DraftKings and FanDuel NHL DFS Picks: With the NBA All-Star break upon us, now is a great time to jump into the NHL action! In this Power Plays article, Jeff Votteler breaks down the slate and gives you some of his top picks at each position, including Patrick Kane and Tyler Seguin, as well as some of his favorite line stacks.
A great way to stay up to news is by following a beat writer list. Votts has you covered with every team’s beat writer HERE.
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NHL Schedule for Sunday Feb. 16, 2020
| AWAY | O/U | HOME | TIME (EST) |
| Dallas -160 | 5.5 | Ottawa | 6:00 p.m. |
| Columbus^ -134 | 5.5 | New Jersey^ | 6:00 p.m. |
| St. Louis | 5.5 | Nashville – 108 | 6:00 p.m. |
| Toronto – 142 | 6.5 | Buffalo | 7:00 p.m. |
| Chicago | 6.5 | Winnipeg -142 | 7:30 p.m. |
BOLD* Back to back / ^ three in four nights / ¥ three in six nights
NHL DFS Picks: Centers
Tyler Seguin (DAL at OTT) – DraftKings, $7,500
Seguin finally got the monkey off his back last night with a filthy goal in overtime to beat the Montreal Canadians. Seguin went 18 games without a goal, which is almost incomprehensible. It was only a matter of time, as he has been averaging about four shots per game. The biggest question we need to ask ourselves is does he deserve the $1,000 price bump on DraftKings? This year, he has a 5% shooting percentage, while on his career, he’s averaging 11%. Hopefully last night’s goal means positive regression is on its way, and Ottawa is a good team to start a streak against.
The Senators have the fourth-worst team Corsi, while also allowing the fourth-most shots against per 60 and the eight-most high-danger chances. Ottawa also has a bottom-10 penalty kill with a 78.6% kill rate. Seguin will likely see the Jean-Gabriel Pageau line most of the night, but on this short of a slate, the power play matchup makes up for it. Seguin should get plenty of chances to put pucks on net.
Boone Jenner (CBJ at NJ) – DraftKings, $4,900
Finding great value is tough tonight. We need to find some value to play the high-priced lines and studs. Jenner has tallied double-digit fantasy point in four of the last six games, and he will likely see the better matchup tonight against the Devils, depending on the status of Nico Hischier. When Hischier went down, the Devils sent Jack Hughes to the top line, and they have been leaky. The top line combined is allowing 36 shots, 31 scoring chances and 14 high-danger chances per 60. The Blue Jackets second line is in play as a filler stack tonight at just under $13,000.
NHL DFS Picks: Wingers
Patrick Kane (CHI at WPG) – DraftKings, $8,900
Kane is the second-highest-priced player in the slate tonight, but there’s merit for it. The Hawks are coming off an 8-4 spanking of the Calgary Flames last night, while the Jets come in rested. These two teams just played each other last Sunday and the Jets won 5-2. In the four games these teams have matched up this year, Kane is averaging five shots on net per game and he’s tallied six points for a 17.4 DraftKings average. Last week, we saw the Jets top line matchup for majority of the night against Kane, and if they do that again, Kane has a clear patch to points. The Mark Scheifele line is one of the worst defensive lines, allowing 37 shots, 32 scoring chances, 16 high-danger chances and 3.09 expected goals per 60. Don’t get me wrong here; both sides of this game are pretty appealing and there will definitely be scoring chances to go around.
Nikolai Ehlers (WPG vs. CHI) – DraftKings, $5,300
As I just mentioned, I like both sides of this game tonight. If things stay the way they were last week, we can expect Ehlers to see the Jonathan Toews line. The Blackhawks top line has been extremely forgiving. The trio has allowed 31 shots, 33 scoring chances, 16 high-danger chances and 2.73 expected goals per 60. The Jets top line is beyond expensive, and they could end up popular, so swerving to the second line with the speedy and shifty Ehlers could make the difference.
NHL DFS Picks: Defensemen
Neil Pionk (WPG vs. CHI) – DraftKings, $5,300
Pionk has been averaging 25 minutes of ice time with a floor of 4.5 shots/blocks per game. This is going to be a paced-up game and there will also be a good bump to Pionk’s peripherals. The Blackhawks are giving up the most shots against in the league, and they are also the second-worst team in expected goals against. If they don’t get elite goaltending, they tend to give up a plethora of goals.
Brandon Montour (BUF vs. TOR ) – DraftKings, $3,100
Looking for salary savings, Montour could be your guy at $3,100. He’s logging over 21 minutes of ice time for the Sabres, while averaging three shots/blocks per game. He’s also getting time quarterbacking the second power play unit. Toronto takes the fifth-most shots at five-on-five, giving Montour extra block equity. Finally, over the last month, the Maple Leafs have allowed the second-most DraftKings points to opposing defensemen.
Don’t forget to check out our new NHL tools. We have the Top Stack Model and the NHL Matchups Sheet.
NHL DFS Stacks
Winnipeg/Chicago
This game has the makings of a high-scoring affair. The Blackhawks are 2-7 against the Jets in the last nine meetings, but the Hawks have seemed to catch a gear. Even though the Hawks are playing on the hind end of a back-to-back, they are 9-3 while playing the second game in consecutive nights. The Scheifele line saw the majority of the Kane line last week when these teams met, and I’m assuming that’s how they will play tonight. That will lead to chances on both sides of the ice and it also makes both teams’ top six stackable.
CBJ3: Stenlund – Milano – Bemstrom
EDIT – Columbus lines have shifted and we need to keep an eye on the lines. If Bemstrom moves to the top line, along with Bjorkstrand and Nyquist. That would interest me a lot.
If you can afford to get to the Jackets’ top six, they make a lot of sense tonight, as recency bias should shed people off of them. The Jackets top line would be the first preference, followed by the second line. The Jackets third line is in play as a dart stack to fill into your stud lineups. Columbus’ third line all play on a power play unit, and they have decent numbers for a bottom-six line. In a decent sample, Emil Bemstrom and Sonny Milano have created 33 shots, 27 scoring chances, 11 high-danger chances and 2.2 expected goals per 60. The reasoning here is that they will likely see the Zacha-Hughes line, which is extremely leaky. The Devils as a team are in the bottom five of almost every advanced metric on the year except for high-danger chances, where they are 17th.
Other Secondary Stacks
DAL2: Gurianov – Dickinson – Benn
NSH3: Smith – Bonino – Grkmaldi
