This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Happy New Year! The NHL is kicking off 2022 with nine games Saturday, but five of them are in the afternoon. For DFS purposes, I am going to focus on the four games starting at 7 p.m. EDT or later. Here are my recommendations to try and help you begin the new year in style.
SLATE PREVIEW
There are no teams on a back-to-back Saturday. Also, I should mention that the game between the Wild and the Blues is the New Year's Classic outdoor game this year. Yes, they are doing that game at night in 2022. If you are worried about the extra variables that go into an outdoor game, you might want to skip that one for fantasy purposes.
GOALIES
Jack Campbell, TOR vs. OTT ($8,500): Campbell is out of COVID-19 protocols, which means he's ready to step back on the ice. He brings with him a 1.94 GAA and .937 save percentage. Ottawa is just below average in goals per game, but has only managed 28.8 shots on net per contest.
Thatcher Demko, VAN at SEA ($7,600): Demko ended 2021 on quite the run. Over his last 12 games he has an 1.83 GAA and .941 save percentage. Seattle has scored 2.81 goals per game, but it has been shooting the puck unexpectedly well. The Kraken have managed a mere 28.0 shots on net per contest.
VALUE PLAYS
J.T. Miller, VAN at SEA ($5,400): The Kraken have scored an unusual amount of goals given the number of shots they put on net on average. Defensively, the Kraken are doing the inverse. Seattle has given up a mere 28.8 shots on goal per game, but it has a 3.63 GAA, bottom five in the NHL. Chalk it up to the worst goaltending in the league. Miller, meanwhile, has an eight-game point streak.
Adrian Kempe, LOS vs. PHI ($5,100): Kempe already has 13 goals in 31 games, putting his one below his career high. That's not that surprising, given that he's currently skating on Anze Kopitar's wing, he's averaged 18:02 per game in ice time, and he's played 3:01 per contest on the power play. The Flyers have allowed a whopping 35.0 shots on net per contest, and they currently don't have Carter Hart. That likely means Martin Jones, who has a 3.11 GAA, in net.
LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Maple Leafs vs. Senators: John Tavares (C - $8,000), Ondrej Kase (W - $5,400), Alex Kerfoot (W - $3,000)
The Senators have a 3.61 GAA and have allowed 33.7 shots on net per contest. Both are in the bottom five. They are also in the bottom 10 on the penalty kill as well. Mitch Marner may be ready to return to Toronto's top line, but to save some salary – and to not rely on Marner coming back from a shoulder injury – I'm going with the second line.
Of course, Tavares has been as hot as anybody regardless. He has 16 points over his last 10 contests. Kase has a five-game point streak, and he's gotten on the power play recently. The 26-year-old has three games with a power-play point in a row, so maybe he will stay on the power play even if Marner is healthy. Kerfoot's 8.5 shooting percentage is likely to regress, but he still has 16 points in 30 games.
DEFENSE
Drew Doughty, LOS vs. PHI ($6,100): When Doughty has been in the lineup he's been able to contribute. He's only played in 13 games, but he has 14 points, including six on the power play. The veteran returned from injury, notched six points in seven games, missed a few more games with COVID-19, and then came back to pick up an assist in his return. Doughty still shoulders a ton of minutes, and last year he had 101 shots on net in 56 games. As I mentioned, the Flyers have allowed 35.0 shots on goal per contest.
Rasmus Sandin, TOR vs. OTT ($2,500): Sandin has eight points in 25 games, though they are all assists. However, he's not going to have a 0.0 shooting percentage forever. Also, with Morgan Rielly out, Sandin has moved to the top power-play unit and is expected to be on the top power-play unit. This boosted role is coming against a team with a 3.61 GAA, which should benefit him.
