Fanduel:

LW Chris Kunitz

LW Dustin Penner

RW Jakub Voracek

RW Troy Brouwer

C Sidney Crosby

C Nazem Kadri

D P.K. Subban

D Brooks Orpik

G Jake Allen

DraftDay:

C Sidney Crosby

C John Tavares

LW Max Pacioretty

LW Thomas Vanek

RW Jakub Voracek

RW Jannik Hansen

D P.K Subban

D Andy Greene

G Jhonas Enroth

Daily Joust:

C Sidney Crosby

C Ryan Carter

LW Thomas Vanek

LW Dustin Penner

RW Jakub Voracek

RW Teddy Purcell

D P.K Subban

D Brooks Orpik

TG Phoenix Coyotes

As always, spend on one expensive defensemen and go cheap on goalie. Daily NHL Fantasy is a highly variable game, and my way of reducing variance is to play as many superstars as possible. My goal in hockey lineups is big risk, big reward. May all your investments tonight do well! Feel free to ask me questions, or check out the experts at www.fantasytrade411.com and www.thefakehockey.com!

Fanduel Daily NHL Fantasy Lineup:

LW Michael Grabner

LW Jiri Tlusty

RW David Clarkson

RW Alexander Semin

C Eric Staal

C Nazem Kadri

D Lubomir Visnovsky

D P.K. Subban

G Joey MacDonald

Fanduel Daily NHL Fantasy Lineup:

LW David Perron

LW Alexander Ovechkin

RW Marian Gaborik

RW Vladimir Tarasenko

C Henrik Sedin

C David Backes

D Zdeno Chara

D Dustin Byfuglien

G Richard Bachman

With some of the more expensive superstars either not playing, or playing in the early games on Sunday morning, there is a more bourgeoisie approach to today’s daily NHL fantasy lineups. While the Blues fell into a bit of a funk last week, the values presented by Tarasenko, Perron and Backes are too good to pass up. Some daily sites have moved on from using Tarasenko as a consistent option, but his physical talent allows for a 10 point game almost any given night. Additionally, Marian Gaborik is a just a stud of a hockey player and he headlines today’s lineup alongside of Ovechkin. Kari Lehtonen suffered an injury in the first period of last nights game (killing several of my head to head matchups), but anytime there is a goalie injury, there will be a cheap option to use the next game.  Utilize Bachman in net to ensure being able to spend extra on your offensive players who score a great percentage of fantasy points.

Fanduel:

LW Ryane Clowe
LW Wayne Simmonds
RW Vladimir Tarasenko
RW Jakub Voracek
C Sidney Crosby
C Patrik Berglund
D Kris Letang
D Alex Goligoski
G Kari Lehtonen

Daily Joust:

C Sidney Crosby
C Tyler Ennis
LW Brendan Morrow
LW Chris Kunitz
RW Ilya Kovalchuk
RW Vladmir Tarasenko
D Adam Pardy
D Kimmo Timonen
TG Dallas Stars (Kari Lehtonen)

While Lehtonen has a tough matchup, he has been to good lately to get down. Crosby has become the Lebron of Daily NHL Fantasy; sit him at your own risk. Any questions about daily NHL fantasy, feel free to contact me on my twitter or comment below. @davismattek

NHL Tourney Lineup (Use if you are in a larger pool):

Riding high off of some very solid NBA daily fantasy lineups last night, I present to you optimized NHL Lineups for www.draftday.com on February 5th, 2013.

Ondrej Pavelec v FLA (G)

Both of the Rangers wingers were exceptionally cheap, making them no brainer additions. Tarasenko was also available far below market value. Saving money on these 3 players allowed me to spend extra on Giroux and Letang. Pavelec offers a very cheap goalie alternative against a pathetic audience. Good luck, friends!

Follow the league! Here are the standings!

Davis Mattek–

Forwards:
Alex Ovechkin
Rick Nash
Tyler Sequin
Jeff Carter
David Perron
Paul Stasny
Chris Kunitz
Vladmir Tarasenko
Alex Tanguay
Wojtek Wolski
Marcus Foligno
Ryan Malone
Patrik Berglund
Milan Hejduk

Defensemen:
Dion Phaneuf
Micheal Del Zotto
Alex Goligoski
Tyler Myers
Stephane Robidas

Goalies:
Pekka Rinne
Kari Lehtonen
Ilya Bryzgalov

Analysis: It was very difficult to get all of the guys that I wanted with, drafting with guys like Tony and Cliffy, because we have all followed a similar strategy. I’m most pleased with my acquistion of Vladmir Tarasenko, the rookie phenom who already has 5 points in 2 games. If he keeps up that trend, my weakness in Faceoffs won and several other categories might not haunt me. I particularly liked the selection of Tyler Myers in a later round, as I believe in the Sabres as a team and Myers ability to produce on the powerplay. Dion Phaneuf will help keep my Average Time On Ice category sky high all season, which is a real advantage when playing Wojtek Wolskin in my UTIL slot, only getting around 15 minutes a game.

