NHL DFS Picks. Top Stacks & Projections Today for Daily Fantasy Hockey

Saturday is a full day of NHL DFS hockey, with three different lock times. The main slate that locks at 7 PM EST is where we will be focusing on today’s power-play article. If you’re looking for early slate news and notes for the earlier locks, I’ll be in our premium Slack channel before, and I will break the slate down together with the community discussing the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel.

As always, be sure to check our premium Slack for crucial fantasy hockey lineup information in the 20-30 minutes leading up to every game’s lock. With the COVID-19 pandemic still looming, teams have taxi squads and are ready to fill positions daily as teams scratch players. Our Slack chat is hands down one of the best places to get fantasy hockey news and line change notifications.

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NHL Power Plays: DraftKings + FanDuel DFS Picks | April 24

NHL DFS Picks: Center

Auston Matthews (TOR @ WPG)

DraftKings – $9,200

FanDuel – $8,800

Matthews has been on a terror with 16 points in the last ten games while averaging five shots per game. He leads the league with 34 goals on the year, and he’s missed four games because of his wrist injury. Matthews just lit the Jets up for a goal and seven shots on net on Thursday, and we will likely see the same stat line tonight as well. Thursday night, we saw the Jets’ top line match up with the Leafs’ top line 44% of the time. The Scheifele line is not a good defensive line. They give up 13 high danger chances per 60 and carry 2.8 expected goals against per 60 at five on five. This game should have a lot of pace and plenty of chances on both sides.

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NHL DFS PICKS: Wingers

Max Pacioretty (VGK vs ANH)

DraftKings – $8,600

FanDuel – $8,000

Pacioretty carries our highest projection for wingers tonight, with an initial projection of 13.5 DraftKings points. Also, Pacioretty is only slated to be owned in 7.4% of lineups on our initial ownership run. Vegas has been playing phenomenal hockey, coming into tonight with an eight-game winning streak. Pacioretty and his top linemates have accounted for 13 goals and 19 assists over the last ten games, and if they are only going to be a combined 5.7% owned tonight as a stack as we have projected, I will have a TON.

Jason Robertson (DAL @ DET)

DraftKings – $6,200

FanDuel – $4,900

We’ve seen these teams face off three times in the past week, and we will get one final time tonight. Dylan Larkin was out last game, and the Red Wings ran over the Stars. Dallas managed to score three goals, but it was a letdown performance. Robertson has been a great addition to the Dallas Stars. The Rookie has 36 points in 41 games, and he’s a plus +13, proving he belongs in a top-six role. He comes into tonight with a six-game point streak, and he has points in eight of the last nine games. The Dallas top line has been a great line, and they should get plenty of chances to light the lamp for the fourth game in a row. Stacking this top line has been profitable, and that doesn’t change tonight.

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NHL DFS PICKS: Defensemen

Shea Theodore (VGK @ ANH)

DraftKings – $6,600

FanDuel – $6,700

Theodore has returned to form over the last five games. The offensive defenseman is averaging over five shots/blocks per game and just under 14 DraftKings points per game. He’s playing just about 22 minutes on a nightly basis and getting quarterback duties on the lethal top power-play unit. Theo has the second-highest projection (12.02 DK Pts), just behind Dougie Hamilton (13.70 DK Pts) for tonight’s slate. Anaheim is allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing defensemen. In an extreme plus matchup against the awful Ducks, Theodore is a great addition to any NHL DFS lineup.

Erik Karlsson (SJ vs MIN)

DraftKings – $4,600

FanDuel – $4,500

Karlsson has fallen off a cliff from being one of the best NHL DFS defenders. But he has been playing a lot better offensively over the last stretch of seven games. The Swede is averaging almost 25 minutes of ice time, along with over four shots and blocks per game in that time. Over the last month, the Wild have allowed the third-most fantasy points to opposing defensemen, and they are giving up the sixth most shots against in the league. Minnesota is playing on the hind end of a back-to-back, so maybe the Sharks can take advantage of a west coast swing.

NHL DFS PICKS: Stacks

Vegas 1: Max Pacioretty – Chandler Stephenson – Mark Stone

Vegas’s top line as a trio carries a 57% Corsi while creating 40 shots for 60 and 3.2 expected goals per 60. They are one of the best lines in hockey, and they get one of the best matchups possible. Anaheim is a bottom eight team in every advanced metric we like to look at for NHL DFS. The Ducks are 23rd in Corsi, 31st in expected goals against, 30th in shots against, 29th in scoring chances against, and finally 31st in high danger chances allowed. Our top stacks tool has Vegas’ top line at just 5.7% ownership share. I believe that number will come up as the day goes on, but they will carry a ton of leverage if that number holds. Sign me up to be overweight if that’s the case.

Dallas 1: Jason Robertson – Roope Hintz – Joe Pavelski

If Roope Hintz plays tonight, Dallas’s top line will be one of my top exposures again for the third game in a row. We have the Stars’ top line as the sixth-highest top 2 stack %, but they will garner the second highest leverage at 6.5%. Detroit was without Dylan Larkin last game, and they have been using the Sean Glendenning line as the shutdown role. They matched up with the Stars’ top line for 75% of the time on Thursday. The Stars’ top line ran over the Glendenning line on Thursday. They had a 15-5 Corsi advantage, 8-3 shot advantage, and finally, a 71% expected goals percentage. We can expect the Stars’ top line to be in a great spot once again tonight. Just keep an eye on the news for Hintz, though. It’s possible he could sit, but I would think that Dallas wants him to play as they are in the thick of a playoff spot.

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Author

Jeff Votteler

As an avid competitor, Jeff "Votts" Votteler grew up playing all types of sports. But as he grew up, he gravitated towards hockey and played at a very competitive level. Fantasy sports became a passion of Votts' over 10 years ago, which in turn moved over to the emerging world of daily fantasy sports for the last five years. Votts likes to dive into the analytics of all the sports, where he can turn over those value "rocks" that players depend on to win on a daily basis.