The only teams that played last night that are also playing tonight are Colorado and Tampa Bay. The Avalanche are going into Carolina, and that could mean a good night for secondary Hurricanes players. Those that won’t be matched against Tyson Barrie – or the non-Staal lines – get a minor bump. The Lightning are going to be without both Tyler Johnson and Victor Hedman, two huge holes in their lineup when going into Boston.
The biggest favorites are the St. Louis Blues (from Covers Experts), but I would be wary of that team. Jake Allen is starting, and he’s 28th out of 32 goalies in 5-on-5 save percentage this year (min. 750 minutes played). Also, the team hasn’t been great possession-wise over the last couple of months. Pittsburgh is a good bet at home to a struggling Minnesota team, and Detroit in Buffalo seems automatic.
Don’t forget to play the $10K guaranteed, $2 entry Sniper tonight on DraftKings! Details below.
-$10,000 prize pool.
– First place wins $1,000
– $2 entry fee (FREE with first deposit)
– Top 1,150 finishing positions are paid.
– Starts Tuesday, January 13th at 7:00 PM EST
– Salary Cap Style Drafting. $50,000 to select 9 spots. 8 players and 1 goalie.
– Roster Format: 2 C, 3 W, 2 D, 1 G and 1 Util.
– First time depositors at DraftKings receive a 100% bonus up to $600
As always, check Left Wing Lock for goalie confirmations.
Players will be in order of perceived value, by position, and there should be enough to mix-and-match for each type of game available on Draft Kings. Some positions might only have a few plays, some might have several. It all depends on the day, the matchups, and the price.
Remember: players are in order of value, not necessarily in cost. Just because Sidney Crosby is $8000 one day doesn’t mean he’s a better value than Andrew Shaw at $4000.
Cash Games
| Centre | Wing | Defense | Goalie |
| Lehtera (STL) – $3700 | Perron (PIT) – $4200 | Kronwall (DET) – $4100 | Fleury (PIT) – $8700 |
| Datsyuk (DET) – $5600 | Tarasenko (STL) – $6600 | Sekera (CAR) – $3300 | Mrazek (DET) – $6800 |
| Malkin (PIT) – $8600 | Tatar (DET) – $4500 | Leddy (NYI) – $3200 | Rinne (NSH) – $8800 |
| Krejci (BOS) – $4900 | Forsberg (NSH) – $5200 | Hamilton (BOS) – $4000 | |
| Pavelski (SJS) – $7400 | Skinner (CAR) – $5200 | Letang (PIT) – $5600 | |
| Filppula (TBL) – $4000 | Hoffman (OTT) – $3600 | ||
| Zibanejad (OTT) – $3600 | Bailey (NYI) – $3700 | ||
| Smith (NSH) – $4800 | |||
- The first big note is that Dallas was expected to be without Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn tonight. They did skate this morning at morning skate, though, and are still waiting official word that they’re in the lineup. If they are, I don’t mind Benn on the wing.
- There are so many good values at wing past Tarasenko (Skinner, Forsberg, Tatar, Perron) that there isn’t a need to spend at the wing tonight. Spend extra on defense and at center.
- If I’m taking one of the Pittsburgh centers, it’ll be Evgeni Malkin, if only because he should avoid Ryan Suter for most of the game tonight.
- I like Fleury’s spot tonight, but for those looking to save, even if he faces a low shot total, a win would get Petr Mrazek two-thirds of his value.
Guaranteed Prize Pools/Tournaments
| Centre | Wing | Defense | Goalie |
| Datsyuk (DET) – $5600 | Tatar (DET) – $4500 | DeKeyser (DET) – $2500 | Lehner (OTT) – $6300 |
| Helm (DET) – $4200 | Schwartz (STL) – $6700 | Pietrangelo (STL) – $5500 | Hutchinson (WPG) – $7800 |
| Lehtera (STL) – $3700 | Tarasenko (STL) – $6600 | Hamilton (BOS) – $4000 | |
| Krejci (BOS) – $4900 | Marchand (BOS) – $4300 | Faulk (CAR) – $5300 | |
| Rask (CAR) – $3600 | Pastrnak (BOS) – $3300 | Vlasic (SJS) – $3800 | |
| Pavelski (SJS) – $7400 | Skinner (CAR) – $5200 | ||
| Couture (SJS) – $7300 | Semin (CAR) – $3300 | ||
| Karlsson (SJS) – $4400 | |||
- I like Lehner in net a lot in GPPs presuming the big guns from Dallas are out. If they play, I’ll move to Hutchinson, and those that want to save even more can go to Anton Khudobin.
- Detroit has the best matchup tonight, but I would want to spend as little as possible. The Detroit second line and DeKeyser are about a third of the salary cap.
- Without Johnson and Hedman, I like the secondary matchups for the Bruins. Maybe it’s the Soderberg line that goes off, but I like the Krejci line a lot tonight.
- Carolina gets a Colorado team on a back to back, and the Rask-Skinner-Semin line should be able to avoid the Duchene-Landeskog duo.
- San Jose is also in a good spot tonight, even with Devan Dubnyk in net for Arizona. For those that want to avoid the likely-highly owned Blues players, moving to the Sharks is fine.
Slim’s Pickins (bargain plays)
Stephen Weiss (DET-C, $2500) – Weiss has seen his ice time diminish of late, but is on the second power play unit in a plus matchup.
Beau Bennett (PIT-W, $2900) – Bennett is still playing alongside Malkin, and as I mentioned, that line should be able to avoid Ryan Suter tonight.
Marc Staal (NYR-D, $2900) – Staal should be able to achieve half his value in blocked shots tonight. He has a good floor for a punt play on defense.
Good luck!
