After an action-packed Thursday night NHL DFS slate, there is a five-game slate tonight. New Jersey, San Jose and San Jose are all playing on the second of back-to-backs. This Power Play article will use Awesemo’s Premium NHL Tools to help dole out the NHL DFS advice to help with building lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight. The Awesemo NHL projections and ownership projections are two of the best tools to utilize when constructing stacks and making the optimal NHL DFS picks. Let’s go position by position and pinpoint some of the top plays and stacks for Friday, December 3rd.
NHL DFS Picks, Tops Stacks & Lineup Optimizer Plays | DraftKings & FanDuel
Center
Connor McDavid (EDM at SEA): DraftKings – $9,500 | FanDuel – $10,400
McDavid continues to impress on a nightly basis. Tallying 17 points in the last 10 games, while half of them have been multiple point efforts. That brings him pivot to 40 points in 21 games. His chemistry with Zach Hyman has been beautiful. Together the duo has a 55% Corsi-for and 3.57 expected goals per 60. They are also creating over 15 high-danger chances per 60 at five-on-five. The matchup is not the best possible, but McDavid is matchup-proof.
Mikael Backlund (CGY at ANA): DraftKings – $4,100 | FanDuel – $3,900
Calgary will likely go very overlooked today, as they are on the second of the back-to-back, but on a short slate going to the Flames could pay dividends. The Flames have been playing phenomenal hockey lately, and the second line is one of the best checking lines in the game. Backlund is still one of the best two-way pivots in the league, and he is a very good playmaker. Playing between Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman, the chemistry has been great. Together the trio carries a 67% Corsi-for while creating 35 shots and 14 high-danger chances. They will likely get the better matchup, which is the Ducks’ top line, which is the better matchup.
Winger
Max Pacioretty (VGK at ARI): DraftKings – $7,300 | FanDuel – $8,200
After missing 17 games, Pacioretty has returned to elite form. He has 4 points in the three games he has played since his return. He is also tallied 17 shots on goal in those three games and consecutive shots-on-goal bonuses. Arizona has been a complete turnstile on the defensive side. They are allowing 3.5 goals against per game, which is the third worst. Their penalty kill has also been brutal, with a 72% kill rate. The Coyotes are going to have their hands full tonight.
Pacioretty is one of the top options popping up in the Awesemo NHL lineup optimizer. For all of Awesemo’s free NHL DFS picks tonight, check out the DraftKings NHL cheat sheet and FanDuel NHL cheat sheet.
Timo Meier (SJ at NYR): DraftKings – $6,700 | FanDuel – $8,900
Meier has been on a massive heater for the past week. He is riding a three-game multi point streak and shooting the puck at a ridiculous rate, averaging 4.5 shots a game. The Rangers’ weak defense has been getting bailed out by good goaltending. New York is allowing the fourth-most scoring chances and the 10th-most high-danger chances. Finally, over the last 10 games the Rangers have the second-worst Corsi and the fifth-most expected goals against. Both sides of this game are intriguing.
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Defensemen
Alex Pietrangelo (VGK at ARI): DraftKings – $6,800 | FanDuel – $6,600
If paying up for defense tonight, Pietrangelo and Dougie Hamilton will likely be the guys to click. Pietrangelo has averaged 4.5 shots/blocks per game over the last 10 games, to go along with over 25 minutes of ice time. He will not get the coveted top power-play role, but he will provide exposure to the Golden Knights top line, as he plays most even-strength shifts with them. Pietrangelo quarterbacks the second power play, though. Arizona has given up 0.91 goals against per game, which is the second most in the league. They are also allowing the seventh-most shots against at five-on-five.
Vince Dunn (SEA vs. EDM): DraftKings – $4,300 | FanDuel – $4,100
Dunne is not a point monster or a volume shooter, but he is a mainstay on the Kraken’s top power play. Attacking the Oilers penalty kill with a value defenseman is a good strategy. Over the last 10 games Edmonton has spent a lot of time in the box (6:32 per 60), and they rank 26th in expected goals against. On shorter slates it is important to find a value defenseman that has opportunities to get points and save salary.
Top NHL DFS Stacks
VGK 1 – Mark Stone – Chandler Stephenson – Mark Stone
Top 2 Stack: 25.4%
Ownership Share: 22.1%
Leverage Score: 3.3%
Taking Awesemo’s ownership into consideration, it is important to get different with other lineups. Vegas’ top line carries a 52% Corsi-for, with 2.74 expected goals per 60 while creating 35 shots per 60 Arizona has been brutal defensively, and with the Golden Knights top line fully correlating on the power play, it makes them that much of a stronger play. The Coyotes have the league’s fourth-worst penalty kill, and they are in the bottom 10 of every defensive metric.
Value Filler
CGY 2 – Andrew Mangiapane – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Top 2 Stack: 4.7%
Ownership Share: 4.1%
Leverage Score: 0.6%
The Vegas second line will likely be the mega-chalk for filler stacks, as they are cheap, their numbers are amazing at five-on-five, and they get a great matchup. Saying that means that the Flames second line will likely go un-owned. They are playing on the second of a back-to-back, and people will want to play a fully correlated top line instead. Calgary’s second line has been one of the best checking lines in the game, with a 67% Corsi, 2.74 expected goals per 60, creating 34 shots and over 14 high-danger chances. They should get the better matchup against the Ducks second line as well. The Ducks top line has a 43% Corsi-for while allowing 38 shots against per 60 and over 13 high-danger chances. Finally, with the Flames being on the second of a back-to-back and other great options to look at, playing the Flames second line could help in larger field tournaments.
*Additional Data from Natural Stat Trick
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