DraftKings Fantasy Hockey Cheat Sheet: January 20th

DraftKings has a few different featured contests tonight for you Fantasy Hockey fanatics.

The First has no entry fee! Yup, FREE! You only get to enter a single lineup and first place wins two (2) tickets to the NHL All-Star Game, $1,000 for roundtrip airfare and two nights hotel accommodations at a hotel in Nashville. Not bad for free!

The second has a $3 entry fee and a $32,500 prize pool. The top 2,500 finishers will be paid and the fun gets underway at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The third is a little more pricey. It carries a $27 entry fee with a $6,000 prize pool. The top 300 will make some cash!

Here’s a quick explanation on how to build your lineup an play! You have $50,000 in Salary space, to build a team that consists of 2C, 3W, 2D, 1G and 1 Util. Below you will find how skaters and goalies scoring works!

• Players will accumulate points as follows:

Goal = +3 PTS
Assist = +2 PTS
Shot on Goal = +0.5 PTS
Blocked Shot = +0.5 PTS
Short Handed Point Bonus (Goal/Assist) = +1 PTS
Shootout Goal = +0.2 PTS
Hat Trick Bonus = +1.5 PTS

• Goalies only will accumulate points as follows:

Win = +3 PTS
Save = +0.2 PTS
Goal Against = -1 PTS
Shutout Bonus = +2 PTS

• Goalie Scoring Notes:

Goalies WILL receive points for all stats they accrue, including goals and assists.
The Goalie Shutout Bonus is credited to goalies if they complete the entire game with 0 goals allowed in regulation + overtime. Shootout goals will not prevent a shutout. Goalie must complete the entire game to get credit for a shutout.

Below I’ve listed my top DFS line stacks, defensemen and goalies as well as a few sample DraftKings lineup for tonight.

Top 3 Line Stacks

Dylan Larkin ($5,500) – Pavel Datsyuk ($5,900) – Tomas Tatar ($5,000) – vs. St. Louis

This line was put together in Tuesday’s practice and has the look of a money maker. They’ll face a Blues team that gives up an average of 2.64 goals per game on the road. Datsyuk has one goal, five assists and 10 shots (6.2 FPPG) in his last three games. Larkin has one goal and five assists in his last eight games and Tatar has three goals in his last seven. All three carry reasonable prices and make for a strong stack on a slow night in the NHL.

Evander Kane ($5,900) – Ryan O’Reilly ($6,000) – Sam Reinhart ($3,900) – @ Colorado

I really like O’Reilly to put up some points in his return to Colorado. He has two goals and four assists in his last seven games and he should be all sorts of fired up to score tonight. Kane has a history of being a streaky player, but he has picked up one goal, three assists and 4.4 FPPG in his last five games. Reinhart’s numbers are a tad inflated by a hat trick 10 days ago, but there’s no denying his offensive upside and value at $3,900.

Alex Tanguay ($3,700) – Nathan MacKinnon ($7,000) – Matt Duchene ($6,700) – vs. St. Louis

MacKinnon provides a stable floor given his 3.3 shots per game average. He had six shots on Monday and has scored two goals with three assists in his last eight games. Over that same span, Duchene has five goals, two assists and 4.6 FPPG. Tanguay is the value option on this line, but his low shot volume makes him a risky option. However, this has the makings of a high-scoring affair, so he should be able to get on the board in some capacity.

Defensemen

Rasmus Ristolainen – @ COL – $6,000

Ristolainen has turned into one of the NHL’s top young offensive defensemen and he comes into Wednesday having registered five points (1G / 4A) in his last five games. He shoots a tonne and that makes him a solid option every night the Sabres are in action.

Mike Green – vs. STL – $4,500

Once an elite Fantasy Hockey defenseman, Green’s production isn’t where it should be through 39 games with the Red Wings. He has just 17 points (2G / 15A) but with Niklas Kronwall out, Green will get a crack on the top power play and his slow first half has his salary sitting at a nice spot.

Shea Theodore – vs. MIN – $3,000

Theodore has been a favourite value option of mine since he’s been called up, but he has finally started putting up points. Theodore has a three-game point streak having registered one goal, two assists and 3.7 FPPG. Ducks vs. Wild doesn’t look like it will be high scoring, but at $3,000, he is a strong money saving option.

Goalies

Devan Dubnyk – @ ANA – $7,700

Despite losing three straight games, Dubnyk has posted a solid 2.06 GAA and .918 SV%. He has been reliable this season and he draws a good matchup against the low-scoring Ducks. Dubnyk is 1-1-0 with 1.52 GAA and .917 SV% in their first two meetings this season.

Petr Mrazek – vs. STL – $7,600

Mrazek has gone 5-0-1 with a 1.31 GAA and .957 SV% in January. He has entered into the elite conversation and has played very well all season long. I don’t put a lot of stock into career stats vs. a specific team, but it’s worth noting that Mrazek is 3-0-0 with a 1.12 GAA and .956 SV% in his career vs. the Blues.

John Gibson – vs. MIN – $6,900

If you need to save money in goal tonight, Gibson is a solid option. He has a 1.90 GAA and .923 SV% on the season and the Wild have struggled recently, going 2-5-2 while averaging just 1.56 goals per game over that span.

Sample Lineups