NHL DFS Slate Summary: Thursday, December 14th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders NHL DFS Slate Summary. In this article, we’ll concentrate on the key elements of DFS success while delivering analysis on the upcoming slate of NHL games for DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ll discuss today’s NHL DFS player projections, player correlations and NHL stacking, NHL starting lineups, differentiation tactics using NHL projected ownership, and recommendations on ways to create lineup diversity if entering multiple lineups using LineupHQ.
NHL DFS Picks: Slate Summary for Thursday, December 14th
Today’s Games
Slate Overview
We didn’t get a winner for the $100k on Tuesday, but I did get a DM from a Discord member who finished very well. I’ll keep their identity a secret, but I promise it happened! She went to a different school… Anyways, yesterday and today sort of feel like the day or two after Christmas when Christmas was the $888 contest. I’m not unhappy, but there is the slight malaise after such a fun contest. Still, there are some ok contests out there and the show goes on. The Maple Leafs pop off the page tonight both as the biggest favorite at -280 and the highest implied team total at 4.2. Their Top 6 should garner plenty of ownership and rightfully so. There’s technically a “Tier 2” consisting of the Hurricanes, Kraken, and Oilers, all with 3.7 goal implied team totals. You can poke holes in each, although the Oilers appear the most solid and should come in as the second-highest owned team. When
I keep saying that we aren’t expecting much injury news to monitor and then people are getting questionable with illnesses, so I won’t jinx things. Regardless, join the RG NHL Discord for any news on player availability, line rushes before games, and any other useful tips or information.
Top Skaters
Auston Matthews
DraftKings $9,800
First of all, a big stick tap to anyone who played Auston Matthews on Tuesday night. He was in a much worse spot on the second of a back-to-back and facing the Rangers on the road, but it’s just a reminder that the elite tier of players (McDavid, Matthews, MacKinnon, Pastrnak, Kucherov, etc.) have the ability to break a slate and should always carry at least some ownership even if the circumstances aren’t ideal. Well tonight the circumstances are quite ideal. Given that the Sharks are on an unexpected hot streak, you can argue that the Blue Jackets are the worst team in the NHL right now, or at least in the conversation. Right now, Matthews’ projection is a three points higher than the next closest skater. He’s coming off a monster four-point night on Tuesday where he finished with 36 DK points. While it seems unlikely he’ll match that level of production, another multi-point night is very much in play. He’ll be chalky, but fade at your own risk.