Welcome to Daily Faceoff’s NHL DFS Value Plays, where five days a week from Monday to Friday, I break down hockey’s main slate, looking for the top value plays. This value sheet includes salaries, projections for DraftKings and FanDuel for the top forward and defensemen values, as well as honourable mention forwards and three punt options for blue liners. While the main value plays look at spots to get different and their upside, the others revolve around their ability to produce peripheral points by taking shots and blocking them. These players are always live for the bonus on DraftKings, where all the value plays are directed for.



These projections don’t tell you exactly what’s going to happen. One game samples have too much randomness to pin down exact predictions. Instead, the projections represent a player’s average performance if that matchup was played repeatedly. There is a wide range of possible outcomes, and the projections represent each player’s average of those possibilities.<div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="161"></div>



Kent Johnson (DK: W FD: C, CBJ2, PP2) – (DK-$3,900 / FD $6,000) Projected points: 11.3



It hasn’t been a smooth start to Kent Johnson’s NHL career, as the young winger spent more time last season in the AHL than NHL, after a solid rookie campaign in 2022-23 when he scored 16 goals and 40 points. But since returning from a shoulder injury that slowed the start of his season, he’s been on fire scoring four goals and nine points in his first six games. He’s earned ice-time in the Blue Jackets’ top-six, and projects to be in a great spot tonight.



Jake DeBrusk (W, VAN1, PP1) — ($3,900 / $5,200) Projected points: 11.0



Was three goals in his last two games, including a game-winning goal against his former team all Jake DeBrusk needed to get going this season? We’re going to find out soon enough. It hasn’t been a brutal start to his tenure in Vancouver, now up to six goals and 14 points in 20 games, but a quarter of that production on the season has come against Ottawa last Saturday and the Bruins last night. His shot volume has dipped from his time in Beantown, but he’s getting all the opportunity to produce on Vancouver’s top line and top power play unit. <div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="214"></div>



Lane Hutson (D, MTL-1, PP1) — ($3,500 / $4,600) Projected points: 11.0



For as much as Johnson is a solid play on the Blue Jackets stide of this game, so too is Lane Hutson, elevated to their top pairing with Mike Matheson dealing with a lower-body injury. Hutson had the snowflake next to his name last night against Utah, with two blocks being his only DFS production, but in what should be a high-scoring game tonight, he’ll have more opportunity to rack up some points.



Alex Vlasic (D, CHI-1, PP1) — ($4,000 / $5,000) Projected points: 9.4



To put it simply, Alex Vlasic is too cheap on DraftKings. He’s averaging 8.5 DK points per game this season, and is getting all the ice-time on their top pairing, top power play unit, and top penalty kill unit. While he may not have a ton of upside in terms of putting up points, scoring just eight assists in 21 games this year, the 23-year-old has blocked 6.7 shots per hour of ice-time, making him a prime candidate to hit that bonus tonight, while having a chance to find some additional points elsewhere in thanks to his ice-time.<div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="193"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-honourable-mention-forwards">Honourable mention forwards</h3>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Dmitri Voronkov (W, CBJ1, PP1) — ($3,600/$4,200) — Projection: 9.9</li>



<li>Yegor Sharangovich (W, CGY2, PP1) — ($4,000/$4,700) — Projection: 10.2</li>



<li>Jamie Benn (W, DAL3, PP1) — ($3,600/$5,000) — Projection: 7.3</li>
</ol>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-top-punt-defensemen">Top Punt Defensemen</h3>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Brett Pesce (NJD-2) — ($2,900/$3,900) — Projection: 7.1</li>



<li>Travis Hamonic (OTT-1) — ($3,000/$3,700) — Projection: 6.4</li>



<li>Dante Fabbro (CBJ-1) — ($2,900/$4,100) — Projection: 7.5</li>
</ol>



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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist and makes up one half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.



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