RotoBallers, welcome back to our daily fantasy hockey (NHL DFS) lineup picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and FantasyAces. Below you will find our NHL cheat sheet - DFS lineup picks, sleepers and stacks for Saturday, January 21 of the 2016/2017 NHL season.
Saturday in the NHL brings us a big 11 game all day slate. There are two games in the afternoon followed by nine more on the main slate. FanDuel is the only one of the three sites where you can play an all day slate as DraftKings is once again just running an early and main slate while FantasyAces has just the main slate tonight. Let's take a look at some top plays for the main slate.
Editor's Note: New users that sign up on Fantasy Aces, make a $20 deposit, and enter any game will receive our full season NHL Premium Pass (DFS Cheat Sheets) for free, a $99.99 value. Just email info@rotoballer.com with your new FantasyAces username - and boom, that's it! We will email you with your Premium pass.
NHL Daily League Lineup Picks for Saturday, January 21
For those that are new to this, each day we'll be providing you with a few of our top DFS lineup picks for daily league cash games on FanDuel, DraftKings, and FantasyAces. We will also provide you with one of our favorite teams to stack for GPPs. You can grab the rest of our Premium DFS lineup picks and stacks through the NHL Cheat Sheet and DFS Premium Pass below.
Nicklas Backstrom (C, WSH)
DraftKings - $6,600, FanDuel - $6,900, FantasyAces - $5,350
Is there anyone in the NHL hotter than Backstrom right now? Over his last eight games, he has tallied an absurd 14 points bringing his season total up to 44 points in his first 45 games. He is normally not a safe cash game play as he doesn't take a lot of shots but consider the hot streak and matchup vs. the Stars 28th ranked defense and he is clear for take off in any format.
Jonathan Drouin (W, TB)
DraftKings - $5,500, FanDuel - $6,500, FantasyAces - $5,250
The Lightning have struggled lately losing seven of their last 10 games, scoring just 2.1 goals per game but will be in a great spot to turn it around tonight. They get one of the best matchups on the board vs. the Coyotes 29th ranked defense. Take the value with Drouin, especially on DraftKings where he is in the mid $5K range. The team slump hasn't slowed him down as he has tallied nine points in his last 10 games with 30 shots on goal.
Ivan Provorov (D, PHI)
DraftKings - $4,600, FanDuel - $4,600, FantasyAces - $4,650
There is some risk to rostering Provorov as the Flyers have also struggled lately but the mid $4K price tag cannot be ignored. He provides fantasy value across the board with a balance of shots and blocks and has also seen an uptick in ice time(22+ minutes) over his last 10 games. The salary relief allows you to spend up goalie and for an elite forward
Stacking Option
Tampa Bay Lightning - Jonathan Drouin, Valtteri Filippula, Brian Boyle
Like I mentioned above Drouin, the Bolts have been struggling but have a great matchup tonight and make a great stacking option. The Coyotes have also struggled, most notably on the road where the hold a 5-15-4 record for the season. They also rank close to dead last in defense and have given up 20 goals over their last five games. Great spot for the Bolts to get back on track and you to get them at lower than normal ownership.
NHL & DFS Premium Subscription
Get an edge on your NHL DFS competition, every single night of the week:
- DFS Cheat Sheets and Lineup Picks: Access to 10 deeply researched lineup picks, and sample lineups. Includes advanced stats to unlock NHL player values, and boost DFS success.
- DFS Optimizer Tool: Generate optimal DFS lineups in seconds. Use advanced features and stats for including/excluding players, cash games vs. GPPs, stacks and more.
- DFS Value Picks: Our Optimizer helps you find, sort and filter the best lineup values and DFS sleeper picks. Premium stats like "DvP" and "Points/$1K" give you a leg up on the DFS competition.
- Daily NHL Projections: Our secret sauce - the Optimizer Tool provides DFS points projections for FanDuel, DraftKings and Yahoo scoring.
Lineup Optimizer/Generator & Sleepers Tool
Click here to see a full size version of the tool
Click here to see a full size version of the tool
Click here to see a full size version of the tool
Premium NHL DFS Lineup Picks & Cheat Sheet
Want to know what the Premium NHL DFS Cheat Sheets looks like? Below is a sample. We go above and beyond standard daily fantasy hockey analysis.
Click image to enlarge
Bonus: General NHL DFS Strategy Notes
For cash games, look at players who can contribute to your score even when they are not providing offense. Some examples are guys who take a ton of shots and defensemen who block a lot of shots. Also, look for guys who get power play time. You can find value in players who join a new line due to an injury, or just get a promotion and more ice time. It is also recommended to spread out your exposure to three or four different lines, and not put all your eggs in one basket.
For large field tournaments (GPPs), find payers who have multi-point upside and can grab double-digit fantasy points. If you want to stack the most upside in your forwards, a common strategy is to punt the defense position. This doesn't mean just grab anyone - try and look for a defenseman who will get power play time, or a playing time boost due to an injury. For a contrarian approach, paying up at the defense position can be a great strategy - but it also comes with more risk. GPPs bring a great opportunity for goaltenders in the value price range - you can look for backups on good teams.