NHL DFS Picks & Stacks for DraftKings & FanDuel Lineups — Edmonton Oilers & Dylan Larkin 2/9/22

There are just six NHL games here tonight for our NHL DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel, with a couple of teams on a back-to-back, so information may be scarce in some instances. Awesemo subscribers should check our Discord for updates throughout the day. There are still lots of high-end options for our NHL DFS picks tonight, so let’s get to them this Wednesday, Feb. 9.

NHL DFS Picks, Top Stacks & Lineup Optimizer Plays

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Dylan Larkin (DET at PHI): DraftKings – $7,500 FanDuel – $8,200

It took nearly half the season but Dylan Larkin’s ice-time is starting to rise, averaging 20:47 per game over his last 10 games. That is more than an additional two minutes per night than he was getting earlier in the season. He is also averaging 3.8 shots per game in that span, providing him with a nice floor through peripherals. Though he had struggled at times when Tyler Bertuzzi was moved off his line, Larkin’s line is above average by shot and scoring chance share since Christmas, scoring north of three goals per 60 minutes. He has had a nice run lately, which is just one reason he is on this list.

Another reason is the ineptitude of the Flyers. They are in or flirting with the bottom-10 of most any defensive metric at 5-on-5 or on the penalty kill since Christmas. This is a good matchup for Larkin and his linemates.

There is also the concern, or lack thereof, of ownership tonight. Larkin will not see a lot tonight and that is another reason to consider him. He is likely fine to eschew in cash games but he and his linemates need consideration in tournaments considering how good they have been and how bad the opponent is.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM vs. CHI): DraftKings – $5,000 FanDuel – $7,000

The Edmonton Oilers are going to be very popular tonight regardless of which site players are using. They have a big implied home total against a bad team. With that said, there are now players across three lines to consider, which is something that has not really been a viable option with this team in five or six years. One of those is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the third-line center.

Perhaps calling him a third-line center is a bit of a misnomer. The way Edmonton operates their lines, he will skate some 5-on-5 time with the elite guys at times, plus his top power play minutes. He may not play 20-plus minutes, but he will not play what is considered real third-line minutes anyway. He is listed as a winger on FanDuel for some reason. Jared McCann is a comparable center to use here.

It is the power play minutes that are valuable here. The Blackhawks have a bottom-5 penalty kill over the last six weeks and Nugent-Hopkins gets prime minutes with elite power play options. He is best used in some sort of tournament stack, as he is not a big volume shooter. The likelihood of him being one of the top players on the slate with no other Oilers skater going along with him is not very high.

Winger

Joe Pavelski (DAL vs. NSH): DraftKings – $6,500 FanDuel – $8,100

The Nashville Predators are another team with a bad penalty kill. They are in the bottom-10 by shots allowed, expected goals allowed and time shorthanded since the holiday break. What has saved them is phenomenal goaltending to the tune of a .936 save percentage. That is something that is sure to regress, and picking on a bad penalty kill is a better idea than relying on great penalty kill goaltending.

The reason for selecting Joe Pavelski is simply his role on the power play. He is a fixture of the top unit, skating the middle of their setup so he is in a position for deflections and rebounds. The entire unit has been very good this year, which is why he is well on his way to a four-year high in power play assists. Combine that with some additional ice time lately, and there are lots of reasons to play Pavelski tonight despite a tough matchup against Nashville.

How to use Pavelski tonight is the question. He skates virtually every minute with his 5-on-5 linemates, so just using him alone feels like drawing thin. The entire line is in play tonight, though it is the PP matchup that should make Pavelski a focus.

Jordan Eberle (SEA vs. ARI): DraftKings – $5,400 FanDuel – $5,400

Arizona is in town and they are on a road back-to-back. Not that coming right out of a vacation and playing a game should wear a team out, but they are missing a couple of key forwards up front due to injury. This looks like a good situation for Jordan Eberle and his Seattle linemates. This is doubly true because of the way Seattle deploys their top line, which is frequently against the opponent’s depth. That puts Eberle in a fantastic situation for tonight.

