NHL Winter Classic Showdown Playbook January 1: Top DraftKings & FanDuel NHL DFS Picks
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.
Player News
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander provided 29 points and 12 assists in Sunday’s series-clinching 103-91 Game 7 victory over the Pacers, leading the Thunder to their first NBA title.
It wasn’t always pretty, but SGA — who was named NBA Finals MVP afterwards — got the job done on Sunday night as the Thunder pulled away from Indiana in the second half to secure the franchise’s first title since moving to Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander shot a putrid 8-of-27 from the field and 2-of-12 from beyond the arc, but he got to the line 12 times and sank 11 free throws to buoy his scoring numbers. The 12 assists tie his season-high in that category, and his all-around contributions were spectacular, despite the inefficient shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 2024-25 season will go down as one of the best individual seasons for a guard in NBA history, as he won the scoring title, regular season MVP and Finals MVP. The Thunder are early favorites to win the 2025-26 title, and Gilgeous-Alexander has the second-shortest odds to win a second straight MVP, behind only Nikola Jokic.
Benn Mathurin finished Sunday’s loss to the Thunder with 24 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two triples across 33 minutes.
Mathurin led Indiana in scoring and led all players in rebounds, though his -14 in the box score represented the lowest plus-minus of the game. Mathurin’s playoff run was a rollercoaster of ups and downs in minutes and scoring. His highs were high, and his lows were low, and Mathurin scored at least 20 points in four of the final 10 games of the postseason. The third-year man out of Arizona averaged career highs in points (16.1), rebounds (5.3), field goal percentage (45.8) and free throw percentage (83.1) in 2024-25, and he’ll look to improve on those numbers in Year 4.
Jalen Williams provided 20 points (7-of-20 FG), four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two triples across 38 minutes Sunday as the Thunder beat the Pacers 103-91.
Like his superstar teammate, Williams was far from efficient as he and Shai Gilgeous Alexander combined for 49 points on 15-of-47 shots. Despite the poor shooting, Williams made a positive impact on the contest. He finished with the highest plus-minus in the game at +13 after recording a -40 in Game 6. Williams broke out in the regular season and broke out in an even bigger way in the Finals, as he scored 40 points in Game 5 and cemented himself as one of the best secondary options in the Association. The future looks bright for he and SGA.
Chet Holmgren finished Sunday’s win over Indiana with 18 points, eight rebounds, a steal, five blocked shots and a triple across 31 minutes.
Holmgren struggled offensively in this series, but he came through for his team in the title-clinching win. The big man knocked down 6-of-8 shots, hit five of his eight attempts from the charity stripe and made some monster plays on defense. So long as he can stay healthy, he should once again offer an early-round ceiling to fantasy managers thanks to his ability to hit triples and block shots.
Pascal Siakam finished with 16 points (5-of-13 FG), four rebounds, two assists, a steal, a block and two triples across 37 minutes in Sunday’s loss to the Thunder.
Siakam had a tremendous playoff run and was arguably the team’s best player in the Finals, but he couldn’t get much going in Game 7. He signed a four-year deal with the Pacers last summer, so he’ll be back with Haliburton for at least the next three seasons as Indiana tries to prove that their Cinderella run was more than just lightning in a bottle.
T.J. McConnell finished Indiana’s Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block across 28 minutes.
Tyrese Haliburton went down just seven minutes into the game, and McConnell stepped up in a big way. He did his best to carry the listless Pacers offense, and at one point in the third quarter, he scored 12 straight points for his team. Despite being the spark that kept Indiana competitive midway through the third, McConnell wasn’t on the court to start the fourth and logged only 28 minutes. McConnell cemented his name as a legend in Indiana with gritty performance after gritty performance across seven games. Depending on the severity of Haliburton’s Achilles injury, McConnell could be forced to step into a larger role next season. He’s shown that he’s capable of great things with increased playing time.