NHL DFS Picks & Stacks for DraftKings & FanDuel Fantasy NHL Lineups

As the last week of the regular season winds down, tonight’s nine-game NHL DFS slate will be the last big one of the season. Needless to say, there’s no shortage of options tonight. To decipher the games, I’ll be using Awesemo’s industry-leading NHL DFS projections, along with ownership projections, and Top Stacks Tool. Let’s find some of Awesemo’s optimal NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel fantasy hockey lineups for Monday’s Slate using Awesemo’s NHL DFS rankings.

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East

1 — Penguins (clinched division)

2 — Washington Capitals (clinched second seed)

3 — Boston Bruins (71 points, two games remaining)

4 — New York Islanders (70 points, one game remaining)

The Bruins – Islanders will be a dog fight. If Boston wins or takes it to overtime, they will face off with the Capitals. If the Islanders win, they still need the Bruins to lose their last game against the Capitals. If they can do that, then they can take the matchup against the Capitals and avoid the Penguins in the first round. The more likely outcome is that the Islanders will end up playing against the Penguins in the first round though. It should be a tight checking game.

North

1 — Toronto Maple Leafs (clinched division)

2 — Edmonton Oilers — (clinched second seed)

3 — Winnipeg Jets — (clinched playoff berth)

4 — Montreal Canadiens (two games remaining)

5 — Ottawa Senators (eliminated)

6 — Calgary Flames (47 points, four games remaining)

7 — Vancouver Canucks (43 points)

The Maple Leafs will be the No. 1 seed, and the Oilers will be the No. 2 seed. The Jets could still fall to No. 4, but that’s unlikely. Winnipeg will secure the No. 3 seed on Monday if it beats Vancouver or if Montreal loses to Edmonton (or if both teams lose in overtime/shootout).

While the Flames and Canucks are still in the race, the Canadiens could clinch tonight. All they have to do is take the Oilers to overtime, as their next point will solidify their post in the playoffs.

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Central

1 — Carolina Hurricanes (clinched division)

2 — Florida Panthers (77 points, clinched playoff berth)

3 — Tampa Bay Lightning (75 points, clinched playoff berth)

4 — Nashville Predators (62 points, clinched fourth seed)

The Hurricanes and Predators will be facing off in the first round of the playoffs, as both teams are locked into their seedings for the postseason.

It also means that the Panthers and Lightning will be going head-to-head in the opening round. However, it’s not yet known which of the two teams will be the No. 2 seed and have home-ice advantage for the series.

Florida and Tampa Bay are facing off in the regular-season finale tonight. The only way that the Lightning can pass the Panthers in the standings and move up to No. 2 is if they win that game in regulation. The Panthers will be No. 2 as long as they win or make it to overtime.

West

1 — Vegas Golden Knights (80 points, clinched playoff berth)

2 — Colorado Avalanche (76 points, clinched playoff berth)

3 — Minnesota Wild (75 points, clinched playoff berth)

4 — St. Louis Blues (57 points, clinched No. 4 seed)

While all four of these teams will be playing in the postseason, the only known thing about the seeding is that the Blues will be at No. 4 and face whichever team wins the division in the first round. And that will end up being either the Golden Knights or Avalanche.

The Wild no longer can win the top seed, but they could still move up to No. 2, as they are only 1 point behind the Avalanche, who are trying to chase down the Golden Knights for the top spot. Vegas and Minnesota each have only two regular-season games remaining, while Colorado still has three to play.

The Golden Knights are hosting the Avalanche tonight. If they win, they will clinch the division title. So that will be an important game for Colorado as it tries to stay alive in the battle for the No. 1 seed while also fending off Minnesota to at least stay at No. 2.

NHL Power Plays: DraftKings + FanDuel DFS Picks | May 10th

NHL DFS Picks: Center

Sean Couturier (PHI vs. NJ)

DraftKings — $6,800

FanDuel — $7,400

Couturier is finishing the year on a strong note. He is known as one of the best two-way pivots in the game with solid shut down defense, but he has been a great distributor and is finding the back of the net. Couturier has points in eight of the last 10 games, and he’s averaging over four shots/blocks per game. Vegas has the Flyers and the highest implied team total of the night, at 3.6. The Devils come into tonight with the 29th-ranked Corsi over the last 10 games, and they are in the bottom five of shots against, goals against and scoring chances against. If the Flyers stick with the line of Couturier, Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny, they could have a great night. Together the trio has had phenomenal success, albeit in a small sample. Couturier comes in as a Top 5 center in Awesemo’s NHL DFS projections tonight.

