NHL

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Hockey Helper for 1/14/21

We've got a huge ten game slate on Thursday. Since it's the beginning of the season, there are some value plays that we can uncover before their salary skyrockets. So let's find some expensive players, some values and a goalie that can help us build lineups on DraftKings tonight.

High Salary Skaters

Alex Ovechkin ($8,500): The quote that rings true when talking about Ovechkin came from the man himself in 2006, "Russian machine never breaks." Well, that has held up 15 years later, as Ovechkin tied for the league lead in goals last season with 48 in 68 games. He also was his normal shooting machine, as he had the second highest shot attempt rate in the NHL, according to Natural Stat Trick. His Washington Capitals take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight. While the Sabres improved their forward group, there still questions over their defense and goaltending. Ovechkin is always in play on DraftKings because he has a high likelihood of getting the five-shot bonus, which gives him a great floor. He is definitely the preferred spend at the wing position tonight.

Sebastian Aho ($7,100): Aho checks a box tonight we looked for often last season. That box is that he's playing against the Detroit Red Wings. Aho had eight points in three games against the Wings last season. With Detroit projected to be one of the worst teams in the league once again, he should have no problem with them in this matchup. He tied for sixth in the league with 38 goals, and he averaged the fourth most individual expected goals per 60 minutes last season. He makes for a great play in all formats on this slate, as the Carolina Hurricanes should be in a superb spot to score goals in this game.

Value Skaters

Matt Grzelcyk ($3,300): Grzelcyk is the best value at defense. He will take over for Torey Krug on the Boston Bruins' top power-play unit, which was the second best in the league last season. Grzelcyk did step into this role for Krug last year when Krug missed some games, and he performed admirably with 3.91 points per 60 minutes on the power play. For context, that's a better rate than Seth Jones, Shea Weber and Morgan Rielly. The Bruins will go up against the New Jersey Devils, who allowed the third most goals per game last season. At this low of a salary and with this expected role, Grzelcyk is unlikely to kill your lineups, and the potential for him to pick up a couple of real-world points is there. He can be played in Boston stacks or as a one-off because of the discount.

Kirill Kaprizov ($2,900): Hockey fans have long been waiting for the arrival of Kaprizov in the NHL. He was drafted all the way back in 2015 and has been dominating in Russia for the past few seasons. He led the KHL in goals for the past two campaigns. He is perhaps best known to North American hockey fans for scoring the gold medal-winning goal in the 2018 Winter Olympics. We'll now get to see him in the NHL, and we get the chance to roster him at just $2,900 on DraftKings. That salary is way too low, especially considering he will play on the Minnesota Wild's top line and top power-play unit, according to Daily Faceoff. This is a rare chance to roster a player with loads of talent in a good role for under $3,000, so don't let this opportunity pass without having some exposure to Kaprizov.

Goalie to Target

Robin Lehner ($8,500): Lehner was very good after he moved to the Vegas Golden Knights at the trade deadline. He posted four shutouts in 16 playoff games for Vegas last season. Now, the Golden Knights are the biggest favorites of the slate, facing an Anaheim Ducks team that scored the third fewest goals per game in the previous campaign. The overall defensive structure for Vegas also helps, as they allowed the second fewest shots per game last season. The addition of Alex Pietrangelo should make them even tougher to score on this year. Lehner is our highest-projected goalie, so if you have the salary, he's well worth playing tonight.



Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.