Daily Fantasy Hockey Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 1/1/17

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to a tiny three-game slate today in the NHL. We will be treated to an outdoor game in Toronto this afternoon so make sure you watch that game because it is quite the experience. Good luck today and all the best to you and yours in this New Year!!

Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get access to our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.

If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.

GOALIES

Frederik Andersen FD - $9100 DK - $7700
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 14.27 DK - 3.57

Here is your main man today and I didn't have to think too hard about it. The Leafs welcome the lowly Red Wings and their 24th ranked offense to town today, and they just happen to be playing outdoors which should be a fun game to watch. Toronto allows an average of 32 shots on goal per game and in his last start Andersen stopped an amazing 45 shots as the Leafs beat the Panthers 3-2. The Swedish netminder has won his last three starts by allowing only three goals and earning a shutout in the process. Don't think twice today and start Andersen in all formats.

 

 

Also Consider: Braden Holtby

 

 

CENTERS

Auston Matthews FD - $7300 DK - $7500
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 18.85 DK - 5.71

I wouldn't fade this guy if it was a full slate right now, so this is a no-brainer today. The rookie phenom has a five-game point streak going as he has four goals and three assists and 23 shots on goal during those games. That is very impressive for a rookie and today he gets to fire pucks at whoever the Wings put in net today and the Wings own the 21st ranked defense in the league. I won't waste any more time here. Do not fade this guy today. He is a terrific play in all formats.

Stack With: Connor Brown, Zach Hyman

 

 

Ryan Kesler FD - $7000 DK - $6600
Opponent - PHI
Proj Pts FD - 13.24 DK - 4.44

I am going to honest with you today as I always am. After Matthews, I don't like this position today so I am going to give you a guy who sees a ton of ice time because of the fact that he plays on the top line, the #1 PP unit, and both penalty kill units. He has a nice rapport going with his line-mates and the Ducks separated Getzlaf and Perry so I'm not going there. So far this year Kesler has 12 goals, 19 assists, 86 shots on goal, and 35 blocked shots. Philly's defense is ranked 23rd in the league so he has a good chance to make some noise today. Not the safest pick in the world, but he always has massive upside with the amount of time he spends on the ice.

Stack with: Andrew Cogliano, Jakob Silfverberg

 

 

 

WINGERS

Alexander Ovechkin FD - $8800 DK - $8400
Opponent - OTT
Proj Pts FD - 18.6 DK - 6.09

Alexander the Great is another guy that we just can't fade today on such a tiny slate. He has actually performed quite nicely lately as he has three goals and two assists in his last four games. He shoots the puck a ton as evident by his 140 shots on goal already this season and today he welcomes the Senators and their punchless 21st ranked offense to town. Enough said. Ovechkin is a great play in all formats today.

Stack with: T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov

 

 

William Nylander FD - $5700 DK - $5500
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 8.5 DK - 2.88

Obviously, I like the Leafs today and we need heavy exposure to them. Here we have a skater who has been too good to ignore lately. He plays on the top line and #1 PP unit in Toronto and has two goals and two assists in his last four games. He's not the safest play today but I feel that he's just too cheap to ignore and he makes a great GPP play stacked with his line-mates.

Stack with: Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov

 

 

 

 

DEFENSEMEN

Jake Gardiner FD - $4800 DK - $4400
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 9.78 DK - 3.15

Hey here is another Toronto player. I'll make this short and sweet. Gardiner is simply too cheap to ignore based on the fact that he plays on the top PP unit in Toronto. He has six goals and 12 assists this year and while he won't blow you away with statistics, and if he does put up a stinker today he is cheap enough that it shouldn't hurt your lineups too badly. I don't love him today, but the position is weak today so he makes for a decent play.

 

 

Ivan Provorov FD - $4500 DK - $4600
Opponent - ANA
Proj Pts FD - 10.24 DK - 3.03

I am just going to go cheap at this position today and then carry on. Provorov has averaged 23.5 minutes of ice time in his last two games and had an assist, four shots on goal, and four blocked shots during that time. He is not flashy but he is a nice safe cash game play because of his peripheral stats so look for a decent performance from the Russian rookie tonight in Anaheim.

 

 

 

 Also Consider: Erik Karlsson

 

 

 

Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get accessto our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.

If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.