NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 1/1/19

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Jan 1st, 2019
Anze Kopitar's upside puts him in play on tonight's short two-game slate. Who else should you look to in NHL DFS on New Year's Day?

A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion have also tried out daily fantasy basketball and baseball. But hockey? Hockey?

It's time to give it a try over on FanDuel, because it's a ton of fun. And our analysis and projections can help you win.

To help, let's take a look at some goalies, high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.

Goalie to Target

Juuse Saros ($8,000): The Nashville Predators are projected to start Saros on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. Danger is high here as Nashville and Philadelphia are both on the back end of back-to-backs. One of two things could happen. This could turn into a high-scoring game or a low-scoring sludge game where sloppy play reigns. Saros has eight wins in 14 decisions despite a not-so-good save percentage (.894). Part of that is because of Nashville's injuries. Slowly, they are becoming more and more healthy. The Predators yield just 2.19 goals per game at home but the concern is the Flyers score almost 3 goals a game on the road (2.95). Look to Vegas to see if Marc-Andre Fleury starts if you feel Saros has too many red flags.

High-Priced Skaters

Anze Kopitar ($6,400): It is a tough night with fewer options. However, Kopitar has turned things around a bit. He has seven real-world points in his last six contests. The one risk is that the Kings' pivot has juts ten shots on net in that span. It has been that kind of year for those who have used Kopitar. His metrics should be better but his utilization is different. Please note his offensive zone deployment is just 42.2% -- a career-low. This may not explain everything but does illustrate the risk of using Kopitar. William Karlsson ($7,200) could be a decent alternative but remember he does not shoot that much either.

Viktor Arvidsson ($6,400): Some lean choices exist where normally most would not tread. That is the nature of the beast when it comes to short slates. Arvidsson broke out in his third game back from injury with a goal, assist, and three shots on net against Washington. Philadelphia allows 3.81 goals per game on the road and has a penalty kill which executes at just 73% on the road. The Nashville power play is nothing great at 15.3% but did enjoy better looks the past few games. Alex Tuch ($5,500) and Dustin Brown ($5,600) offer more from the mid-priced bracket. Claude Giroux ($7,500) is our highest risk player on this night.

Value Skaters

Robert Hagg ($3,700): Hagg offers a nice floor on a night where a few more value plays come from the defensive side of the ledger. He averages 1.5 shots and 1.75 blocks per game. The expectation is that the Flyers will give up around 35 shots or so and score 3.51 goals. The Flyers' defenseman offers the occasional assist and averages about a point in every three games. See if Brad Hunt ($3,500) plays tonight. The Vegas defenseman does not see action often (just 12 games) but when he does -- things tend to happen on the man advantage. Hunt also averages 2.25 shots per game.

Brandon Pirri ($4,000): Pirri is listed in most databases as a center but is a winger on FanDuel. That may be why some do not find him right away. As long as Max Pacioretty is out, Pirri will be in and his price is still low enough to be a value play. All he has done is produced seven real-world points in six games (5 goals). He is averaging 2.83 shots per game so far this year as well. This is all while averaging just a little over 13 minutes of ice time. He will see sheltered power play and even strength time to set up his offensive ability. His speed will drive Los Angeles crazy and create chances. Ryan Hartman ($3,400) offers some value on this slate but watch for Nashville's line shifts first. Expect one or two during morning skate.


Chris Wassel is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Chris Wassel also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username chriswassel. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.