NHL DFS Tournament Breakdown For DraftKings and FanDuel – 12/16/2021

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NHL DFS Tournament Breakdown For DraftKings and FanDuel - 12:16:2021

We have a sizable NHL slate tonight with ten games on the docket, assuming no further postponement shenanigans ensue. Let’s look at some of the top options for DFS.

Top Stacks – Overall

Colorado 1 – DraftKings: $23,200 – FanDuel: $25,100

Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen – Andre Burakovsky

The Avalanche have recently seen a few iterations of their top line, some stronger than others. MacKinnon/Rantanen/Landeskog will always be the best, but Landeskog is on IR. The current three-man of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Andre Burakovsky is among the more competent of the groupings they’ve used outside of the classic three. Burakovsky saves us some money over Landeskog, which is a slight bonus despite the line being less potent. A matchup with Nashville on the road is not the best, but MacKinnon and Rantanen on the ice together have been matchup-proof of late. A benefit for tournaments is that this line is considerably more expensive than some other top options, which should only serve to lower ownership in GPPs.

Edmonton 1 – DraftKings: $15,700 – FanDuel: $18,600

Connor McDavid – Jesse Puljujarvi – Warren Foegele

Edmonton 2 – DraftKings: $16,500 – FanDuel: $19,700

Leon Draisaitl – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Tyler Yamamoto

We’ve seen Edmonton switching around their lines a bit of late, so be sure to double-check close to lock for a confirmed starting lineup. At the moment, we anticipate lines 1 and 2 to break down as above. Both get a fantastic matchup against Columbus and Edmonton skates on home ice. These lines are close to equally viable as they are currently broken down. McDavid is the clear stud here, yet skating with Puljujarvi and Foegele is less than optimal. Line 2 doesn’t have McDavid, but the pairing of Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins is more robust. Both lines are highly affordable due to the expensive McDavid and Draisaitl being split up when they traditionally skate together. My best recommendation would be to combine lines 1 and 2 for a power-play 1 stack. This would leave the weaker Foegele and Yamamoto out of the stack and include 3-4 of the other six. This will be more expensive but significantly more potent, and you likely get most of the production from these top two lines.

Minnesota 1 – DraftKings: $19,700 – FanDuel: $20,500

Kirill Kaprizov – Mats Zuccarello – Ryan Hartman

This home matchup against a very attackable Buffalo squad is too good to pass up, and I’m going to want significant exposure in my lineups. We’ve got full power play 1 correlation, which always boosts the viability of any top line. The price is high, and this line is not as appealing on name value as some of the other best stacks of the day. This will lower ownership and make them a better GPP play.

Top Stacks – Value

Carolina 1 – DraftKings: $11,000 – FanDuel: $15,100

Vincent Trocheck – Martin Necas – Nino Niederreiter

Carolina 1 is not the most potent line, but these prices are meager and enable us to fit in a lot around them. They get a home matchup against a very beatable Detroit team, and all three skaters skate on either power play 1 or 2. We will want to double-check before slate lock as there is some potential for them to shuffle their lines. However, all combos of lines 1 and 2 should be pretty affordable and viable in his matchup. You also get an excellent defenseman pairing with one of the top ceiling and value D-men of the slate in Jacob Slavin.

Top Plays – Forwards

Ceiling:

Connor McDavid – DraftKings: $9,600 – FanDuel: $9,900
Nathan MacKinnon – DraftKings: $9,500 – FanDuel: $10,300
Leon Draisaitl – DraftKings: $8,900 – FanDuel: $9,700
David Pastrnak – DraftKings: $8,500 – FanDuel: $7,400

DraftKings Value:

Teuvo Teravainen: $5,000
Mike Hoffman: $4,400
Patric Hornqvist: $3,200
Martin Necas: $3,200

FanDuel Value:

Vincent Trocheck: $5,100
Patric Hornqvist: $4,700
Mike Hoffman: $4,500
Luke Kunin: $3,700

Top Plays – Defenseman

Ceiling:

Dougie Hamilton – DraftKings: $7,700 – FanDuel: $6,400
Roman Josi – DraftKings: $7,600 – FanDuel: $7,200
Aaron Ekblad – DraftKings: $7,500 – FanDuel: $6,600
Jacob Slavin – DraftKings: $5,100 – FanDuel: $5,200

DraftKings Value:

Jacob Slavin: $5,200 (ceiling and value!)
Brett Pesce: $2,900
Duncan Keith: $2,900
Brady Skjei: $2,800

FanDuel Value:

Mackenzie Weegar: $5,200
Jacob Slavin: $5,100 (ceiling and value!)
Ivan Provorov: $4,300
Jeff Petry: $3,700

Top Plays – Goalie

Cam Talbot – DraftKings: $8,600 – FanDuel: $8,000
Sergei Bobrovsky – DraftKings: $8,300 – FanDuel: $8,400
James Reimer – DraftKings: $7,900 – FanDuel: $7,100
Ilya Sorokin – DraftKings: $7,100 – FanDuel: $8,000

Tournament Stack Pivots: DraftKings

This is a huge slate, and we have many viable options that will go somewhat overlooked. Interestingly, some of the best stacks of the day, such as COL1, FLA1, VGK1, and MIN1, should go under-owned due to other stacks sticking out more for the price. OTT1, DET1, NSH1, BOS1, and COL2 are other low-owned stacks to consider in GPPs.

Tournament Stack Pivots: FanDuel

It is similar for FanDuel, where COL1, VGK1, FLA1, and MIN1 should go under-owned. For further leverage opportunities, we can also look at OTT1, COL2, VAN2, DET1, SJ1, and LA2.

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