The problem here is likely to be ownership. Seattle is not very expensive and the top line being in a great matchup will not exactly be a secret among DFS players tonight. With each component being cheap, different two-man combinations can be used, as well as a defenseman or goalie added if there are concerns about players being highly owned. Eberle’s line itself has been good offensively, generating 33 scoring chances and nearly three expected goals per 60 minutes, actually scoring 3.1 per 60. It is a good matchup at all strengths, and there may be high ownership here tonight, but these need to be at least considered as fillers.

The Awesemo NHL optimizer was showing love to Eberle in today’s run of optimal fantasy hockey lineups. Check out who else was showing up as some of the best NHL DFS picks tonight in the DraftKings NHL Cheat Sheet and FanDuel NHL Cheat Sheet today.

Blake Coleman (CGY vs. VGK): DraftKings – $4,100 FanDuel – $5,100

Coming out of the All-Star break, Blake Coleman is back with his usual linemates on Calgary’s second line. That second line has been nothing short of elite lately with 86 shot attempts, 43 scoring chances and 5.4 goals scored per 60 minutes since the Christmas break in over 80 minutes played. That level of shot and scoring chance generation is absurd, and that is what has made them one of the top even-strength lines in the league for weeks now.

In town is a very good Vegas team that is playing its second game in as many nights. They should not be tired, but it does give an advantage to Calgary.

Finally, this Calgary line will see a lot of the Vegas top-6 in this game, which normally is a very difficult matchup. They have been struggling defensively for weeks now, though, as most of the top-6 is below-average by expected goals allowed since Christmas. That could give Coleman and his linemates a better matchup than it appears.

Coleman is not a heavily-used forward but his price reflects that. His line has been great offensively almost all year but has really turned it up a notch recently. He is fine by himself or in a stack in tournaments.


Latest NHL DFS Content


Defensemen

Seth Jones (CHI at EDM): DraftKings – $6,700 FanDuel – $6,500

When looking for expensive one-off defensemen, running a power play and putting up peripherals is important. Ice time is important too and Seth Jones has cracked the 28-minute mark three times in his last five games. He has put up a DraftKings block bonus in roughly 40% of his games this year while hitting the shot bonus on seven occasions. If this team is going to generate offense while on the road, Jones is likely to be a big part of the equation so using him as a tournament one-off tonight is just fine.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson (VAN vs. NYI): DraftKings – $3,100 FanDuel – $4,500

With Quinn Hughes on the COVID list, it has pushed Oliver Ekman-Larsson into a more important role for the Canucks. This includes top power play minutes, even if the New York Islanders have an excellent penalty kill. It is simply a fact that Ekman-Larsson is priced down because of his performance earlier in the season and is very cheap for his role tonight. That will draw a lot of ownership here but it makes him hard to ignore in virtually any format, particularly cash games.

Goalie

Ilya Sorokin (NYI at VAN): DraftKings – $7,700 FanDuel – $7,600

Among all goalies looking to start tonight, the projections have Ilya Sorokin with the second-highest save total. That shot volume alone is enough to look in this direction, but the Canucks are on a back-to-back and Sorokin has been solid for the Islanders basically his entire career. On top of that, he is expected at just 2.5 goals against, which is a very low mark. He is not very expensive despite such a good matchup, and that is why he is a target.

Top NHL DFS Stacks

EDMPP: McDavid-Nugent-Hopkins-Puljujarvi

Hosting the Blackhawks, as mentioned earlier, means hosting a team with an awful penalty kill. While there have been a lot of moving parts to their power play of late, Connor McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi all skate the same power-play unit, with the latter two at 5-on-5. There will be popular Oilers stacks tonight but thanks to their spread-out offense, it will be easy to make unique stacks. Focusing on either unit of the power play is one way to do that.

DET2: Bertuzzi-Fabbri-Suter

Though their numbers have fallen a bit since when they were first put together, this trio is still roughly a break-even line, and that is more than enough against this Flyers team. As mentioned in the Larkin section, Philadelphia is bad at all strengths, all throughout the lineup. Right now, our Top Stacks tool has them at 12% ownership, which is a bit high for a second line from a non-playoff roster on the road. With that said, the Flyers are worse, and it may be worth eating a bit of chalk here tonight.

*Additional stats from Natural Stat Trick

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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.

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