Lineups were posted around 4:15 ET. Be sure to check my analysis below, and let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!
As always, I want to remind you guys that with only three or four games going on, we will not put out the full DFS Playbook, but will do optimal lineups along with a breakdown of the slate.
In general, I do feel that these smaller slates are much easier to put together GPP lineups given the narrowed down list of options available. I’ll try to break down the best options and provide you with my best possible lineup for cash games later in the day.
Chicago Blackhawks at Carolina Hurricanes (CAR -134 favorites)
Starting Goalies: Scott Darling (Confirmed) vs. Cam Ward (Confirmed)
Top Plays: Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Jeff Skinner, and Victor Rask
Top Values: Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho, Lee Stempniak, and Jaccob Slavin
The Hawks will be playing their second game in as many nights, and even though they defeated the Predators, they lost the possession battle in drastic fashion. It doesn’t help that they are an extremely top heavy team thanks to salary cap reasons. As of last night, Jonathan Toews was forced to roll his “top line” alongside Ryan Hartman and Tyler Motte. Yes, the Panarin-Anisimov-Kane line is outstanding, but they are on the ice way too long (each will tend to get over 20+ mins of ice time/game), which isn’t the best for a team who will be playing without rest. Teams are always gunning for them as well, and rightfully so, as Stanley Cup champs in three of the last seven seasons.
As for the Hurricanes, they are extremely underrated. They consistently play hard, and they play smart A-B-C hockey, which has helped them win possession battles (they are 7th in the league in CF%). They are lead by Jordan Staal, who will lead the shutdown line as long as he’s on the ice. While the top line of Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, and Derek Ryan has lost some steam as of late, they are definitely still in play tonight, but my preferred play will be from the Carolina 3rd line featuring Sebastian Aho, Lee Stempniak, and the talented Teuvo Teravainen, who will be playing his first game against his former club.
Nashville Predators at St. Louis Blues (STL -150 favorites)
Starting Goalies: Juuse Saros (Likely) vs. Jake Allen (Confirmed)
Top Plays: Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson, Roman Josi, Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, and Kevin Shattenkirk
Top Values: Kevin Fiala, Mike Ribeiro, Ryan Ellis, Jori Lehtera
The Predators will be playing their second game in as many nights after a tough loss to the Blackhawks last night in Smashville. They outplayed the Hawks throughout the game, but weren’t able to squeak out the W. It definitely did not help them that they lost their star right-winger, James Neal, AGAIN due to an upper-body injury. Regardless, they adjusted accordingly, and played a good game at both ends of the ice.
It’s just a tough situation for them in their own zone because they just have not gotten good goaltending from their goalies throughout the month of December. Nonetheless, their offensive has been formidable, and I expect their skilled players like Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala to pick up the slack just like they did the last time Neal was out of the lineup. Fiala in particular is a very compelling play due to value, and the fact that he’s going to get power-play time, which he stopped getting after Neal came back.
As for the Blues, you may be swayed by Robby Fabbri’s hat-trick on Wednesday, but as someone who watched that game, I’m not exactly inspired by it because he’s playing with less-skilled teammates, and he scored on some really good bounces (and an empty-net). The only thing I like about Fabbri is his spot on the top power-play unit with the Tarasenko line and Kevin Shattenkirk.
Ultimately, you have to consider the Blues’ two best forwards in Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko. While Jori Lehtera isn’t exactly playing the best hockey, it won’t take much for him to get a cheap point or two playing with those two. In fact, things would have been a little different if Lehtera was able to one time a quick cross ice pass on the final Blues power-play of the game where Steve Mason provided an empty net.
Anaheim Ducks at Vancouver Canucks (ANA -120 favorites)
Starting Goalies: Jonathan Bernier (Likely) vs. Ryan Miller (Likely)
Top Plays: Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg, Rickard Rakell, Cam Fowler, and Daniel Sedin
Top Values: Antoine Vermette, Hampus Lindholm, Henrik Sedin, Sven Baertschi, Troy Stecher, and Alexander Edler
For whatever reason, Ryan Kesler has not had much success against the Canucks, but he happens to be playing some of the best hockey on the Ducks roster alongside Andrew Cogliano and Jakob Silfverberg. The Ducks finally played some inspired hockey last night against the Flames and get a decent matchup against the Canucks. Head Coach Randy Carlisle decided to split up Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and it definitely seemed to give the other two lines a bit of a boost.
If you’re avoiding the Kesler line, your best target is going to be Vermette’s line with Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry, mainly because Rakell has been playing spectacular hockey, and that’s not counting whether or not he’s accumulating points in the process. Vermette has always been a quiet point producer as long as he has skilled players by his side, and he definitely has that with Rakell and Perry.
The Canucks, plain and simple, tend to be terrible DFS options, not only because they a low puck possession team, but because there is very little predictability in where their scoring comes from (and yes, there’s not much scoring there to begin with). While most teams have high iCorsi players who aren’t afraid to shoot the puck, the Canucks just don’t have those type of players anywhere in their lineup. The only appealing thing about that from a DFS perspective is that you’ll always be able to stack them for very little cost.
Philadelphia Flyers at San Jose Sharks (SJ -170 favorites)
Starting Goalies: Steve Mason (Likely) vs. Aaron Dell (Confirmed)
Top Plays: Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere, Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, and Brent Burns
Top Values: Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier
The Flyers have now lost four of their last five games and have only averaged 1.8 goals in those four games. The trek from Philadelphia to St. Louis and now San Jose is a tough trip for any team to make and it’s going to be tough to rely on any of the Flyers for production. Still, when they’re on their A-game, you’re going to want any piece of the Flyers top power-play unit, featuring Claude Giroux and company, or in other words, their top two lines. From a matchup perspective, I expect the Flyers second line featuring Brayden Schenn and Travis Konecny to have the best matchup.
On the other end of the ice, the Sharks have played outstanding hockey throughout the month, and have won seven of their last eight contests (though four of them have come via either shootout or overtime). The most reliable line when it comes to the Sharks is the top line featuring Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Joe Pavelski. I am less compelled to play Marleau at this point because he has dropped to the 2nd power-play unit with Joel Ward now providing a net-front presence for the top unit. If you’re willing to break the bank, Brent Burns remains the most reliable names in DFS.
Another compelling play is Kevin Labanc, who is now going to get time on the second line with Logan Couture. It’s a shame that Timo Meier isn’t getting more ice time or time on the 2nd power-play unit over the underwhelming Mikael Boedker, because he is among the league leaders in iCorsi/60.
Top Line Stacks:
CAR3: Aho-Teravainen-Stempniak-Slavin
SJ1: Marleau-Thornton-Pavelski-Burns
ANA2: Silfverberg-Kesler-Fowler
STL2: Steen-Lehtera-Tarasenko-Shattenkirk
SJ2: Labanc-Couture-Boedker-Vlasic
NSH1: Arvidsson-Johansson-Forsberg-Josi
CHI2: Panarin-Anisimov-Kane-Keith
CAR1: Skinner-Teravainen-Ryan-Pesce
PHI2: Konecny-Schenn-Simmonds-Gostisbehere
NSH2: Fiala-Ribeiro-Neal-Ellis
Goalie Rankings:
- Aaron Dell (Confirmed)
- Cam Ward (Confirmed)
- Jake Allen (Confirmed)
- Juuse Saros (Likely)
- Ryan Miller (Confirmed)
- Jonathan Bernier (Likely)
- Steve Mason (Likely)
- Scott Darling (Confirmed)