back), tell a friend. I took the opportunity to unplug and even took social media off my phone and didn’t check the RG Discord for the last five days. I saw a few clips from the All-Star festivities but decided not to invest much time into it in an effort to take some time away. I feel recharged and ready to attack the second half of the NHL season. Hopefully, most of you did something similar or at least enjoyed the light-hearted nature of the All-Star break as opposed to the day-to-day grind of the regular season.
We’re welcomed back with a nice 8-gamer. Yes, I know there were technically two games last night, but I’m treating this as the true return to action. I’d argue this is one of the most difficult slates of the year, both for DFS players and to write about. There’s always some uncertainty on how things will play out after such long layoffs. Plus, there were a few significant trades right before or during the break that impact tonight’s games. We’ll go into detail in a few spots below.
As for the slate, I’d say there are several teams in good spots but none in great ones. This is apparent in the implied team totals, where no one is above 3.6 goals, which is fairly low for this large of a slate. Tier One (or what would probably be tier two on most slates) consists of the Bruins, Stars, and Panthers, all of whom have the aforementioned 3.6-goal team total. Then it’s a large mess of teams that includes the Avalanche, Hurricanes, Devils, and Oilers. There might be a few other spots worth targeting, but I’d guess the vast majority of ownership comes from those seven teams.
There’s a lot to break down, so let’s get into it.
Top Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon
DraftKings $10,200
My initial reaction when I saw the two-gamer on Monday (that featured Colorado) and then that the Avs were also playing Tuesday was to fade MacKinnon and even heavily target the Devils on the other side. While I think both are justifiable, I’ve come around to going right back to MacKinnon despite the second of a back-to-back. MacKinnon is arguably in the best shape of anyone in the NHL and is obsessed with taking care of his body, and at just 28 years old, I don’t worry too much about the physical toll. Also, he’s just come off a layoff (despite some half-hearted All-Star game festivities) and should have plenty in the tank.
The matchup against the Devils is a good one, primarily because of their lapses in goaltending. Tonight, he’ll face Vitek Vanecek. Among the 59 goalies who have played in 15+ games this year, he’s ranked 58th in “Goals Saved Above Expected,” trailing only Joonas Korpisalo. MacKinnon’s goal-scoring prop is -130, the highest on the slate and narrowly edging out David Pastrnak (-125). He won’t be low-owned, but I do think the second of a B2B will keep it from reaching astronomic levels.