NHL DFS Playbook: January 5

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Today's two-game NHL DFS slate is highlighted by Jordan Kyrou who is due for another big night. Also don't miss out on some of the great value plays available on defence today with Rasmus Sandin of the Maple Leafs facing the Oilers. As always don't forget you can use the lineup generator to help put your lineup together as well.

Oilers at Maple Leafs

There is going to be a lot of temptation to play Draisaitl, especially with McDavid out, but while he is the top point producer in the league and has been among them for the last three years, but the Oilers are really struggling and when you’re going to have to pay top dollar you need the production to be there, and it simply hasn’t been lately. Add to that they will be playing in an empty arena, and facing one of the better defensive teams in the league today. We have seen Kailer Yamamoto be productive lately though if you’re looking to play the showdown and need to get an Oiler into your lineup. For Toronto, we don’t yet know the status of Auston Matthews, if he is available then he is certainly worth a look and that also puts Mitch Marner in play if you’re looking to stack. We saw the combination of William Nylander and Ilya Mikheyev put up points in the Leafs’ drubbing of the Senators on Saturday night, they will see less ownership, and while Mikheyev isn’t a great shooter, his speed will allow him to be in many plays. 

On Defence, the Oilers are tough to predict. We haven’t seen a lot of production from Barrie, Nurse, or Bouchard recently. Bouchard is the most explosive and the best puck mover, while Nurse gives you the best chance of hitting multiple bonuses if you’re playing on DK. For Toronto, if you’re looking for points, you will want to look at Morgan Rielly, but you can use Justin Holl for blocked shots, and while TJ Brodie has scored in two straight games and has points in each of his last three games, he doesn’t offer you enough peripheral value to really be usable.

With how the Oilers have played I wouldn’t be shy about playing Jack Campbell tonight. Campbell has been stellar for the Leafs all season, and while there is certainly some risk facing McDavid and Draisaitl, there isn’t a safe play to be found on today’s slate. We should expect Mike Smith to be in for the Oilers, but I would avoid him.

Blues at Penguins

Both the Blues and Penguins started the year as if they were shot out of a cannon. The Blues put up six goals against the Wild in frigid temperatures outdoors on New Year’s Day, while the Penguins scored eight times against the Sharks the next day.  Looking at the Blues today, I would keep the focus on their second line of Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko leads the team in shots, while Kyrou has seven points in his last two games, and is averaging more than a point per game on the year. Thomas is certainly usable, but he rarely shoots much or scores so he is less usable. For the Penguins, Crosby is still the big name, but we have seen much of the production come from his wingers. In the last game, we had Bryan Rust, score three goals, while Jake Guentzel added a goal and an assist. Also don’t lose sight of Evan Rodrigues who is in the midst of a breakout season, who is also coming off a hat trick, while putting up six shots. We also could see Evgeni Malkin make his season debut tonight which would add an offensive boost, but I would want to give him a few games to knock off some rust as he hasn’t played in a while now.

Tory Krug is the primary target on defence for the Blues. He has three points in his last two games and gets the majority of the powerplay time on defence. You can consider Justin Faulk but he isn’t in as good of a position as Krug, but he does put up points. For the Penguins it is all about Kris Letang. He has five points in his last four games, he can give you five shots in a game, and he will also block shots also. He comes with a higher price tag, but he is the most reliable of all of the defencemen playing today.

In goal today, we are expecting Jordan Binnington and Casey DeSmith. Both goalies are inconsistent, Binnington is the most likely to show up and have a big game, but DeSmith is also at home which offers some edge in what should be a fairly even game. Both come with quite a bit of risk today, but again we only have four choices on a short slate, so if you can pick the right one you likely won’t see a lot of ownership which will give you an edge.

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