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Get today's top DraftKings daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for December 18, 2025. Doug's expert NHL DFS goalies picks, value plays, stacks, and power play picks.
While tonight may not feature a tournament like the Barn Burner on DraftKings, there are still four tournaments with a $20 buy-in or less that offer a top prize of at least $1,000, one of which is of the single-entry variety. That means there’s a lot to play for on this 10-game slate.
The night starts with big guns such as Toronto, Edmonton, and Minnesota taking to the road in strong matchups. Also in the early window, the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Los Angeles Kings. The late window features one of the game's best young players, San Jose phenom Macklin Celebrini, hosting Jason Robertson and the Dallas Stars in what could be the game of the night.
I aim to help you narrow your plays to get the most bang for your DFS buck. NHL Premium members can find members of the RotoBaller NHL family on Discord, where our chat is always active. I'll bring my NHL lineup picks, analysis, and advice for NHL DFS contests on DraftKings for Thursday, December 18, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to also check out RotoBaller's awesome NHL tools, including our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, and Heat Map.
NHL DFS Analysis And Picks For 12/18/25
Toronto Maple Leafs (TOR1 - William Nylander, Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews; $21,500 DK)
Defensive Addition: Morgan Rielly ($4,500 DK)
Toronto’s top line has been a bit of a disappointment lately, but the data still likes it, and I’m a big believer in that data. The Leafs have averaged 3.38 even-strength goals and 13.78 high-danger chances per 60 minutes over their past 10 road games. The trio of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Matthew Knies played together for the first time in a while on Tuesday, and they showed signs of life.
Matthews and Nylander combined for four goals and assists, while Knies took six shots on goal. That’s the kind of production that leads to tournament wins, and given tonight’s matchup, they are worth taking another shot on even at their exorbitant price points.
They are facing a Washington squad that has allowed 1.42 fewer goals than expected over its past 10 home games, meaning negative regression is headed their way. The defensive pairing of Martin Fehervary and John Carlson has been awful, allowing 4.08 expected goals, 35.52 scoring chances, and 16.79 high-danger chances per 60 minutes over their past 10 home games.
San Jose Sharks (SJ1 - Macklin Celebrini, Collin Graf, Igor Chernyshov; $13,800 DK)
Defensive Addition: John Klingberg ($3,900 DK)
Dallas has been one of the least fantasy-friendly teams to stack against, so why is it that we like the Sharks so much tonight? The biggest reason is the Stars’ defensive pairing of Ilya Lyubushkin and Thomas Harley.
They haven’t played a lot of minutes together recently, but when they’ve been on the ice, they’ve been bad, allowing 4.36 expected goals and 20.02 high-danger chances per 60 minutes on the road. Goalie Jake Oettinger has been solid this year, but that kind of high-danger volume is hard to stop.
The other reason we like the Sharks is Macklin Celebrini. He’s been one of the best players in the NHL this season, totaling a combined 51 goals and assists in just 34 games. Over his past two games, he’s combined for seven goals and assists and 13 shots on goal. Over his previous eight games, he’s had four instances where he’s recorded three or more combined goals and assists. That’s Nathan MacKinnon-level dominance.
While Celebrini is expensive to roster, he’s on a line with Collin Graf and Igor Chernyshov, who only cost a combined $5,700. Defender John Klingberg is an excellent addition as a fourth member of your stack, priced at just $3,900 and riding a five-game point scoring streak.
This guy is a freak 🦈 pic.twitter.com/CwVBzJIHfX
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 17, 2025
Minnesota Wild (MIN1 - Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy; $22,700 DK)
Defensive Addition: Quinn Hughes ($7,200 DK)
While the Wild don’t have the same level of defensive pairing matchup as Toronto or San Jose, they are going up against the team that has statistically been the most generous to opposing offenses in the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Goalie Jet Greaves has allowed three or more goals in four of his past six starts, and the team as a whole has given up 2.71 even-strength goals per 60 minutes over its past 10 home games.
Minnesota’s top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matt Boldy has been white-hot, averaging 8.44 even-strength goals per 60 minutes over their past 10 road games. Their most significant strength is their aggressive play, as they’ve averaged 19.89 high-danger chances per 60 minutes in those games. Putting opposing goalies under that kind of pressure leads to huge fantasy performances.
Adding defender Quinn Hughes to this team only helps, as he’s one of the more offensive-minded defensemen in the league. He’s averaged 14 DraftKings points in his two games on the team, and not surprisingly, Kaprizov and Boldy have seen their productivity increase since his arrival. He’s a must-add to your Wild stack if you can find a way to swing the $30K price point.
Kirill Kaprizov is the new @mnwild franchise leader in power-play goals! 💚 pic.twitter.com/5QgelsZKSQ
— NHL (@NHL) December 17, 2025
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Back-to-back @DraftKings Fantasy Hockey World Championship trips! Let’s get the main prize this year! Thank you to @banksterdfs for the amazing daily fantasy content! @NHL pic.twitter.com/dONSvJMtIR
— 🇺🇦Shockmain (@Shockmain) January 6, 2023
NHL DFS Value Stack of the Night
Edmonton Oilers (EDM3 -Andrew Mangiapane, Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique; $8,100 DK)
It’s never fun to use a line from Edmonton that doesn’t include Connor McDavid, but the data points to the Oilers third line having the best matchup on the team tonight. It’ll spend a lot of its time on the ice against Boston’s defensive pairing of Mason Lohrei and Victor Soderstrom. They have been terrible on home ice this year, allowing slate-highs of 5.11 expected goals, 46.61 scoring chances, and 23.31 high-danger chances over their past 10 games.
Goalie Jeremy Swayman has saved this team repeatedly, but he’s allowed 1.84 fewer goals than expected over the team’s past 10 home games, a feat that’s not sustainable. While the trio of Andrew Mangiapane, Mattias Janmark, and Adam Henrique haven’t done much when on the ice together, they have averaged 10.51 high-danger chances per 60 minutes over their past 10 road games.
Add that to the poor defending from Lohrei and Soderstrom, and you’ve got a recipe for a team to break out and do something finally. While I don’t expect a massive game from this trio, even one full-line goal would be more than enough to justify their prices as a secondary stack to a team like Minnesota or Toronto.
NHL DFS Goalie to Target
Jesper Wallstedt (MIN - $7,900 DK)
Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt has been ridiculously good this year. He’s scored 22.8 or more DraftKings points in seven of his past eight starts. Four of those starts were shutouts, and he’s recorded 30 or more saves in six of those games. Tonight, he heads to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets, who have scored just 2.48 even-strength goals per 60 minutes over their past 10 home games.
The team hasn’t been overly aggressive, either, recording just 10.14 high-danger chances per 60 minutes. Even if Columbus was putting pressure on opposing goalies, Wallstedt has been great in those situations, saving 85% of the high-danger shots he’s faced on the road.
At $7,900, Wallstedt is a little pricier tonight than he would have been on Tuesday night, but that’s still less than six of the other goalies on the slate, making him a decent value. He’s a strong cash game play, and if you don’t need to save money at the position, he makes for a fine tournament play as well.
Others in consideration: Jeremy Swayman (BOS), Igor Shesterkin (NYR)
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