NHL DFS Tournament Picks and Strategy | Snipes, Grinders, and Hard Passes Projections for Fanduel and Draftkings 1/21/22

DFS NHL is a volatile sport centering around correlation, stacking and game theory.  Learning how to win cash games and tournaments requires nailing those great upside plays/stacks, grabbing obvious value, and making the proper fades that sink everyone else’s ships.  Let’s look through today’s slate and identify those winning picks in “Snipes, Grinders, and Hard Passes!”

All of my plays make sense for the entire DFS industry; however, if there is an egregious discrepancy in player salary between sites, I will mention it in my briefing.

Snipe = Good Play
Grinder = Value Plays (Grinders are Valuable)
Hard-Pass = I’m fading in tournaments

DFS NHL Slate Overview:

9 games tonight, I believe, and there is no Mackinnon, McDavid, Matthews, or Ovechkin tonight, which simplifies things a bit; and, spreads ownership out across the board. Nothing fancy tonight, just our typical stacking situations in GPP’s, and just take the best plays in cash. Before I start, I will say that Adam Fox on Draftkings is simply way too cheap, and if you can find $5600 for a defenseman, I suggest grabbing him.

Snipes and Hard Passes for Tonight

Correlated Snipe #1

Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

The Penguins have always loved stomping my Blue Jackets (especially in Columbus), and Jake Guentzel is the biggest Blue Jacket killer of them all. I also doubt Elvis Merzlikins plays tonight, since he played a fabulous game in Philly last night. Korpisalo has struggled against Pittsburgh in the past, and has an abysmal 88.5% save percentage this year. The Penguins are a very steady veteran team, and on any given night, the Blue Jackets can surrender 10 goals. In reality I expect this to be like a closer game, but I can see a 5-3 win for the Penguins with Guentzel getting on the board like always.

Correlated Snipe #2

Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond – Vladeslav Namestikov

Detroit is a sneakier stack with all of the other sexier names and pieces out there, but with Dallas on the second game of a back to back and having to go to a $5 pizza arena in the cold of winter, I’m betting on the Red Wings at home. Their arena is Lil Caesars arena if you didn’t catch that joke; but if you don’t know what Lil Caesars is then you are probably doing better at DFS than me or are skinnier than me, so well done. Ok, I spent way too much effort on that, so back to why Dallas sucks. Ok, Dallas doesn’t suck, they have a handful of good players, but they have been inconsistent all year, especially their 3 veterans of Klingberg, Benn, and Seguin. Larkin and Raymond started the year on fire and have tapered off a little, but if Buffalo can score, then so can Detroit. This is one of the games that it stackable on both sides, and if I were a betting man, I’d bet the over.

If you want to freshen up your 2021-22 cash and tourney strategy skills, read “How to Win DFS NHL in 2022.”

Hard Pass #1

The Coyotes/Islanders game

Vomit central for this game. I have no idea what to expect, with both of these teams being bad offensively and slow altogether; and even if this game does pop off, I wouldn’t know where the scoring would come from. Sure, Barzal and Keller are talented players, but they just don’t have the pieces around them to put up 3 points on most nights. Could I be wrong on this particular night? sure, but I think it is a minus EV play to play these guys, and I suggest going underweight against the field on these guys. Last tidbit, and I have mentioned him before, Oliver Wahlstrom has been rounding back into form and likes to shoot the puck, and I will leave it at that.

Save research time with our easy-to-read NHL Cheatsheets! Core plays, tourney leverage, correlated stacks, and extreme goalie plays set up your night differently than your competition.

NHL Grinder Value Plays

Grinder#1

Denis Gurianov & Tyler Seguin – a 2 for 1 here because they are on the same line and they both love to shoot that puck. Seguin has been getting better offensively as the season moves along, and Gurianov is one of the Stars young keepers as their franchise roles along. Seguin is even cash game viable tonight at his price; and, if you want to go with a full game stack, you could throw in Klingberg or Heiskanen with these 2.

Grinder#2

Elias Pettersson – Pettersson hasn’t lived up to his hype-train this year, but he is still an uber-talented kid. He is still cheap enough to buy as a one-off, and has scored 3 goals in his last 2 games. the Panthers from Sunrise Florida are finishing up their road trip in Canada, and since their new coach has got there, the Canucks have been playing better, Elias Pettersson has been playing better, and the fan base has been more engaged.

Good luck, I hope you all come in 2nd.  😉

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