allenjesse24@yahoo.com 
Happy new year! Yesterday, 2023 was welcomed with the annual Winter Classic, which has become a great event over the years. With that being the focal point for the day, there was not a good slate to play. However, today brings us a nice 11 game slate that looks like a nice one to attack. Let’s look into the first big slate of ’23 and find the best NHL DFS plays for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Goalies
Andre Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning head to Chicago tonight in what should be a fairly lopsided game. This is a solid safe play, but the shot upside could be limited.
Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets: The Jets host the Flames tonight, and this looks like a nice upside spot for Hellebuyck, who has quietly been one of the better goalies this season.
Pheonix Copley – Los Angeles Kings: The Kings host Dallas tonight, who tends to struggle a bit on the road. This should be a fairly tight matchup, and goalies from this game make a lot of sense.
High Risk Goalie Pick – Joonas Korpisalo – Columbus Blue Jackets: Korpisalo’s overall numbers are not that great. However, this one is about opportunity. His numbers over his last five look decent, and Ottawa has been struggling to score a bit. That, combined with the potential for shot volume upside, make him an interesting contrarian play tonight.
Others to Consider: Jake Oettinger (DAL), Ilya Samsonov (TOR), Juuse Saros (NSH), Anton Forsberg (OTT)
Lines to Build Around
These NHL DFS lines are considered top plays for the night and can be considered the focal point of your builds. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Tampa Bay Lightning Power Play – Brayden Point/Brandon Hagel/Steven Stamkos/Nikita Kucherov/Victor Hedman: The Lightning have just about the best matchup on the board tonight against a very bad Chicago team. This is the fifth ranked power play unit in the league, and it is going up against a PK unit in the bottom 10. There will be a ton of chances to go around for both top lines, so make sure you get some of this unit.
Florida Panthers 1 – Aleksander Barkov/Matthew Tkachuk/Carter Verhaeghe/Aaron Ekblad: This line has a date with the Coyotes tonight, and they should have a field day. The top line is the production line for the Cats, and they should have ample opportunity at all strengths tonight against a porous defense. Tkachuk on this line makes them even better, and this should be a focus tonight.
Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – Auston Matthews/William Nylander/Michael Bunting/Morgan Rielly: The Leafs are in a great spot tonight against a pretty banged up Blues team. On home ice, this line should split duties with the Kampf line against the Thomas line, setting them up for a ton of chances.
High Risk Lines
These are NHL DFS plays that carry significantly more risk, but could pay off at low ownership. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Edmonton Oilers Power Play – Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Zach Hyman/Tyson Barrie: This unit just dominated the Kraken in Seattle four days ago. With Draisaitl back in the mix tonight, there is a good chance it happens again. However, with the salary and the fact that people may chase, it puts a little risk on this play.
Carolina Hurricanes 2 – Sebastian Aho/Teuvo Teravainen/Seth Jarvis: The Canes are in an interesting spot in what should be a good game. The Rangers have been a little leaky defensively, and this line should see a little more of the top Ranger line. This game could very well be tight and low scoring, which is why it is a risky play.
Ottawa Senators 2 – Shane Pinto/Alex Debrincat/Drake Batherson/Thomas Chabot: The Sens’ second line is in a very good spot tonight against the Blue Jackets’ second line. The risk here is that Ottawa has been struggling slightly to score, and Korpisalo has some decent looking recent numbers. Chabot/Debrincat/Batherson correlate on the power play, which is a nice bonus.
New York Islanders 2 – Brock Nelson/Anthony Beauvillier/Anders Lee: This line is worth a look against one of the leakiest defensive teams in Vancouver, but they just are not that exciting. Limit your exposure here, but it makes sense if you are MME tonight.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: WSH1, OTT1, NSH2, TOR3
Value Options – DraftKings
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Ryan Johansen ($3800) – Nashville Predators
Wing: Alex Killorn ($3800) – Tampa Bay Lightning
Defense: TJ Brodie ($3000) – Toronto Maple Leafs
Value Options – FanDuel
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on FanDuel. Be sure to stack!
Center: Colton Sissons ($3800) – Nashville Predators
Wing: Jesse Puljujarvi ($3600) – Edmonton Oilers
Defense: TJ Brodie ($3800) – Toronto Maple Leafs
Cash Considerations – DraftKings and FanDuel
Consider these NHL DFS plays for your cash lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. Cash lineups do not need to be stacked, and it is recommended to play no more than two players from a given team.
Center: Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
Wing: Matthew Tkachuk – Florida Panthers
Defense: Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
Bets and Player Props
In this section, we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Team total over 4.5 (+115 on DK Sportsbook)
Edmonton Oilers: -1.5 (+150 on DK Sportsbook)
Matthew Tkachuk (FLA): anytime goal scorer (+100 on DK Sportsbook)
Make sure to hop in our Expert Discord Chat for FREE! Jon and the NHL team will be there answering questions right up until lock! Be sure to be on the look out for future articles at https://windailysports.com/daily-fantasy-hockey/
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