February 16, 2017

Chris Durell's NHL DFS advice for 2/16/17 - daily fantasy hockey FanDuel and DraftKings cheat sheets. His lineup picks, sleepers and stacks for cash games and GPPs.

RotoBallers, welcome back to our daily fantasy hockey (NHL DFS) lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings. Below you will find our NHL cheat sheet - DFS lineup picks, sleepers and stacks for Thursday, February 16 of the 2016/2017 NHL season.

Tonight brings us a nice eight-game slate with six of the top 10 offenses on the ice. Most teams should be well rested as just the Blues and Flyers are playing a back to back while Coyotes play a third game in four nights.  You can check out the entire team by team matchup chart by getting your copy of the premium subscription.

NHL Daily League Lineup Picks for Thursday, February 16

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 and DraftKings. 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.

Jack Eichel (C, BUF)

DraftKings - $7,200, FanDuel - $7,200

There are a lot of great options at the top of the center board tonight making Eichel a top value at the bottom the $7K range on both sites. He hasn't quite got the scoring touch back with just one goal in his last 10 games but has eight assists and 35 shots on goal. With that shot volume, he is always a safe play in cash games and has a ton of GPP upside with 10 multi-point games this season(36 games).

Jake Guentzel (W, PIT)

DraftKings - $4,600, FanDuel - $4,200

With a lack of low-end value at the center position, we must turn to one of our wingers for value to be able to fit a stud forward tonight. Luckily for us DFSers the value play is now skating on a line with the superstar player. For the past two games, Guentzel has been moved up to skate with Sid the Kid and has not disappointed with a point in each game. He is safe in all formats.

Rasmus Ristolainen (D, BUF)

DraftKings - $5,900, FanDuel - $5,100

The Sabres get a terrific matchup offensively tonight as they will be home to the Avs who rank dead last in defense, allowing 3.39 goals per game. Ristolainen has a very affordable price, especially on FanDuel, and offers a very high floor with 27 shots and 27 blocks over the last 10 games and has upside with 33 points on the season.

Stacking Option

Buffalo Sabres PP - Jack Eichel, Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, Ryan O'Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen

There are multiple plus matchups tonight which should help spread the ownership around. The fact that the Sabres rank 25th offensively might also drive their ownership down a bit which is great news as they have one of those plus matchups. The Avalanche come to town, losers of four straight while giving up a total of 16 goals.  They also rank Top 5 in penalty minutes taken per game so the Sabres #2 ranked powerplay should get some extra run tonight.

NHL & DFS Premium Subscription

Get an edge on your NHL DFS competition, every single night of the week:

• DFS Cheat Sheets and Lineup Picks: Access to 10 deeply researched lineup picks, and sample lineups. Includes advanced stats to unlock NHL player values, and boost DFS success.
• DFS Optimizer Tool: Generate optimal DFS lineups in seconds. Use advanced features and stats for including/excluding players, cash games vs. GPPs, stacks and more.
• DFS Value Picks: Our Optimizer helps you find, sort and filter the best lineup values and DFS sleeper picks. Premium stats like "DvP" and "Points/$1K" give you a leg up on the DFS competition.
• Daily NHL Projections: Our secret sauce - the Optimizer Tool provides DFS points projections for FanDuel, DraftKings and Yahoo scoring.

Lineup Optimizer/Generator & Sleepers Tool

Click image to see a full size version of the tool

Click image to see a full size version of the tool

Click image to see a full size version of the tool

Premium NHL DFS Lineup Picks & 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.

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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.