NHL DFS Picks & Stacks for DraftKings & FanDuel Lineups — Vancouver Canucks & Max Pacioretty 2/8/22

It is the first full NHL slate since the All-Star break and that means there could be late-breaking news. There were optional practices and guys showing up late to their respective teams, not to mention a handful of COVID tests that need to be submitted. There are seven games from which to make NHL DFS picks, but there could be some news here. So Awesemo members should be sure to check Awesemo’s Discord for updates before making their NHL DFS predictions for this Tuesday, Feb. 8 fantasy hockey slate.

NHL DFS Picks, Top Stacks & Lineup Optimizer Plays

Center

J.T. Miller (VAN vs. ARI): DraftKings – $5,200 | FanDuel – $7,400

Vancouver is home to Arizona tonight and that gives the Canucks a special team advantage. Specifically, the Arizona penalty kill is allowing the most shots and expected goals in that span. Goaltending has helped them out a lot, but goaltending cannot be a crutch every night. Quinn Hughes will be out for Vancouver in this one, but J.T. Miller had been skating on the other power play unit for the Canucks. It doe not change his outlook with the man advantage a whole lot. That is one reason why he is appealing tonight for DFS.

Another reason to target Miller is he has been reunited with Brock Boeser and Tanner Pearson. That trio controls 58% of the shots when they are on the ice together, generating 38 scoring chances per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. Miller is reasonably priced at home skating on a good line with a good power play matchup.

The question is how to use him tonight. He and his linemates are absolutely in play for tournaments, given their proficiency together, and that they skate together on the power play. However, he is priced down considerably on DraftKings for someone who could skate well over 20 minutes tonight. He may not shoot enough for cash games but the price could be tempting. It makes him one of the top center values tonight on DraftKings among the mid-tier center options.

Miller is listed as a winger on FanDuel, but with the two utility positions, it should not be difficult to fit him in.

Miller is one of the players whose NHL DFS projections have him popping in the Awesemo NHL optimizer today. Check out Awesemo’s other great fantasy hockey value plays and tournament picks in the DraftKings NHL Cheat Sheet and FanDuel NHL Cheat Sheet today.

Evan Rodrigues (PIT at BOS): DraftKings – $4,200 | FanDuel – $6,000

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Pittsburgh Penguins put Evgeni Malkin on the COVID list. He should return soon, but that puts Jeff Carter on the second line and moves Evan Rodrigues to center the third line. It gets Rodrigues away from Carter, with whom he had struggled this year for. It also puts Rodrigues back on the top power play unit in Malkin’s spot, which is a big boost to his value, having lost it upon Malkin’s return.

As mentioned, Carter and Rodrigues struggled mightily together, with 43% shot share and generating just 23 scoring chances per 60 minutes. When compared to the 38 chances mentioned in the section above on Miller, it is easy to see just how bad this Pittsburgh duo has been offensively. There is uncertainty on the third line now for Rodrigues, but uncertainty is better than being flat-out bad, plus there is that power play role helping out as well. His ownership projection is also under 1% by Awesemo’s early run.

A big reason for using the center here tonight is obviously his price. The entire Pittsburgh top power play unit is very expensive, except for him. He can help bring down the price of that stack in tournaments, which is where he is best used tonight.

He is listed as a winger on DraftKings but a center on FanDuel. Carter is a similarly-priced center on DraftKings tonight.

Winger

Max Pacioretty (VGK at EDM): DraftKings – $8,200 | FanDuel – $10,000

He is among the most expensive wingers on the slate, but Max Pacioretty has often been worth the hefty price this season. He has at least five shots on goal in over 40% of his games this year. His problem has been staying healthy and in the lineup. When he has been able to, he has largely been a shot-volume monster for this team. There is a reason he is priced where he is.

Having Chandler Stephenson back as his center is important, as the top trio tends to generate more shots and goals with him than without. Edmonton has bolstered their lineup a bit of late, but they are still a mediocre penalty-killing team. This top-line for Vegas has been excellent on the power play, as well as 5-on-5.

Pacioretty is on the road tonight but there are some expensive players in tough spots, so he needs to be considered in all formats. The question in tournaments is to use him by himself or as part of a line stack. That will be left up to the individual DFS player.

Brady Tkachuk (OTT vs. CAR): DraftKings – $6,000 | FanDuel – $7,300

Both teams here are on a back-to-back but this is just the second day out of the All-Star break. Significant injury or lineup news is not expected today, as it came out yesterday. The one to watch is Teuvo Teravainen, as he was a game-time decision last night but did not play. That is a big loss to the top line for Carolina, which would be good news for Brady Tkachuk and company.

