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Welcome to the Daily Fantasy Hockey (NHL DFS) lineup picks article for January 2nd of the 2015/2016 NHL season. Each Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I'll be providing you with five picks (G, C, W, W, D) for FanDuel and DraftKings GPP and cash games.
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NHL DFS Picks for Saturday, January 2nd
Happy New Year everyone. The main slate in the NHL gives us nine games on Saturday night. With the holiday and a small two game slate on New Years day, there are no teams playing on back to back nights but there are three teams(BUF, PIT, WSH) playing a third game in four nights.
The pricing on FanDuel is starting to make it hard to roster multiple stars. The top priced player on FanDuel (Jamie Benn) comes at a cost of 20% of your salary vs. the top player on DraftKings(Alex Ovechkin) at a 18% hit on your salary. Choosing the right value plays has become crucial if you are wanting to roster the top priced players or stack a team like the Stars top line.
A couple strategy notes. For cash game construction look for players who can contribute to your score when they are not providing offense. Examples are guys who take a ton of shots, defensemen who block a lot of shots(DraftKings). Also, look for guys who get powerplay time and especially Top 6 forwards. You can find value in players who join a new line due to an injury or just get a promotion and more ice time.
For large field tournaments(GPP's) you want to find payers who have multi point upside and can grab double digit fantasy points. 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 D man who will be playing more PP time or might get a boost in overall playing time due to an injury.
With that, let's dig in to find some core plays for Saturday night.
Semyon Varlamov - Goaltender, Avalanche (DraftKings - $7,400 FanDuel - $9,300)
The Avalanche are home favorites to the Flames who are 5-13 on the road this season. Varlamov is in a great position to pick up the win and he is 6-2-2 in his last 10 games. He carries a fairly high floor as the Avalanche are giving up over 30 shots on goal when he is in net. He is safe pick in any format.
Tyler Seguin - Center, Stars (DraftKings - $8,700 FanDuel - $9,100)
He will continue to be the top center option until the price out weighs the production. He is the top priced center on DraftKings but comes in as the 3rd highest on FanDuel. He has picked up eight goals in his last 10 games and has helped maintain the Stars #1 offensive rank.
Alex Steen - Winger, Blues (DraftKings - $7,100 FanDuel - $7,900)
A very consistent option night in and night out. He averages over 3.5 fantasy points per game on both sites and skates on the Blues top line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Paul Stastny. He has picked up nine points in his last 10 games and is up to 35 on the season. He makes a great play in any format tonight.
Jonathan Huberdeau - Winger, Panthers (DraftKings - $5,200 FanDuel - $6,200)
The Panthers top line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Jaromir Jagr, and Aleksander Barkov has helped push the Panthers to the top of the Atlantic Division race. He has picked up 10 points in his last 10 games including four games where he had multiple assists. It is one of the more intriguing matchups of the night as the Panthers have won seven straight while the Rangers have struggled recently going 3-6-1- in their last 10 games. Best for Huberdeau to be used in tournaments tonight.
Erik Johnson - Defense, Avalanche (DraftKings - $5,400 FanDuel - $4,400)
He comes with a nice price tag for the production he has provided lately. He has seven points of his 16 total points on the season in the last 10 games and has added 24 shots and 30 blocks in that time. One of the main reasons the production has increased is the increase in ice time, going from around 23 min a game to over 25 min in the last few weeks.
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If you have any questions throughout the day please leave them in the chat and I will get back to them ASAP during the day tomorrow. There will be no live chat Sunday.
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