Every Tuesday and Thursday I am going to give you my top tournament plays for all Daily Fantasy Hockey GPPs (guaranteed prize pool). GPPs are a general term used across the industry for your big money tournaments.
GPPs are very different from your cash games and you use a different strategy with them. In our GPPs we are not interested in safe plays, since GPPs are all about UPSIDE. We want players who can explode, as all-or-nothing type players can become GPP gold, and your value players are just as important as your star players. You need your players to have huge nights in order to take down these big tournaments.
My goal is to provide players who will be under-owned and have that big game upside you are looking for. I will also try to find as much value as I possibly can. Now, let’s get to the FanDuel NHL GPP plays!
GOALTENDERS
Make sure to check the RotoGrinders Starting Goalies Page prior to game time, to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting.
Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche – Varlamov has been phenomenal in the month of December, posting a 1.16 goals against average, along with a .964 save percentage. He has now won his last four starts and they were against some of the league’s better teams (Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Chicago), including shutting out the Blackhawks on Tuesday night. The win won’t come easy tonight and we can expect Varlamov to see a lot of rubber, but I think he is up to the task.
Other Goalies To Target – Jaroslav Halak, John Gibson, Garret Sparks, Anders Lindback, Curtis McElhinney
FORWARDS
Ryan Johansen, Columbus Blue Jackets - The Arizona Coyotes have really struggled of late, losing six of their past seven games. Arizona is one of the NHL’s weakest defensive teams, sitting at or near the bottom of the league in most defensive categories. With Mike Smith out due to injury, the Desert Dogs will have no choice but to rely on sieve Anders Lindback. Johansen is the Columbus Blue Jackets’ biggest scoring threat and he has multi-point upside in this plus matchup.
Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks – Despite playing on one of the best lines in all of hockey, Anisimov is rarely popular in tournament play. The 27-year-old Russian has a “pass first” mentality, but he still has two-assist upside in this plus matchup on home ice.
Mikkel Boedker, Arizona Coyotes – This game could turn into a shootout in Arizona. Like the Arizona Coyotes, the Columbus Blue Jackets are not only struggling defensively themselves, but they also have their own sieve in goal. Curtis McElhinney may be the worst goalie in the league right now, so I love Boedker’s potential in this game.
Valeri Nichushkin, Dallas Stars – This talented young Russian has fit in quite nicely on the Dallas Stars’ potent top line. Despite their winning ways of late, the Calgary Flames remain a poor defensive team with terrible goaltending. The Stars on the other hand are by far the NHL’s best offense, leading the league in goals per game. No other trio in hockey can match their upside; and Nichushkin is once again the best value on the board.
Other Forwards To Target – Rickard Rakell, Sam Reinhart, Teuvo Teravainen, Lee Stempniak, Leo Komarov, Tobias Rieder, Mikael Granlund, Nazem Kadri
DEFENSEMEN
T.J. Brodie, Calgary Flames – Brodie is playing his best hockey of the season right now. The Chatham Ontario native has goals in back-to-back games and he is currently riding a seven-game point scoring streak. The Dallas Stars are an offensive power house, but they are far from a defensive juggernaut. The Stars do not have a strong defensive core and their goaltending is average at best. Brodie has big game upside in this matchup and he will be highly under-owned in large field tournaments.
Other Defensemen To Target – Tyson Barrie, Nick Leddy, Rasmus Ristolainen, Cam Fowler, Damon Severson, Justin Schultz, Michael Stone