NHL DFS Picks, Top Stacks & Lineup Optimizer

We have a mid-sized eight-game slate for our NHL DFS picks today, so let’s hop to it. This Power Play article will use Awesemo’s Premium NHL Tools to help dole out the NHL DFS advice to help with building lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight. The Awesemo NHL projections and ownership projections are two of the best tools to utilize when constructing stacks and making the optimal NHL DFS picks. Let’s go position by position and pinpoint some of the top plays and stacks for Saturday, Nov. 26.

NHL DFS Picks, Tops Stacks & Lineup Optimizer Plays

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Anze Kopitar (LAK vs. OTT)

DraftKings – $7,200 | FanDuel – $7,800

It hasn’t been a very good return from the COVID shutdown for Ottawa. It is 0-3, have allowed 16 goals against, and is playing a back-to-back tonight, having played last night in Anaheim. There is not a lot favoring Ottawa’s side here besides young legs.

Anze Kopitar has been off to a wonderful start this year, with 18 points in 19 games. He is also averaging 2.7 shots per game, which is a 10-year high. While he is losing his winger in Viktor Arvidsson — he’s down on the second line — he still has his sometimes linemates in Adrian Kempe and Dustin Brown. They are a breakeven possession line the last two years, which is more than enough for tonight.

The question is how to use him for this matchup. There are a lot of top-end options even with just half the league in play but few are in as good of a spot, and none at home. He can be considered for cash games but, truthfully, at his price, we would want a higher shot rate. He is more than fine as a one-off for tournaments because he’s the engine of this top line at 5-on-5 and on the power play. He is coming in with very reasonable ownership, too, around 7-8%.

Kopitar was popping in the optimals when using the NHL lineup optimizer today. For more free NHL DFS picks, cheat out the DraftKings NHL cheat sheet and FanDuel NHL cheat sheet for Saturday’s slate.

Mikael Granlund (NSH at COL)

DraftKings – $5,100 | FanDuel – $4,800

In their game yesterday, Mikael Granlund was united on a line with Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene. In reality, this is probably the best three-man trio the team can assemble. Granlund and Duchene have shown chemistry this year, controlling 57% of the expected goal share while scoring north of three goals per 60 minutes. Adding a bona fide top-line winger in Forsberg will help here. They do have a lot of time together as a trio and in over 260 minutes of ice time going back a few years, they’ve scored 3.6 goals per 60 minutes, generating 65 shot attempts/60 as well. This looks to be an excellent line that is going into Colorado tonight. They are a very good defensive team but the goaltending is not.

Granlund isn’t a peripherals guy — he doesn’t shoot much — but he plays a lot, skating 20:31 a night this year. He is a threat to score, even without the high shot rate, because of how good his line is, and they are sure to come in with low ownership.

This is not a cash game play, but he should be strongly considered for tournaments as part of a two- or three-man stack. This is quietly one of the better scoring lines on the slate and their Top Stacks leverage is very good.

Winger

Jake Guentzel (PIT vs. MTL)

DraftKings – $6,700 | FanDuel – $7,900

In a battle of teams that played last night, Jake Guentzel is at the top of the list for fantasy options. Despite all the injuries and COVID problems Pittsburgh has had, he is currently on pace for over 35 goals and in excess of 70 points. He is also landing a career-high 3.6 shots per game, though that will probably come down: believe it or not, his shots are hitting the net too often, but three shots per game is still fine. Regardless, in town tonight is a Montreal team in the bottom-10 of all defensive categories at 5-on-5 this month. Which line Pittsburgh matches against probably doesn’t matter, as Montreal’s best line might actually be its third line at the moment.

The Pittsburgh top power-play unit has been generating over 120 shot attempts and nine expected goals per 60 minutes over the last four weeks. The Montreal penalty kill has been nothing but mediocre-to-bad for the season and that gives Guentzel and his linemates a solid matchup.

Depending on roster construction, Guentzel can absolutely be considered for cash games tonight. He should garner lots of attention in tournaments, though, because of his linemates and matchup. Just watch for high ownership, as we have him as one of the five most popular wingers tonight.

Lucas Raymond (DET vs. BUF)

DraftKings – $5,000 | FanDuel – $5,400

Just a superlative start to the career for Lucas Raymond: he has 8 goals and 12 assists in 21 games, averaging 2.3 shots per game. It is not a mirage, as he’s been roughly as good as teammate Tyler Bertuzzi in driving the play, according to Evolving Hockey. He is a marvel offensively playing on a very good top line at home against a bottom-10 team in the league playing their second game in as many nights. This is a good spot for him.

When Detroit is at home, the top line doesn’t often skate against the other team’s top line. That likely means a lot of time against the Dylan Cozens line. Cozens, unlike Raymond, is at the bottom of his team for expected goals impact, and that means a good matchup for Detroit’s top trio this evening.

