Richard Masana 
It’s time for the weekend and we have a nice Saturday NHL DFS slate tonight to help you relax. The 1/7 NHL DFS slate features seven games beginning at regular lock. Aside from reading the article, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS Projection Model which is available every morning.
1/7 NHL Main Slate of Games – Beginning 7 p.m. ET
*All odds and player pricing below have been obtained from DraftKings and are accurate as of the time of writing*
Minnesota Wild (-120) at Buffalo Sabres (+100) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
St. Louis Blues (-165) at Montreal Canadiens (+140) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Seattle Kraken (-115) at Ottawa Senators (-105) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Detroit Red Wings (+210) at Toronto Maple Leafs (-250) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Colorado Avalanche (+110) at Edmonton Oilers (-130) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Los Angeles Kings (+135) at Vegas Golden Knights (-155) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Boston Bruins (-260) at San Jose Sharks (+220) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
1/7 NHL Favorite Popular Line
Toronto One “Auston Matthews ($8,700), William Nylander ($7,200), Michael Bunting ($5,000)“
The Maple Leafs are the biggest money-line favorites on the slate at -250. Over the last ten games, this line is second in the NHL in terms of SATF as illustrated below.
10-Day Sample Size – SATF “accounts for all shot attempts by line including missed and blocked shots”
Due to the combination of the above, due to the surprise of no one, they should be the chalkiest line on the slate. That said, they are feeling it right now and are featuring in a game that starts at lock so the expected ownership makes sense. I think in any tournament larger than a ten-person if you use them, be sure to pair with them some sort of more contrarian alignment.
1/7 NHL Favorite Contrarian Line
Seattle One “Matty Beniers ($4,500), Andre Burakovsky ($4,700), Jordan Eberle ($4,500)”
Sometimes we base our picks purely on stats. This line has probably underwhelmed this season relative to their talent. They are cheap salary wise so help to make a lot of the more expensive lines on this slate fit. Considering they’re the Kraken are the road team in the only six total game on the slate “the remaining 6/7 games are currently projected for 6.5”. As a result, I don’t think this line will be very popular. Albeit under different circumstances, both Andre Burakovsky and Jordan Eberle had monster seasons last year and should pick things up a bit soon. The one big con is neither of the three is featured in Seattle’s top power-play unit but that is more than reflected in the price.
Defenseman and Goalie
Defenseman
Justin Schultz – Seattle – $3,300 – He’s cheap and has always been an offensive-oriented defenseman. Furthermore, he correlates with the Contrarian line listed above on the Kraken’s second power-play unit.
Goalie
Craig Anderson -Buffalo- $7,500 – It does not make much sense to spend up here but Alexander Georgiev is in poor form as of late and it’s a tough matchup for Phoenix Copley. Give me Anderson who has continued to be solid and should face sufficient shot volume here with the Sabres hosting the Wild.
1/7 NHL Best Bet
San Jose Sharks +1.5 (-115) – DraftKings – 1 Unit – The Sharp model has a very strong take on this so let’s defer to the projections.
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