Richard Masana 
The Hot Shot comes into tonight (12/14) on the second half of a back-to-back and we have a really nice size eight-game Thursday slate. There are lots of options to choose from and we will cover a few of them below. I highly suggest against running full three-man lines tonight and instead recommend pivoting to two-skater pairings. Aside from reading this 12/14 NHL DFS article, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS Projection Model which is available every morning. If you like what you see, sign up for more Win Daily content here.
12/14 NHL Main Slate of Games – Beginning 7 p.m. ET
*All odds and player pricing below have been obtained from DraftKings Sportsbook and are accurate as of the time of writing*
Carolina Hurricanes (-148) at Detroit Red Wings (+124) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Columbus Blue Jackets (+235) at Toronto Maple Leafs (-290) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Washington Capitals (+114) at Philadelphia Flyers (-135) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
Ottawa Senators (-110) at St. Louis Blues (-110) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Calgary Flames (+120) at Minnesota Wild (-142) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Tampa Bay Lightning (+130) at Edmonton Oilers (-155) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Florida Panthers (-115) at Vancouver Canucks (-105) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Chicago Blackhawks (+195) at Seattle Kraken (-238) – 6 Projected Goal Total
12/14 NHL Favorite Popular Line
Toronto Two – “John Tavares ($6,600), Mitch Marner ($6,900)” – Two-Man Only
The Maple Leafs stand out tonight by a wide margin. No favorite on the slate is even close to Toronto’s -290 money line odds and this game has a 6.5 projected total. The Blue Jackets have been singing their same old song this season, scoring enough but performing woefully on the defensive end. So far this season, Columbus has allowed 106 goals, which is tied for second worst in the league.
It is tempting to go with the Leaf’s first line here and jam in Auston Matthews. However, he eats up a lot of salary I think we’re better served going more balanced on this slate. If you have a cheap line in mind that you’d like pair with Toronto One, go for it. Otherwise let’s roll with the second line who has been putting up similar peripheral numbers to the top line. Mitch Marner went wild on Tuesday night after a slow stretch, so perhaps we will catch the beginning of a heater. Tyler Bertuzzi is very cheap, but he has been so bad that I think we’re just going to have to pass on using the full line or substituting him in for one of the other two skaters listed above.
12/14 NHL Favorite Contrarian Line
St. Louis One – “Robert Thomas ($5,400), Jake Neighbours ($4,100)” – Two-Man only
Most of the top lines for tonight’s bigger favorites and higher scoring games are prohibitively expensive. One notable exception is the 6.5 projected total between Ottawa and St. Louis. This game is even money with both team’s odds listed at -110 apiece. The Blues top line has been slightly rearranged but has been doing damage as of late. Over the last ten games, they are tenth among all lines in the NHL in SATF. Jordan Kyrou has switched places with Pavel Buchnevich, but this line still packs a punch.
Ottawa may win this game given the Blues overall poor form, but perhaps not without this line leaving its mark. Given that Kyrou has not done much, I think we turn to our friendly neighbor or Neighbours. At only $4,100 he is very chap considering he has ten goals on the season. If you use all four skaters listed so far, you’re left with $5,300 per skater and thus shouldn’t have any problems jamming in some extra talent.
Defensemen and Goalies
Defensemen
Mikhail Sergachev – Tampa Bay -$4,900 – Unfortunately, this is a late game, so we will have to wait on injury news. However, if Victor Hedman remains out, this is a no brainer. In a worst-case scenario, even if Hedman is in, it is not that bad a play given that Sergachev has double-digit DraftKings points in four of his last five games.
Jake Sanderson – Ottawa – $4,200 – As we keep exploiting injury situations, here’s one that helps us mini game-stack the Ottawa/St. Louis game. Thomas Chabot is on the IR once again and Jake Sanderson seems to be filling his role in entirety. I just think that this is a game we want exposure to and we have a bit more salary for defensemen tonight.
Goalies
Carter Hart – Philadelphia – $8,200 – This game profiles as low scoring; they had me at 5.5 projected goal total. It’s rare that you see those anymore. Philadelphia is a -135 home favorite and Hart simply put makes sense. He has won three straight starts and boasts a strong 2.42 GAA for the season.
Darcy Kuemper – Washington – $7,300 – If you want to be a bit more wild, you could try the netminder on the other side in the 5.5 projected goal total game. Kuemper has not been up to his prior standards this season but that can always change in the blink of an eye.
12/14 NHL Best Bet
Philadelphia (-135) – DraftKings – Look for the Flyers to prove the oddsmakers right and grab the home win.
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