NHL GPP Plays: Thursday, January 15th
Every Tuesday and Thursday I am going to give you my top tournament plays for all Daily Fantasy Hockey GPPs (guaranteed prize pool). GPP is a general term used across the industry for your big money tournaments.
GPPs are very different from your cash games and you use a different strategy with them. In our GPPs we are not interested in safe plays, GPPs are all about UPSIDE. We want players who can explode, all-or-nothing type players can become GPP gold, and your value players are just as important as your star players. You need your players to have huge nights in order to take down these big tournaments.
My goal is to provide players who will be under-owned and have that big game upside you are looking for. I will also try to find as much value as I possibly can. Now, let’s get to the NHL GPP Plays!
GOALTENDERS
Make sure to check the RotoGrinders Starting Goalies Page to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting prior to game time.
Joni Ortio, Calgary Flames – The 23-year-old Finnish goalie gets a second consecutive start after his brilliant performance over Vancouver on Saturday night. Ortio stopped all 36 shots the Canucks fired at him and some of them in spectacular fashion. Only four teams have scored fewer goals on the season than the Coyotes have, Arizona really lacks offensive punch are not a team to fear. I expect Ortio to play well again and come away with the all-important win tonight. As far as goaltenders go, I think Ortio is the best bang for your buck in GPPs.
Other Goalies To Target – Cam Talbot, Ray Emery, Anders Lindback, Ondrej Pavalec
CENTER
Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames – Monahan’s offensive game has been quiet recently, but he has a great opportunity to change that tonight in Arizona. Monahan centers the Flames’ top line and number one power play unit. The Coyotes have been a mess in their back end all season long, allowing the fourth-most goals per game in the NHL. With Devan Dubnyk being dealt to the Wild, Mike Smith will start in goal tonight, which is good news for the Flames offense. Smith has had a terrible this season (3.53 GAA, .885 SV%) and he doesn’t appear to be breaking out of his slump anytime soon.
Other Centers To Target – Nick Bjugstad, Mark Scheifele, Valtteri Filppula
WINGERS
Brayden Schenn, Philadelphia Flyers – Schenn is coming off a multi-point game versus the Lightning and he seems to be the forgotten man on the Flyers’ top line with superstars Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. Schenn is a player I rarely see on GPP rosters, yet he is in a great situation to continue producing like he did last game. The 23-year-old hasn’t fully lived up to his hefty expectations, but he is still very young and extremely talented. As long as he stays on Philadelphia’s top line and number one power play unit, he should keep racking up the points.
Radim Vrabata, Vancouver Canucks – The Alex Burrows experiment did not last long as Radim Vrbata is back on the Canucks’ top line with the Sedin twins. I am not sure why Vrbata was ever moved off their line in the first place as the trio displayed great chemistry together immediately and were a very productive line. Regardless, Vrbata and the DFS community are happy he’s back on that top line. The Flyers have a lot of question marks in net and are playing on back to back nights. Philadelphia is not a strong defensive unit and they have the NHL’s worst penalty kill. Look for Vrbata and company to dominate down low and produce on the power play tonight.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers – Huberdeau has really picked up his offensive game and now plays on the Panthers’ top line and number one power play unit. Huberdeau is the most talented offensive player Florida has and he makes a sneaky GPP play tonight. If you have watched at least a handful of games from the Avalanche at any point this season you know how bad they can be defensively. Colorado is ranked 22nd in goals against and are allowing the second most shots against per game this season (34.5). The Avalanche have actually been worse in the month of January, allowing a league-high 38.7 shots per game. Colorado continues to get shelled on a nightly basis and those shots will soon result in more goals.
Other Wingers To Target – Max Pacioretty, Andrew Ladd, Johnny Gaudreau
DEFENSE
Tobia Enstrom, Winnipeg Jets – Enstrom had a big night in the Jets’ annihilation of the Florida Panthers Tuesday night, and now has points in four straight games. Dallas has lost four of their past five games and have allowed 20 goals in the process. This game could be a shootout and Enstrom could find himself having another multi-point night.
Other Defensemen To Target – Brian Campbell, Jared Spurgeon, Andrei Markov, Cody Franson
Good Luck Grinders!
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