Sam Bennett (FLA vs. TB)

DraftKings — $6,000

FanDuel — $4,500

Bennett might be the best midseason acquisition this year. In the 11 games since joining the Panthers, he has 17 points. Joel Quenneville has found great success playing Bennett on the second line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Owen Tippett. Together the trio has a small sample of 40 minutes, but they have been phenomenal in that short time. This game will be an early start to the playoffs, with both teams set to face off against each other in the opening round. The winner gets home-ice advantage in the playoffs, but there will not be a full Lightning lineup tonight, as they save Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov for the start of the playoffs.

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NHL DFS PICKS: Wingers

Mikko Rantanen (COL at VGK)

DraftKings — $8,600

FanDuel — $8,200

Keep an eye on news for this game, as Nathan MacKinnon and Max Pacioretty have both been sidelined. If their injuries aren’t crucial, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them both come back tonight. This should be a great game to watch tonight. Vegas holds a 4-point lead on the Avalanche, but with the head-to-head game, they could be 2 points apart. Vegas only has two games left including tonight, while Colorado has three. The winner of this division will get to take on the Blues and take home ice for the divisional rounds.

Rantanen has been playing phenomenally in the absence of MacKinnon. He has been averaging a point per game while firing off 3.8 shots as well — and Rantanen is projected for 3.37 shots tonight, per the Awesemo NHL DFS projections. Vegas has a lot of depth and solid blueliners, but Colorado has a ton of fire power. There should be chances on both sides of the ice in this game.

Brad Marchand (BOS vs. NYI)

DraftKings — $7,400

FanDuel — $7,800

Marchand has quietly outpaced David Pastrnak in points, and he’s only 3 points shy of his fifth straight 70-point season – and it only took 56 games to get there. Over the last 10 games, Marchand has averaged 3.5 shots per game, and he has had four or more in five of the last seven. Tonight’s game has playoff implications for both teams, as they are the third and fourth seeds, respectively. If Boston can win tonight, it can seal the deal and get ready to play the Capitals. The Islanders have had top-10 metrics all year, but over the last 10 games they have fallen off. Injures have played a part, but they are giving up more shots and scoring chances. The Bruins should be un-owned with their high price tag and other good spots to pick on. The Islanders have been good on special teams, so if looking for the individual line matching, then going down to Taylor Hall and the second line could pay dividends as well.

[osBestBetsSingleGameOdds league=”nhl” date=”05/10/2021″ team=”jets”]

Blake Wheeler (WPG vs. VAN)

DraftKings — $5,800

FanDuel — $5,700

The Jets can solidify their three seed tonight with a win against Vancouver or if the Canadiens lose to Edmonton. Winnipeg would certainly like to take matters into their own hands and get the job done tonight. Vancouver is in the middle of a brutal stretch of games due to the COVID outbreak over the past couple weeks. Over the last 10 games, the Canucks have been a bottom-five team: 26th in Corsi, 25th in expected goals against, 21st in shots against and 30th in scoring chances against. The Jets offense as a whole hasn’t been firing on all cylinders, but Wheeler and the top line can be lethal at even strength and on the power play. Wheeler is riding a six-game point streak and has points in seven of the last eight. Look for the Jets to take care of business tonight and lock up the No. 3 seed.

NHL DFS PICKS: Defensemen

Ivan Provorov (PHI vs. NJ)

DraftKings — $6,100

FanDuel — $5,500

Provorov has been logging 24 minutes of ice time nightly while averaging just under five shots/blocks per game. He is playing on the top pairing and sees the majority of power-play time. Alain Vigneault decided to give Cam York ($2,500) some power-play time, but Provorov should take back the duties on the top unit. New Jersey is giving up the fifth-most goals against per game, and they are allowing over 30 shots against nightly. The Devils also sport the league’s worst penalty kill, with just a 70.8% kill rate. If stacking some Flyers, adding in Provorov makes a lot of sense.

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Darnell Nurse (EDM at MTL)

DraftKings — $6,600

FanDuel — $5,900

Nurse has been logging a ton of minutes. Over the last 10 games, he is averaging just under 26 minutes a game. His production has spiked up as well. He has 5 points in the last three games while averaging over five shots/blocks per game. It is crunch time for the postseason push, so the Oilers should play their best blueliners as often as they can. While Tyson Barrie will get the coveted top power-play duties, Barrie will quarterback the second unit. Both guys provide exposure to Connor McDavid, if he does give it a go, as they are partners on the top pairing. Montreal has struggled on the penalty kill, but they have been better recently. They are still allowing the eight most shots against while short-handed, though. Nurse isn’t afraid to shoot the puck, and he will also get some extra block attempts tonight with the paced-up matchup.

NHL DFS PICKS: Stacks

Philadelphia 1: Claude Giroux — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny

Dallas 1: Jason Robertson — Jason Dickinson — Joe Pavelski

Florida 2: Jonathan Huberdeau — Sam Bennett — Owen Tippett

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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.