NHL DFS Playbook: January 7

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Today's two-game NHL DFS slate is highlighted by Alex Ovechkin who is due for another big night. Also don't miss out on some of the great value plays available on defence today with Brayden Schenn of the Blues facing the Capitals. As always don't forget you can use the lineup generator to help put your lineup together as well.

Capitals at Blues

When it comes to the Capitals, we know that Ovechkin is the obvious choice, it’s just a matter of understanding who he is playing with. It looks like it will be Evgeny Kuznetsov and Garnet Hathaway today which is nice as it leaves you with a higher price tier and a lower price tier option. Otherwise, Washington’s depth is thin with their injury and COVID situation so I wouldn't look to make other investments in their forward group. The Blues find themselves now that they have gotten healthy with a lot of depth. You will want to keep an eye on their lines, it looks like Brandon Saad and David Perron have pushed down to the third line, however, both are still on the top powerplay. For the next little while, we will need to pay more attention to the minutes players are playing than their line assignments as that will tell a more true tale. For now, I think we need to continue to look at Jordan Kyrou, especially at his price. We are still getting a bargain on Brayden Schenn, who had two points in his return.

On Defence, John Carlson is another obvious choice for the Capitals. He is producing at nearly a point per game, and he has six points in his last three games. Dmitry Orlov is also worth consideration at a lower price, as he has produced some points and he has also had three blocks or more in two of his last three games. St.Louis has seen shots and points from Tory Krug. He is coming at a price that will make it easy to get into your lineup. You can also look at Justin Faulk who is also a player who will shoot and produces points at a fairly regular pace as well.

With the goalies, we can expect Ilya Samsonov for the Capitals and Jordan Binnington for the Blues. Neither goalie are particularly exciting, but I would lean to Binnington with the Blues being at home.

Calgary at Carolina

Calgary is coming off a couple of poor performances this week. Johnny Gaudreau has been dependable up until yesterday when he put up a zero, I wouldn’t move off of him today as he could easily bounce back. Matthew Tkachuk has also been consistent for the Flames. He sees lots of minutes and is a player capable of giving you five shots or more and multiple points as well. For the time being, I wouldn’t be looking at many of the other Flames. Blake Coleman had a 12 shot game against the Panthers on Tuesday, but that looks more like an aberration than a trend, and we really aren’t seeing production outside of the top line right now. The Hurricanes are a tough team to read, but what we do know is they will be rested, having only played one game in the last week. Sebastian Aho is your top target, it is just a matter of who you want to put with him. Teuvo Teravainen provides the most correlation, as he is on the top line and top power play. But you also have the option of using Andrei Svechnikov, who had eight shots in his last game, and also plays on the top powerplay. Other players worth consideration are Vincent Trochek who needs points to be productive but comes at a much lower price than Aho, and Nino Niederreiter who can get lost in the shuffle but has four goals in his last four games.

While Rasmus Andersson gets the top powerplay time, it is Oliver Kylington who has been the most productive defenceman for the Flames. Kylington has points in four straight games and continues to come at a low price. For the Hurricanes, you are going to want to look for offence as they aren’t a team that blocks shots. Tony DeAngelo gets the top power-play which makes him the safest bet, but Brett Pesce has points in four of his last five games and has provided a steady stream of shots as well.

With the Flames using Dan Vladar last night, that will make tonight a Jakob Markstrom start. They will need Markstrom to be at his best if the Flames are going to stay in this game or get the win. You can use him tonight but he certainly comes with risk facing what might be the best team in the league in the Hurricanes. For the Canes, we should expect Frederik Andersen to be in goal tonight, with them being rested. Andersen is the top goalie choice tonight as the Hurricanes are at home, and the Flames are playing on back-to-back nights.

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