NHL DFS Picks Saturday's DraftKings & FanDuel Top Stacks + Sleepers

On Super Bowl eve, we get a split-slate with two of the six games starting at 1 p.m. EST. The main slate will kick off with four games at normal lock time 7 p.m. EST. In this Power Plays article, the goal is to highlight several NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy hockey tournaments. Using Awesemo’s premium proprietary player projections and the top stacks tool, we will highlight several players and situations that will help your team rocket up the leaderboard.

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 | Feb. 8th

NHL DFS Picks: Forwards

Auston Matthews ($8,400 DraftKings / $8,600 FanDuel), A/A/A Grades

Nobody in the NHL has been hotter than Matthews and line mate Mitch Marner. In the last eight games, the duo has combined for 14 goals and 13 assists for a total of 27 points. That’s absolutely ridiculous. The Leafs will be the most popular play on the slate by a lot, but man it’s hard to get away from this top line right now. The Canucks have been dreadful on the defensive side of things. Vancouver ranks in the bottom two of every single advanced metric in the NHL at five on five. It doesn’t get much better on the penalty kill either, where they are 25th in expected goals against on the PK. Stacking them up with their line mate Zach Hyman will bring the cost down a bit but you need to make sure you differentiate in the rest of your lineup because they will overwhelmingly be the chalk.

Logan Couture ($5,000 DraftKings / $7,300 FanDuel), B/A/B Grades

Couture and the Sharks will play an encore with the Ducks after going to overtime last night. The Sharks managed to squeak out the victory in the shootout last night with a score of 5 – 4. Both of these teams have been defensive liabilities and after last night’s game, it wasn’t a surprise to see a track meet. Couture managed to light the lamp last night, to go along with three shots on goal. The pivot has been getting more pucks to the net lately, with over three shots on goal in five of the last eight games. Couture will likely line up against the Ducks top line of Adam Henrique, Derek Grant, and Troy Terry. The Ducks top line has averaged over 28 SA/60 and 12 high-danger chances. Look for another track meet tonight as the Ducks will likely send out veteran Ryan Miller, who has given up at least three goals in each performance this year.

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NHL DFS Picks: Wingers

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($7,300 DraftKings / $7,400 FanDuel), B/C/B Grades

RNH was blanked last game against the Senators, and inconsistency has always been the drawback of his game. He gets overshadowed by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but he can light the lamp in a hurry as well. The winger has 10 points in 12 games, and he’s averaging just under 3.5 shots per game. Playing alongside McDavid at five on five is always a plus, and helps him find open ice to get high-danger shots. The Oilers seem to have found a great final addition to the top line with Jesse Puljujarvi. The trio have great chemistry and their numbers are great offensively. Since being put together, the trio has a 60 CFF% while averaging 36 SF/60, 16 HDCF/60, and an expected goals of 3.54 at five on five. Nugent-Hopkins will play with McDavid on the top power play and will also get you exposure to Leon Draisaitl. Puljujarvi will dip down to the second power-play unit. As for matchups, the Oilers top line will likely see the Elias Lindholm – Brady Tkachuk – Dillon Dube line, which has been good defensively. But the Oilers top line has plenty of firepower to stay with them and get pucks on net.

Anders Lee ($6,500 DraftKings / $6,900 FanDuel), B/C/B Grades

Anders Lee is a volume shooter and he needs to get pucks to the net. The winger started the year out a little slow, but he’s put up four shots on goal in three games straight, and the time will come for him to find the back of the net soon enough. The Penguins forwards have been pretty good with puck possession, but in tournaments this is a spot that I will take a shot on. The Penguins blue line has been decimated, with SIX of their starting defenseman dealing with injuries. That leaves the Penguins blueline with some serious liabilities. Kris Letang did travel with the team but we don’t know if he will be back. Starting out the year, Pittsburgh is giving up 3.7 GA/G and the Islanders have a good history against the Penguins going back to the playoffs last year. I wouldn’t necessarily go here in cash games, but in tournaments on this small slate, I think this Islanders top line makes a lot of sense.

Johnny Gaudreau ($5,700 / $7,500 FanDuel), B/A/B Grades

Johnny hockey started the year out on fire, with a nine game point streak. The winger has 11 points in ten games and although he was held off the score sheet last game, he will get plenty of chances tonight. Seeing Gaudreau at $5,700 on DraftKings was kind of surprising. Last change will give the Flames an advantage tonight as Gaudreau will likely stay away from the McDavid line, to see the depth lines. The Oilers have a ton of fire power but they are also giving up 3.6 GA/G and they have the 25th ranked penalty kill. Gaudreau will look to take advantage of Edmonton’s weak penalty kill alongside his even-strength line mate Sean Monahan.

Evander Kane ($5,100 DraftKings / $6,100 FanDuel), C/B/C Grades

Kane is another shot volume monster, and when he gets going he puts up a ton of shots. Last night, he hit the SOG bonus and tonight he will get another chance to do it again. Anaheim is middle of the pack in shot suppression, but it is giving up a ton of scoring chances. The Ducks have also been very fortunate to have a phenomenal goalie like Johns Gibson, that keeps them in games. Anaheim will likely send out Ryan miller on the back end of a back-to-back, which means they won’t get the help of Gibson tonight. Look for more goals to be scored in this game.

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NHL DFS Picks: Defensemen

Brent Burns ($6,500 DraftKings / $6,500 FanDuel), A/A/A Grades

Salary isn’t really a problem tonight unless you are trying to jam in two stud lines. Burns started the year out a little slow but his shot volume is still there. He’s playing over 27 minutes a night and he’s averaging just under five shots/blocks per game. The Snake man also quarterbacks the top power-play unit and the offense funnels through him on the man advantage.

Tyson Barrie ($5,900 DraftKings / $5,100 FanDuel), B/C/D Grades

Barrie started out his new journey with the Oilers a little slow, and they expected when you move to a new team. It seems that the blue liner is starting to settle in though as he’s rifled off five shots on goal in two of the last three games. Barrie is also back on the top power play. Quarterbacking the top unit getting exposure to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Pierre Olivier-Joseph ($3,300 DraftKings / $3,700 FanDuel), E/C/D Grades

The injuries have mounted up for the Penguins and with that comes opportunity. POJ has made the best of his situation and shown that he deserves a look on the blue line for the Pens. The younger brother of Tampa Bay Lightning Mathieu Joseph is playing alongside John Marino on the top pairing and he’s getting looks on the second power play unit. He’s not afraid to shoot the puck as he’s an offensive minded defenseman, which is good for NHL DFS. If you’re looking for stacking correlation, then John Marino would be your first option with top power play duties, but POJ makes for a fine punt tonight.

NHL Top Stacks

Toronto 1: Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner

Edmonton 1: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Jesse Puljujarvi

NY Islanders 1: Anders Lee – Matt Barzal – Josh Bailey

Value Stack

Anaheim 1: Danton Heinen (pp2) – Sam Steel (pp1) – Jakob Silfverberg (pp1)

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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.