Welcome to Monday’s NHL Showdown Slate. We have made it to 2024 so let’s keep the winning going. Seattle and Las Vegas will take their talents outdoors in the NHL Winter Classic at AT&T Park. These games tend to be tricky, but that doesn’t mean we can’t build a winning lineup. You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Monday, January 1st, 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 now take a closer look at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS Showdown slate.

 

NHL Winter Classic Showdown Playbook

Highest Expected Goal Totals 

Vegas Golden Knights Vs Joey Daccord (3.0)

Seattle Kraken Vs. Logan Thompson (2.6)

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Seattle Kraken
Players to Target

Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Paul Cotter, Ivan Barbashev, Alex Pietrangelo, Alec Martinez, Logan Thompson, Jared McCann, Tomas Tatar, Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson.

The total for this game opened at 6.5 but has since moved to 6.0. That may be because this game is being played outdoors, but that is kinda false. Yes, this is being played at AT&T Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, but it’s a stadium with a retractable roof. This isn’t your typical outdoor game like we’ve seen in previous years. The ice is probably going to be a lot better and the wind won’t be much a factor. Seattle also isn’t very cold like Buffalo or Boston, so that won’t be a factor either. This game is as close as you can get to an indoor game. 

On the Vegas side, Jack Eichel is a great option for the Captain Spot. The Kraken aren’t very good defensively and Jack has ten points in the last ten games. He’s playing a healthy amount of minutes and is in a spot to really produce. If you don’t want to go down that route, Alex Pietrangelo is the next-best option. He may not rack up a ton of points, but the salary savings and his high floor make him very appealing. 

As for the rest of your lineup, it would be wise to load up on some discount players. Paul Cotter is skating on the second line and is only $2800. Even if he doesn’t produce, the savings alone is worth plugging him in. If you need more options, Ivan Barbashev and Jonathan Marchessault are two more names to keep in mind. If you’re feeling spicy, Alec Martinez is expensive but you exactly what you’re going to get from him. The issue with him today is that Seattle doesn’t generate a ton of shots, so it may be hard for the veteran defenceman to really exceed his blocked shots value. 

On the Seattle side, it’s all about value. Jared McCann isn’t having a great season, but he still has 14 goals on the year. His shot volume is concerning, but if anyone has a chance to score on that team, it’s him. If we’re looking for a dart play, Tomas Tatar is skating on the top line and has played over 16 minutes in the last two games. His $4200 price tag is also very appealing. He’s not the player he once was, but there’s a good chance that Seattle will be playing catchup hockey, so he will be counted on to go out there and try and provide some offense. 

On the back end, Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson are two names to remember. Larsson is probably the better play because he can block shots and is seeing a ton of ice time. He’s going to be tasked with playing the penalty kill and trying to slow down Eichel and company. His $6600 price tag is also very reasonable, so if you can’t afford Martinez, this is the next-best option.

When it comes to goalies, I usually tend to stay away from them in showdown slates, but we can’t do that tonight. With the total decreasing, everyone is expecting a lower-scoring game, and to an extent, that may be true. Vegas is a very good defensive team and Seattle just can’t score goals. Logan Thompson is likely to get the start, and while his numbers over the last few games haven’t been great, he’s also been dealing with injuries, so we’ll give him a slight pass. It could be a challenge for him to hit value, but if can keep the goals to a minimum and pick up the win, then he should be just fine.