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NHL Puck Drop 1/28 “Danger Edition”

by Jonny Danger

Taking a look at this MASSIVE Slate you need to identify a few key stats to narrow down your research.

GOALIE
For Goalie I am looking for a team that has a good chance at the victory and a decent chance at getting 35 shots on goal for that DK Bonus. If your guy gives up 2-3 goals and loses but stops 36 shots… you actually are further ahead than a 2-0 victory only stopping 20 shots. (ALWAYS CHECK GOALIE CONFIRMED STATUS BEFORE LOCK)

Favorite Goalies to get the WIN and 35 saves:
Andersen TOR $7700
Grubauer COL $8500
Price MON $8200

Value Play: Rittich CGY $7100
Montreal is the fastest most aggressive offense in the league thus far. Even if they lose as long as he doesn’t give up more than 3 goals he has an excellent chance to get to 45+ saves.

STACKS
Finding the right priced stacks is the key to all NHL DFS. Correlation is imperative. You need to know who skates on the same lines and especially look to see who is on the same power play lines. Target fast paced teams in high scoring opportunities. Stack preference to guys on the 1st and 2nd lines that play together on the same Power Play Unit.

My Favorites today:
VAN – Shockingly I am taking the bet that this team goes under owned. They are scoring just shy of 4 goals a game but will be overshadowed by stacks from the TOR/EDM game. I love the late night hammer, these Canadian teams have been out of control scoring this year and I’m rolling with them.

Horvat/Miller/Boeser/Hughes – CASH
Pettersson/Miller/Boeser/Schmidt -CASH
Hoglander/Virtanen/Schmidt – GPP

NYR/BUF What I love about Buffalo is they are so focused on the first line and first power play unit that it takes the guesswork out. They are popular because of it but I love cash builds with these pieces.

Eichel/Hall – CASH Mini Stack
Eichel/Hall/Olofsson -CASH
Eichel/Olofsson/Dahlin -GPP

Zibanejad/Panarin/Strome -CASH
Panarin/Strome/Fox -GPP

TOR/EDM Chalky chalky chalk chalk but a solid cash build starts with one of or both these teams stacks and getting creative around them.

Matthews/Marner/Reilly -CASH
Tavares/Nylander -CASH Mini Stack
Marner/Kerfoot/Lehtonen -GPP

McDavid/Nugent-Hopkins/Daissaitl -CASH
McDavid/Draisaitl/Nurse -CASH
Puljujarvi/Kahun/Draisaitl -GPP
Kahun/Turris/Bear -GPP Deep Value

COL Going to crush SJ but another heavy owned game I’m sticking to CASH builds mostly. Not getting cute here.

Mackinnon/Rantanen/Makar -CASH
Mackinnon/Rantanen/Kadri -CASH
Kadri/Burovsky/Girard -GPP

CGY/MON Great pivot from the chalk games. I will be very invested here. Toffoli is on fire, but his price has caught up but when you look for value in a high scoring game under owned it can be found around him.

Drouin/Suzuki/Toffoli -CASH/GPP
Drouin/Suzuki/Petri -CASH
Gallager/Tatar/Weber -GPP

Tkachuk/Gaudreau/Monahan -CASH
Tkachuk/Lindholm/Giordana -CASH
Monahan/Gaudreau/Andersson -GPP
Backlund/Mangiapane/Giordana -GPP

TB Should have a fairly easy time with Carolina and will be way over looked on this big of a slate.
BOS I’m not fading them but I have a gut feeling on a low scoring game… That said if you can afford it Marchand and Bergeron are always in play and I like the GPP play in Smith/McAvoy mini stack.

Individual Value Plays by Position:

Center
Nelson – NYI $4,700
Malkin – PIT $5,200
Strome – NYR $4,300
Kerfoot – TOR $2,900

Winger
Mantha – DET $3,800
Dadonov – OTT $3,600
Duclair – FLA $3,700
Smith – BOS $4,100
Bjorkstrand – CBJ $5,100
Palmieri – NJ $5,000

Defenseman
Fowler – ANA $2,900
Severson – NJ $3,700
Subban – NJ $4,000
Nurse – EDM $4,500
Shattenkirk- ANA $3,700

Recent News

Tyrone Tracy (ankle) did not practice Thursday.
Tracy has now missed both practices to start the week and is at risk of missing Week 17's game against the Colts if he can't get on the field in some capacity on Friday. Backup Devin Singletary would be in line for a solid workday if Tracy can't go, while Eric Gray could see some light work of his own. Fantasy managers in need of running back help would be wise to stash Singletary, who could be on the waiver wire in several leagues.
(Dec 26 -- NBC Sports)

Lions signing Teddy Bridgewater: Veteran QB coming out of retirement to rejoin Detroit for postseason run
Bridgewater was on the Lions in 2023
(Dec 26 -- CBS Sports)

Pete Carroll reportedly eyeing return to coaching, targeting Bears
Former Super Bowl champion Pete Carroll is looking to return to coaching in 2025 and is reportedly eyeing the Bears' vacancy.
(Dec 26 -- FOX Sports)

Bengals head coach Zac Robinson said LT Orlando Brown Jr. will play in Week 17 against the Broncos.
Brown has missed six of the Bengals' last seven games with knee/fibula injuries but was upgraded to a full participant in Wednesday's practice. Now, the veteran left tackle will make his much-anticipated return against a top-flight Broncos defense while the Bengals' playoff hopes hang in the balance. Winners of three-straight games, the Bengals need to win out and get extra help along the way if they hope to avoid missing the postseason for the second straight season.
(Dec 26 -- NBC Sports)

CeeDee Lamb: Doesn't practice Thursday
Lamb (shoulder) isn't taking part in Thursday's practice, Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News reports.
(Dec 26 -- Rotowire)