One problem with Tkachuk this year has been a decline in shot rate. A big reason for that is he was skating with Josh Norris and Drake Batherson, who had both been shooting a good bit with about five shots per game between the two of them. They are both injured, which should leave a lot more shots available for Tkachuk, even if the line itself is not as strong as it was.

It was not conjectured about Teravainen and the top line either, as they go from 55% of the expected goals with him to 52% without him. It is fine, but a clear step down, and Tkachuk is not highly-priced on either site. For that reason, he is among the top winger values on DraftKings tonight for a player his price and is similarly valued on FanDuel. He is good to use by himself in tournaments though his linemates are still relatively cheap so a full-line stack is also fine.

Artturi Lehkonen (MTL vs. NJD): DraftKings – $3,100 | FanDuel – $5,000

Artturi Lehkonen has been skating on the top line for Montreal of late, and that has meant more ice time, cracking 19 minutes twice in his last three contests. He has five points in his last five games with at least three shots on goal in three of them.

He is not a household name for DFS, but Lehkonen has been a solid defensive winger for the Canadiens for years. The difference for him this year, according to the advanced hockey stats website Evolving Hockey, is that he is also driving the play offensively. This kind of turnaround is not unheard of in the league (think Rodrigues) and his price allows for gambles.

New Jersey is in town tonight, having played last night. Their goaltending has been a big issue for them of late with all the injuries and that is good news for Montreal here. Lehkonen is a fine punt for anyone needing to save a lot of salary tonight on DraftKings. As to using him in a stack, well, Montreal is among the worst offensive teams in the league. He is a bit over-priced on FanDuel, so it is more of an open question to stack on that site.


Latest NHL DFS Content


Defensemen

Nate Schmidt (WPG vs. MIN): DraftKings – $4,200 | FanDuel – $5,100

Neal Pionk has hit the COVID list for the Winnipeg Jets and that means Nate Schmidt is all but assured top power play minutes here tonight. That is good news for him because Minnesota is allowing the second-most shots per minute on the penalty kill since the holiday break. They are not taking as many penalties as they once were, but the penalty kill is still allowing a lot of shots. That is good news for Schmidt here, and all this helps him be one of the top mid-tier values on the blue line on either site tonight.

That role has generally meant more ice time for Schmidt of late, skating nearly 24 minutes over his last five games. It helps boost his peripheral floor a bit and he is not overly expensive on either site tonight.

Note: It was Josh Morrissey and not Schmidt on the top PP unit in practice on Tuesday afternoon. They are largely interchangeable so using Morrissey by himself, or in PP stacks, is just fine.

Nikita Zaitsev (OTT vs. CAR): DraftKings – $2,500 | FanDuel – $3,800

Having just returned from injury, Nikita Zaitsev has yet to see his price jump over on DraftKings. While Ottawa is on a back-to-back, he skated on the top pair last night and that should mean a good amount of ice time for him tonight. He is a shot-block threat, so he is a target tonight against one of the top teams in the league. He is not nearly as valuable on FanDuel, so he is less of a target on that site. Jakob Chychrun, though, is priced cheaper there ($5,000) than he is on DraftKings ($5,600), making him a tournament option of his own on FanDuel.

Goalie

Tristan Jarry (PIT vs. BOS): DraftKings – $7,500 | FanDuel – $7,800

This is a function of looking for a team that has a good chance to win and a goalie that could see a lot of shots tonight. By Awesemo’s projections, Tristan Jarry is among the top half-dozen goalies by shot volume tonight and he is priced down on the road. There is a reasonable chance Boston takes this game, of course, but that is what makes Jarry an appealing tournament goalie here tonight.

Top NHL DFS Stacks

VAN1: Pearson – Miller – Boeser

As mentioned in the section on Miller, this particular trio has been dangerous everywhere for this team this season. With this trio on the power play, the Canucks are generating 110 shot attempts and 14 goals per 60 minutes, both very good numbers. They should have high ownership tonight, but this is a great matchup for them. They need to at least be considered for tournaments in some combination.

MIN2: Fiala – Gaudreau – Boldy

With Pierre-Luc Dubois and Pionk out of the lineup for the Jets tonight, the middle of that lineup is thinned out a bit. In nearly 90 minutes together this year at 5-on-5, they are generating 35 scoring chances and nearly 70 shot attempts per 60 minutes. Those are good offensive numbers, and they are a cheap filler tonight coming in with reasonable ownership by Awesemo’s Top Stacks Tool. Any of the three can be left off to simply make it a two-man stack as well.

*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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