LineStar® Hat Trick 01/06 | Who's Still Playing?

January 06, 2022

Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

Got NHL DFS questions or want to see something covered in this newsletter? Hit me up in LineStar Chat.

In case you missed it the other night.... Makar is still ELITE.

Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

I'm going to vent for a moment. We have an 11-game slate on tap for tonight. We're in the heart of the season. However, NHL contests on almost every site are absolute dog shit.

To be fair, this is nothing new. NHL DFS contests have never had payouts as we see in MLB, NFL, or NBA every night. Yet, I feel like they're consistently getting worse. Field sizes seem to keep getting smaller (which shrinks payouts) so I can't help but wonder, are people playing less NHL DFS? Personally, I have. I've shifted my focus to sportsbooks for my NHL action. I still play some NHL DFS, but nothing like the volume I did back in 2019.

As I continue to ponder this, what do you think would make NHL DFS more enticing? The only way we get bigger contests is if more people play. If you're a casual player, what would get you to play more? Bigger contests? Better scoring? (DraftKing bonuses are trash, btw) Start times that don't occur at the same time as NBA?

Just curious to see if anyone else has thought about this as much as myself.

Anyway, like I said, 11-games on tap for tonight....

LETSSGOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Tonight's Slate

Here are the team numbers for tonight's slate:

I mentioned this in chat, but I often use this to look for mismatches (teams that give up a lot of shots facing teams that take a lot of shots) and spots where both teams have sub 50% CF%. So if you're looking for "sneaky" stacks, that's where I start.

Tonight's Targets

My preference is to correlate goalie with one of my stacks, but my favorite tonight is:

Juuse Saros - NSH (DK: $7700, FD: $8000)

Spend Up On...

New section...

I want to try something and see if it resonates with you all.

I've been trolled (and rightfully so) sometimes for touting the most expensive player at a position. Let's be honest. You don't need me to tell you to play McDavid, Matthews, or MacKinnon any given night. They're the best players in the league and are priced up for a reason.

So let's take a look at who I have ranked as the best studs on the slate and then see who bubbles up below the $7500 salary mark.

My favorite:

Kirill Kaprizov - MIN (DK: $8300, FD: $8100)

Center

My favorite:

Mika Zibanejad - NYR (DK: $7300, FD: $7200)

Wing

My favorite:

Nikolaj Ehlers - WPG (DK: $6600, FD: $67900)

Defensemen

My favorite:

Shea Theodore - VGK (DK: $5700, FD: $6100)

Spending Down

Some people call these "value" plays or "salary savers", but these are players that I like for tonight that fit at the lowest salary tier. It could be they're playing on one of the top forward lines or it could be that they've been playing well, but these are my cheap calls for a skater to pick up a goal or assist.

My favorite:

Patric Hornqvist - FLA (DK: $3200, FD: $4800)

Today's Parlay

I've got an MEGA-EZZZZZ 11-leg parlay for tonight. Feel free to play singles or take a few and make your own parlay.

Let me know if you're tailing...

Line Stacks

Before going further, let's make this clear:

You 👏 dont 👏 have 👏 to 👏 stack.

Line stacking is a common strategy in GPP. You’ll see a lot of winning lineups where players are stacked from the same forward lines or power play lines. DraftKings allows a maximum of 6 skaters from the same team (with skaters from at least 3 teams) and FanDuel allows a maximum of 4 skaters from one team. In tournaments, you'll often see 3-3 stacks (meaning 3 players from one team and 3 from another team), 4-3, and 3-3-2 stacks.

Here are my favorite stacks (ranked in order of preference) for tonight:

And the RISK IT FOR THE BISCUIT stack... let's go with WPG1

Keep in mind, these are MY favorites. You should all do your own research and you might (and probably should) disagree with me in some spots. Don't be afraid to go your own way.

If you take anything away from this, keep in mind that hockey is a high-variance sport. The top-ranked player in each category could be a great play or be a dud tonight. Going all-in on any player probably isn't a great move.

With DFS, I try to think of these things:

  • Who makes the most sense to play?

  • Where is the field leaning?

  • Who has been the most consistent?

  • Who has the most upside?

  • Who will benefit me most if others are wrong?

Good luck today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.

🚨 Get 3 Free Months of LineStar Premium 🚨

Get 3-months of LineStar Premium for new users to Monkey Knife Fight who deposit/play $10!

Terms: Partnership offers do NOT renew. See Monkey Knife Fight landing page for full terms and conditions. Must be a new user to SuperDraft and deposit and play a minimum of $10 to qualify. If you have an existing LineStar Premium subscription you get a Hat/Tee combo instead of the 3-months.