RotoBallers, welcome back to our daily fantasy hockey (NHL DFS) lineup picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and FantasyAces. Below you will find our NHL cheat sheet - DFS lineup picks, sleepers and stacks for Tuesday, December 20 of the 2016/2017 NHL season.

I hope you're ready for some daily fantasy hockey! Including tonight's 12 game slate, we get 10 or more games in three of the next four days as we enter the Christmas Break. Let's not waste any time and get to the picks.

Editor's Note: New users that sign up on Fantasy Aces, make a $20 deposit, and enter any game will receive our full season NHL Premium Pass (DFS Cheat Sheets) for free, a $99.99 value. Just email [email protected] with your new FantasyAces username - and boom, that's it! We will email you with your Premium pass.

 

NHL Daily League Lineup Picks for Tuesday, December 20 

For those that are new to this, each day we'll be providing you with a few of our top DFS lineup picks for daily league cash games on FanDuel, DraftKings, and FantasyAces. We will also provide you with one of our favorite teams to stack for GPPs. You can grab the rest of our Premium DFS lineup picks and stacks through the NHL Cheat Sheet and DFS Premium Pass below.

 

 

Eric Staal (C, MIN)

DraftKings - $6,500, FanDuel - $5,600, FantasyAces - $5,300

He has been in a groove lately with points in four straight and six of his last eight games including back to back multi-point games. He is currently playing on a line with Parise and Pominville and the three have shown great chemistry. They get an elite matchup at home tonight vs. the Avalanche who rank dead last in defense, allowing 3.20 goals per game. He is safe in all formats.

 

 

Cam Atkinson (W, CBJ)

DraftKings - $7,400, FanDuel - $6,900, FantasyAces - $5,650

The Blue Jackets have been a very pleasant surprise in the first half of the season as they rank #1 in offense as well as #1 on the powerplay. Leading the way for the offense with 31 points has been Cam Atkinson who has also cashed in on the powerplay with 15 points. He doesn't come with elite shot volume(2.9 shots on goal per game) but it's enough for him to provide safety in all formats on home ice.

 

 

Justin Schultz (D, PIT)

DraftKings - $4,700, FanDuel - $4,400, FantasyAces - $4,300

The salary is starting to catch up but under $5K on all sites, he is safe in all formats. He is a bit hidden skating on the Pens third defensive unit and skating under 18 minutes per game but don't worry about the usage. He makes the most of that ice time skating on the top powerplay unit. He is currently red hot as well with 13 points in his last 10 games so get on the bus before the price of admission is higher than the upside.

 

 

 

Stacking Option

Pittsburgh Penguins - Sidney Crosby, Connor Sheary, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Justin Schultz

Take you pick with the Penguins second overall offense as both lines are very productive. Combine them and get a very high upside powerplay that has scored eight goals in their last five games. The matchup looks tough on paper against the Rangers and their fourth-ranked defense, but each of the last two meetings seasoneaosn have seen the teams combine for seven goals in each game.

 

Premium Cheat Sheets for Daily Fantasy Hockey

Get an edge on your NHL DFS competition with our Premium cheat sheets -- more lineup picks, deeper analysis, and advanced stats to unlock DFS player value.

Premium access to 15 deeply researched lineup picks including stats like Shots Attempted per 60, Points per 60, and more. Come see for yourself:

• Weekly Premium Pass - includes playoffs
• Monthly Premium Pass - includes playoffs
• Year-Long Premium Pass - includes playoffs

 

Sample NHL Premium DFS Cheat Sheet

Want to know what the Premium NHL DFS Cheat Sheets looks like? Below is a sample. We go above and beyond standard daily fantasy hockey analysis.

Click image to enlarge

 
Bonus: General NHL DFS Strategy Notes

For cash games, look at players who can contribute to your score even when they are not providing offense. Some examples are guys who take a ton of shots and defensemen who block a lot of shots. Also, look for guys who get power play time. You can find value in players who join a new line due to an injury, or just get a promotion and more ice time. It is also recommended to spread out your exposure to three or four different lines, and not put all your eggs in one basket.

For large field tournaments (GPPs), find payers who have multi-point upside and can grab double-digit fantasy points. If you want to stack the most upside in your forwards, a common strategy is to punt the defense position. This doesn't mean just grab anyone - try and look for a defenseman who will get power play time, or a playing time boost due to an injury. For a contrarian approach, paying up at the defense position can be a great strategy - but it also comes with more risk. GPPs bring a great opportunity for goaltenders in the value price range - you can look for backups on good teams.