This article focuses on 12/30 NHL Picks for both DraftKings Sportsbook and DraftKings Daily Fantasy. We analyze tournament tactics, statistics, pricing, and attempt to tackle this highly variable Daily Fantasy format so that we can gain an edge on the field at large. Full rankings for each position for both sites are available below.
Thursday 12/30 NHL Slate and DFS Gameplan
Welcome back to the Hot Shot for a seven-game Thursday slate!
Full Game Odds/Totals and DraftKings Rankings can be found below as well as cash game considerations for each site.
Three Favorite Lines
Carolina One “Sebastian Aho/Teuvo Tervainen/Nino Niederreiter Two Man”
There is no recent data for this line as Carolina had been wrecked by covid prior to the stoppage and Aho was one of the missing players. However, the Hurricanes played fairly well through absences and return fairly healthy with the sweetest matchup of the night, hosting a severely undermanned Montreal team. We are also getting a gift price on Aho at $6,600 and Nino Niederreiter is super cheap, which is why I listed the full line despite Niederreiter not joining the other two skates on Carolina’s top power-play unit.
Florida One “Aleksandr Barkov/Anthony Duclair/Carter Verhaeghe”
Much like Carolina listed above, Florida had been dealing with a huge wave of covid cases prior to the short holiday/covid induced stoppage. However, they are healthy now and this line seems way too cheap. The Panthers will be on a back-to-back, but they should have no problem getting a few goals past third-string, awful career minor league goalie Maxime Legace. At $3,600, Verhaeghe provides us some savings/value, so once again the full line is in play.
Calgary One “Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk”
As a later game, this might be a sneaky spot for a high-quality line such as Calgary One. They are fairly priced on DraftKings and get a Seattle team that has poor defensive metrics and has been giving up a lot of goals recently, on a back to back. Over their last ten games, they are leading every other line in the NHL in terms of shot attempts for “incl. sog, missed shots, blocks shots) by a full 51 with the second most line-oriented goals in that span with nine. For tournaments, they make a perfect pairing with one of the above lines, a mix of chalk and contrarian.
12/30 NHL Game Odds and Totals
Main Slate of Games – Beginning 7 p.m. ET
Nashville Predators (-125) at Columbus Blue Jackets (+105) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Tampa Bay Lightning (+115) at Florida Panthers (-135) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Montreal Canadiens (+250) at Carolina Hurricanes (-320) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
Buffalo Sabres (+165) at New York Islanders (-200) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
Calgary Flames (-140) at Seattle Kraken (+120) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
Vancouver Canucks (-115) at Los Angeles Kings (-135) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
Philadelphia Flyers (+115) at San Jose Sharks (-135) – 6 Projected Goal Total
12/30 NHL DraftKings Individual Rankings
Centers
- Sebastian Aho – Carolina – $7,300
- Aleksandr Barkov – Florida – $6,700
- Brayden Point – Tampa Bay – 7,900
- Elias Lindholm – Calgary – $6,200
- Elias Pettersson – Vancouver – $3,900
Wingers
- Filip Forsberg – Nashville – $7,100
- Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary – $6,700
- Andrei Svechnikov – Carolina – $6,600
- Nino Niederreiter – Carolina – $4,500
- Carter Verhaeghe – Florida – $3,600
Defense
- Alexandre Carrier – Nashville – $3,000
- Mattias Ekholm – Nashville – $3,500
- Erik Karlsson – San Jose – $6,600
- Rasmus Dahlin – Sabres – $4,100
- Brent Burns – San Jose – $6,400
Goalies
- Frederick Andersen/Antti Raanta – Carolina – $8,300
- Ilya Sorokin – New York Islanders – $7,800
- Jacob Markstrom – Calgary – $8,200
Cash Considerations
Sebastian Aho, Aleksandr Barkov, Alexandre Carrier, Frederick Andersen/Antti Raanta
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