Welcome to Friday’s four-game NHL Slate. We have a short slate, but there is no shortage of ways to build your lineup. Some key names are out for tonight, so that means opportunities for other players at good prices.  You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Friday, January 19th, but before you build those NHL daily fantasy lineups, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS projections, the NHL Value Finder, and the NHL DFS lineup generator. Let's look closer at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS Showdown slate.

 

NHL DFS Playbook January 19th

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

A four-game slate doesn’t leave you with too many options, but with Jack Hughes and Aleksander Barkov out for their respective teams, we have spots to exploit value. As always, the correct goalie will be key. We can’t afford to take an L there with so few options available. Let’s take a look at which players we need to keep tabs on.

Recommended DFS Starting Goalies

Top Options for Saves

Elvis Merzlikins Vs. New Jersey Devils

Petr Mrazek Vs. New York Islanders

Alex Lyon Vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Best Odds for a Win

Ilya Sorokin Vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Sergei Bobrovsky Vs. Minnesota Wild

Antti Raanta Vs. Detroit Red Wings

Favorite Goalies to Use for DFS Lineups

Ilya Sorokin, G, New York Islanders

It has not been a great season for Ilya Sorokin. He has a 3.18 GAA and that balloons up to 3.49 on the road, but we can’t not play him against Chicago, right? This is a tough call because the goalie options are bad tonight. If you want to take the risk, go ahead, but just be aware that this could go south quickly.

Petr Mrazek, G, Chicago Blackhawks

 I understand that Chicago is playing the tail end of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights, but Petr Mrazek is an ANIMAL on home ice. He sports a 2.28 GAA and a .930 SV%. Most of you have no problem paying up for Sorokin who hasn’t been good, but won’t take Mrazek at a discount with Vezina numbers on home ice? Stop the cap! It’s a risk, but it’s a short slate and he could win you a GPP.

Sergei Bobrovsky, G, Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers may be without Barkov tonight, but Minnesota is also playing a back-to-back and they just got wrecked by Tampa Bay. The Wild are bad and the Panthers are just so much better. It could be hard for Sergei Bobrovsky to hit value, but he’s got a great chance of picking up the win.

Alex Lyon, G, Detroit Red Wings

The Carolina Hurricanes are 8th in goals on home ice, but the disrespect to Alex Lyon is not fair. He is 4-0-1 in his last five starts and has a very nice .923 SV% this season. $7300 for him on DraftKings is a joke especially when Carolina doesn’t have a decent goalie who can stop pucks.

Elvis Merzlikins, G, Columbus Blue Jackets

I can’t trust any New Jersey goalies right now, so we have to believe in Elvis Merzlikins. We know how bad he wants out of Columbus, so he’s extra motivated to get his trade value up so he can live a better life elsewhere. The Devils may be the second-highest road-scoring team in the league, but they are down some elite players and it’s going to show. I like Merzlikins on home ice to at least flirt with hitting value.

Recommended DFS Skaters

Highest Expected Goal Totals 

Carolina Hurricanes Vs Alex Lyon (3.9)

New Jersey Devils Vs. Elvis Merzlikins(3.7)

Florida Panthers Vs. Marc-Andre Fleury (3.6)

 

Favorite Skaters to Use for DFS Lineups

Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings

If you want to pay up for an elite centreman, Dylan Larkin is your guy. If Vegas is correct, Detroit will be playing catchup hockey for most of the game, so the Red Wings’ captain will be on the ice a ton. I like his upside and his ability to hit value without having to score a goal.

Sam Bennett, C, Florida Panthers

I know Barkov is out of the lineup and Anton Lundell is $3500, but Bennett is the play here. He’s going to skate on the top power play unit and he has better wingers five-on-five. He has eight points in ten games and is in a smash spot.

Sam Reinhart, W, Florida Panthers

Sticking with the Panthers, Sam Reinhart has 12 goals in his last ten games and 33 on the season. He has an elite matchup on paper and could very well continue his scoring streak. I know $8300 seems like a lot, but he should probably be much higher.

Yegor Chinakhov, W, Columbus Blue Jackets

I know some of you are googling who this guy is, but he’s a name we need to consider tonight. He has 12 shots on goal in the last two games against some pretty decent hockey teams. He’s skating on the top line and top power play unit. With Boone Jenner back in the lineup, some people might be scared to play him, but not me. He’s skating with Johnny Gaudreau, who never, ever shoots the puck, so the kid is going to continue to get chances to rack up shots. The Devils are frauds and I expect Chinakhov to hit value.

Seth Jones, D, Chicago Blackhawks

Give me all the Seth Jones tonight. The veteran defenceman may not have a ton of points since returning to the lineup, but he’s not hit the double bonus (5-plus shots and 3-plus blocked shots) in two of the last four games. He’s crushing his value without registering a point. The floor is high with Jones tonight and I can’t think of any reason to fade him.

Luke Hughes, D, New Jersey Devils

I’m trying to trust the Devils tonight but they just feel like frauds. If I’m going to get some exposure to them, I’ll do it via Luke Hughes. He’s playing a ton of minutes and is skating on the top power play unit. The upside is there for him, now he just has to deliver. 

 

Check out our list of the best, and most trusted sports betting and fantasy sports promo codes from the top legal sites in your state.

Dominate your NHL DFS contests today with our DFS Playbook,  Player Projections, Lineup Generator & DFS

Player Pool

$ Tier {{pos.alias}}

Stacks

{{stack.team.name}} {{player.name}}
DraftKings {{player.fantasy.price.value[8]}}-
Fanduel {{player.fantasy.price.value[6]}}-