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There are 10 games on the schedule for Thursday night hockey, with a few of the best teams in the NHL facing particularly low-quality opponents. The Oilers beat the Senators 7-1 last night so we’ve been spared another one of those lopsided games for today, but the Lightning, Penguins, and Hurricanes all find themselves in very exploitable matchups. Today’s breakdown focuses on stacks for Thursday’s slate, which locks at 7:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy hockey lineups here: NHL $60K Twine [$15K to 1st]
Top Stacks
Boston Bruins
Patrice Bergeron ($7,500), David Pastrnak (8,700), Brad Marchand ($7,600)
Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby ($7,000), Jake Guentzel ($7,400), Bryan Rust ($6,600)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews ($9,100), Mitchell Marner ($7,800), Joe Thornton ($4,100)
The Bruins have a decent matchup against the Rangers, who are still expected to be without Artemi Panarin for at least one more game. The Bruins’ top line has proved that it doesn’t need good matchups to produce large fantasy outputs anyway, and they’re always in consideration for the best stack of the night whenever they’re on a given slate. The Penguins’ top line isn’t quite as prolific but they do face a much weaker opponent, getting a struggling Sabres team that has been especially bad without Jack Eichel in the lineup. Eichel’s absence should benefit the Crosby line directly, as the opposing first lines figure to spend a large chunk of the game matched up against each other. Auston Matthews is on this slate too which always means he’s worth considering, and this spot at home against the Jets is a pretty good one for him. The Leafs lost at home to the Jets two days ago, but Matthews managed to score two goals even in the loss.
Value Stacks
New York Islanders
Brock Nelson ($4,600), Anthony Beauvillier ($3,900), Josh Bailey ($3,300)
Philadelphia Flyers
Claude Giroux ($5,300), Oskar Lindblom ($2,600), Jakub Voracek ($4,100)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Pierre Engvall ($2,800), Zach Hyman ($4,500), Ilya Mikheyev ($2,800)
The Islanders’ first line just missed the cut for top stack consideration, and their second line benefits too from a home matchup against the Devils. Nelson and co. continue to stay underpriced, perhaps in part because they haven’t had a breakout game recently as the Islanders have had fairly balanced scoring of late. The Flyers have been extremely balanced lately as well, and their 3rd line as currently constructed is arguably the most talented 3rd line in the NHL. Giroux and Voracek are down to the 2nd power play unit, but there’s still a ton of skill on this line and they’ll benefit from a solid home matchup against the Capitals. The Leafs’ third line is in a good spot too, and it’s even cheaper than the two lines mentioned above. Engvall, Hyman, and Mikheyev should spend most of their ice time facing Winnipeg’s depth, and that sets up well for them for tonight’s home game.
Contrarian Stacks
Philadelphia Flyers
Sean Couturier ($6,900), James Van Riemsdyk ($7,200), Joel Farabee ($6,700)
Carolina Hurricanes
Sebastian Aho ($6,400), Nino Niederreiter ($5,300), Martin Necas ($4,800)
Montreal Canadiens
Jesperi Kotkaniemi ($3,300), Brendan Gallagher ($5,800), Tyler Toffoli ($7,300)
The prices on the Flyers’ top line have soared over the course of this season, and given all of the good choices for top stacks it’s unlikely anyone prioritizes them. It’s an expensive stack to get to, but this is an extremely good line and the ownership figures to be uniquely low. The ownership on the Hurricanes will almost certainly be higher than the Flyers, but this is probably a situation that goes more overlooked than it should. Sebastian Aho projects to take over for Vincent Trocheck between Niederreiter and Necas, and they’ll be facing a Nashville team that’s as banged up on defense as any NHL team has been in recent memory. Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Dante Fabbro are all out tonight, and it should mean increased scoring chances for Carolina. Lastly, the Canadiens are a team that should stay well below the radar, and this new-look top line is still relatively inexpensive and is probably one of the best values as far as contrarian teams are concerned.
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