NHL DFS Slate Summary: Tuesday, December 5th
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 Tuesday, December 5th
Today’s Games
Slate Overview
I’d like to welcome all the NBAers joining us tonight. Make sure you’re wearing your name tag, and there’s punch in the lobby. It’s a little disappointing that DraftKings didn’t go with larger contests due to the lack of football and a full-size NBA slate, but they aren’t too bad. There are large GPPs for the $444 and $20 price points and a $123 Live Final Qualifier up for grabs.
As for the slate itself, we have 8 games to pick from, which is the perfect number, in my humble opinion. The Kings, Islanders, and Avalanche are the -200 favorites or greater and should all pick up plenty of ownership. I think the Kings will trail behind some, with the Islanders and Avalanche being the most popular. The late-night hammer of NJ/VAN is the only game listed at 7.0, although it’s juiced slightly to the under.
There are a few significant pieces of news to monitor throughout the day, many involving some of the big favorites I mentioned above. Side note: I’m convinced the NHL knows which days the NBA players are playing NHL because they always seem to have more news to monitor than a typical NHL slate. Overall, the NHL isn’t nearly as bad as the NBA in this regard, but tonight will require some monitoring throughout.
For the Avalanche, Cale Makar missed Sunday’s game due to injury and is questionable tonight. Based on the news from this morning, it sounds like he’s on the doubtful side of questionable. Makar is the most valuable defenseman in the world, both for fantasy and real-life purposes, so if he’s out, it’s obviously going to give a significant boost to some replacement players (especially Devon Toews).
As always, check in with the RG NHL Discord for any news. It’s a tremendous resource, and honestly, if you have to choose between reading the rest of this article or going to join it, it’s a better use of time long term to hop in the Discord channel. But hopefully, you’ll do both and stick around.
Let’s break it down.
Top Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon
DraftKings $9,600
I really struggled with exactly what to do with MacKinnon as it pertains to this article. Because we have plenty of NBA players in the NHL streets tonight, I did want to include him and address a few things.
First, he’s a lock in cash, but any player is fadeable in tournaments. In the NHL, players can bust far more frequently than in the NBA. It’s closer to baseball, when a player can go 0-4 on any given night.
Alright, back to MacKinnon. The matchup is elite against a Ducks team that takes the most penalties in the NHL. He’s also at home, where he’s always even more likely to get his 5+ SOG. His floor is probably about 10 DK points, which is what he had in his last game (in a much tougher matchup). So because of his shot volume, he’s unlikely to completely goose egg on you, but you’re obviously looking for much more at almost $10k. His ceiling is probably 35. He hasn’t actually had a true explosion game yet this season, but it’ll happen at some point.
Last, our projection is around 24 points. So I’ll leave it up to you on how to play the game theory angle on a player who could be 30% in some contests. Personally, I’ve gone back and forth about five times on whether or not I want him in my lineup, and it’s barely lunchtime.