Micheal Clifford-

Forwards:
James Neal
David Backes
Ilya Kovalchuck
Ryan Getzlaf
Evander Kane
Loui Erikkson
Travis Zajac
David Krejci
P.A Parenteau
Sven Baertschi
Ryan O’Reilly
Nazem Kadri
Sam Gagner

Defensemen:
Alexander Edler
Kimmo Timonen
Cam Fowler
Justin Faulk
Victor Hedman
Ryan McDonagh

Goalies:
Tuukka Rask
Niklas Backstrom
Antti Niemi

Analysis: Mr. Micheal Clifford is easily the most expert out of all the experts. His #1 goalie, Tuukka Rask will prove to be a huge advantage, as elite goalies in a 12 team league are hard to come by. Cliffy also went heavy on centers in order to get an advantage in faceoffs won. Ilya Kovalchuk could end up being a difference maker in the entire league, as he was pretty undervalued in fantasy hockey leagues even though he has been playing 24 minutes a game and has already won 22 faceoffs. Fully expect Cliffy to compete for the title all year.

Ladd Davies–

Forwards:
Steven Stamkos
Henrik Sedin
Henrik Zetterburg
Joe Pavelski
Dany Heatly
Blake Wheeler
Drew Stafford
Nail Yukupov
Dustin Brown
Marian Gaborik
Andrew Ladd
David Clarkson
Alexander Steen
R.J Umberger

Defensemen:
Dustin Byfuglien
James Wisniewski
Dennis Wideman
Marek Zidlicky
Dmitry Kulikov

Goalies:
Anders Lindback
Jacob Markstrom

Analysis: Ladd’s excellent forward line came at a strong price; his goalies. While he will be competitive all year based on the huge points that Steven Stamkos and Henrik Sedin will be posting. Mr. Davies had the luck of ending up with a defensive staff full of skaters who stay on the ice for a significant amount of time but if he wants to compete, a trade for a goalie may be in the works.

Tony Mauriello–

Forwards:
Sidney Crosby
Johnathan Toews
Gabriel Landeskog
Taylor Hall
Jaime Benn
Jeff Skinner
Ryane Clowne
Derek Roy
Milan Michalek
Steve Downie
Pascal Dupuis

Defensemen:
Drew Doughty
Kevin Shatternick
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Travis Hamonic
John Carlson
Dan Giradi
Dan Hamhuis

Goalies:
Jaroslav Halak
Semyon Varlamov
Jonas Hiller
Mikka Kiprusoff

TheTonyM’s guest writeup: Sitting at the 3rd position, I went into this draft with the goal of landing four high-scoring forwards and two first tier net-minders with my first 6 draft picks, which I managed to accomplish when I selected Crosby, Toews, Halak, Landeskog, Hall and Varlamov. One wrinkle with this rotisserie league is that there were a few added “live” categories – hits and face-offs won. Moreover, because the league settings did not require owners to draft Cs, LWs and RWs, I focused on primarily drafting centers so as to get an edge in the FOW category. I balanced out my roster with a mix of offensive-minded D-men who like to spend time in the penalty box, but who also are projected to be on their team’s first power play unit. Finally, when I was drafting offensive depth, I tried to select players who were playing on their team’s first or second line. My favorite pick was grabbing Sidney Crosby’s linemate, Pascal Dupuis, in the 21st round. Steve Downie should keep me competitive in the PIM category.

Tom Fitzgerald–

Forwards:
Claude Giroux
T.J Oshie
Ray Whitney
Teddy Purcell
Max Pacioretty
Brad Marchand
Erik Cole
David Desharnais
Mike Fisher
Guillaume Latendresse
Corey Perry
Teemu Selanne
Cody Hodgson

Defensemen:
Brian Campbell
Joni Pitkanen
Brent Burns
Brent Seabrook
Kyle Quincey
Jay Bouwmeester

Goalies:
Cory Scheinder
Craig Anderson
Cam Ward

Analysis: Cory Schnieder and Cam Ward’s horribly rough starts have murdered Tom in the standings, but I believe that he constructed a solid offensive squad. If Ward comes back to the mean and Roberto Luongo ends up getting traded, Fitz will have a real solid goalie situation to combine with his forward squad that is anchored by Claude Giroux and solid bench depth with Teemu and his 4 points and 4 PIMS already achieved, waiting to be put in the UTIL slot.

Rob Pallazola–

Forwards:
Evgeni Malkin
Jason Spezza
Milan Lucic
Jakub Voracek
Bobby Ryan
Jaromir Jagr
Justin Williams
Valtteri Filppula
Vinny Prospal
Chris Stewart
Kyle Turris
Chris Krieder

Defensemen:
Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Webber
Matt Carle
Ryan Ellis
Roman Josi
Mark Streit

Goalies:
Jimmy Howard
Brandon Holtby
Jonas Gustavsson
Michal Neuvirth

Analysis: Having your first draft pick only average 16 minutes of ice time can be rough, but Rob’s top 3 of Malkin, Jason Spezza and Alex Pietrangelo have already notched 7 points and contributed a short handed point. Neither of his starting goalies have put a solid performance yet, but it is a little early to jump to conclusions there. Standing dead last in ATOI, RoJo may have to consider a trade to build up his forwards and how often they play.