It is tough to use him in cash games because he just doesn’t shoot enough for his price. He is in a great spot for offense, though, and that makes him a target in tournaments by himself or in a stack. Just beware of ownership here, as the reasons outlined why this is a good matchup are going to be the same reasons a lot of other people use.

Denis Gurianov (DAL at ARI)

DraftKings – $3,000 | FanDuel – $4,600

The problem with Denis Gurianov is always ice time. Through the team’s first 11 games, he skated 13:22 a night, and that’s just not enough to be reliable. While his ice time of late is still inconsistent — as low as 12:21 in his last five contests — he is playing more in general, skating 15:32 overall. Adding two minutes of ice time is important, especially as it’s not just time on the penalty kill.

Gurianov has joined a line with Jamie Benn and they’ve looked good together: 58 shot attempts and 2.7 expected goals for per 60 minutes. Gurianov is finally playing with at least one talented linemate and getting reasonable minutes. This hasn’t been the case most of the season.

Of course, the big appeal tonight is the matchup with Arizona. For the month of November, the are bottom five by every defensive metric at 5-on-5 or on the penalty kill. Goaltending has saved them at times, and teams cannot rely on great goaltending every night. Gurianov is fine as a one-off in any format at his price, especially where we have him with low single-digit ownership in a great matchup, though a much better value on DraftKings.

Latest NHL DFS Content

Defensemen

Roman Josi (NSH at COL)

DraftKings – $7,600 | FanDuel – $7,200

There are just very few defensemen who can do what Roman Josi does: three DraftKings shot bonuses on the season, three block bonuses, three three-point bonuses, and a quarter of his games this season are multi-point games. He is priced where he is for a reason and, as mentioned in the Granlund section, this is a good defensive team in Colorado. It is just their goaltending has been average, at best, and average-or-worse goaltending can be exploited on any given night.

One big reason for using Josi is ownership. There are a lot of high-end options all over the slate tonight, including this very game, and that makes it hard to use a defenseman at his price, so he’s outside the top-3 expensive options by our ownership projections. As mentioned, though, he has game-breaking talent and fantasy upside. Taking advantage of that ownership is the idea here.

Because of the matchup, it is a bit tough to use Josi tonight in cash games, particularly with those high-priced options staring us in the face. He is very much a tournament target for us, though, partly thanks to a price drop.

Kris Russell (EDM at VGK)

DraftKings – $2,800 | FanDuel – $3,500

With the injuries Edmonton’s blue line is enduring, they’re forced to give Kris Russell more minutes. That is great news for a guy with his price, as Russell is third in the league in shot-blocking per 60 minutes over the last three years. Vegas is starting to get healthy, so that shot volume as a team should start to climb. This is a good matchup for Russell to rack the blocks, and that makes him particularly valuable on DraftKings tonight.

Goalie

Connor Hellebucyk (WPG at CGY)

DraftKings – $7,500 | FanDuel – $7,400

Just beware of the starter here. Connor Hellebuyck was pulled during the game last night so it could be either goaltender. Regardless, the Jets are going into a Calgary team tonight that is third in the league in shot rate for this month. Winnipeg is playing their second in as many nights so this could be a good chance for Hellebuyck or Eric Comrie to see a lot of volume. Winnipeg is a good team in their own right, coming in top-10 by shot share their last 12 games. For tournaments, Comrie/Hellebuyck are in strong consideration for us, though we’d much prefer Hellebuyck.

Top NHL DFS Stacks

Dallas1: Hintz-Pavelski-Robertson

To be sure, this trio is going to have ownership tonight because of the matchup with Arizona, but they are worth mentioning regardless. Dallas has struggled, but this line has not: 57% shot share and 64% expected goal share in 120 minutes together this year. Add that Arizona penalty kill, as mentioned in the Gurianov section, and this is a great matchup for this Dallas top line.

Detroit2: Suter-Fabbri-Zadina

The way Detroit runs their matchups, the second line from Detroit will see a lot of the middle-six mix from Buffalo. This Detroit line controls 55% of the shots and 60% of the expected goals when they’re on the ice. At their price, they may come in with ownership, as our Top Stacks Tool indicates, but it’s still a great matchup. Just watch for warmups: Filip Zadina was moved off the line at times last game so he may not be on their line for this one. We will know later in the day.

*Other stats from Natural Stat Trick

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Author

Michael Clifford

Michael has been writing about fantasy hockey for over a decade, and has been playing Daily Fantasy for just as long. He has contributed to both the Chicago Tribune and the Boston Herald, has worked for Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and is now in his fifth season with Stokastic. He lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, and can be reached on Twitter @SlimCliffy.