Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver. Got NHL DFS questions or want to see something covered in this newsletter? Hit me up in LineStar Chat.

Welcome back to the NHL Hat Trick.

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully, you're like me and get Friday off from your day job so you can enjoy a little bit of DFS hockey heaven as there's hockey all day and we get multiple solid slates. That's right, there's a 6-game early slate (5-game on FanDuel) and an 8-game main slate. I'm going to cover plays for both slates, but keep in mind, I'm writing this well before morning skate, so lines could change. Keep an eye on the LineStar Updates page and chat for changes

Here's high-level data for each of the slates today:

Let's look at who I like for both slates today:

Goaltending

Playing cash games? Fill in your goalie spot first. Playing tournaments? Fill your skater positions and pick the goaltender with the biggest upside for the least amount of salary. Here are my three favorite goaltenders on the night:

NOTE: Keep in mind that most of these have not been confirmed yet.

Braden Holtby, WAS (vs DET) (DK: $8.4K, FD: $8.6K) **EARLY**

Looking at the early slate, I don't believe anyone is really "safe" so I'm moving on to who I think can win. Washington is heavily favored, so I'm chasing the win bonus with this one. The problem though, is that Detroit doesn't shoot the puck very much (29 shots on net over the past 10 games) so unless Holtby pitches a shutout, he probably won't hit value.

John Gibson, ANH (vs EDM) (DK: $7.9K, FD: $8.2K) **EARLY**

I might be on an island, but I'm looking at Gibson strictly for the fact that he has the ability to stand on his head at times.

Devan Dubnyk, MIN (vs WPG) (DK: $7.4K, FD: $8.8K) **EARLY**

I know. He was awful last time out. But I like his price on DK and he has a lot of upside if he can keep the puck out of the net.

Frederik Andersen, TOR (@CLS) (DK: $7.9K, FD: $8.9K)

Andersen has been solid for DFS over the last month. Even when he lets a couple goals in, he's gotten enough support from the Leafs to still pick up the win. Love him at the price for DraftKings tonight.

Pekka Rinne, NSH (@STL) (DK: $8.2K, FD: $9.2K)

Like Holtby, I don't think there's a lot of upside with Rinne tonight. He really needs a shutout as the Blues are averaging 27.5 shots on net over their past 10 games. However, I like Rinne for the win bonus.

Craig Anderson, OTT (@DAL) (DK: $7K, FD: $7.8K)

I've done pretty well by playing the goalie opposing Dallas, as they've been scoring only 2.35 goals a game over the last 10 games. Aside from their top line, their offense isn't much of a threat.

#BiscuitInTheBasketWatchList 🚨

For those of you who aren’t familiar with hockey, “biscuit in the basket” is a term for scoring a goal. Here I’m going to give a center, wing, and defensemen for the top and value pricing tiers that I think has a good chance to score a goal. Remember - I gave some tips last week on numbers that I look for, and these players check most (if not all my boxes):

Jack Eichel: BUF - C (DK: $7.4K, FD: $7.6K) **EARLY**

Montreal continues to give up goals (4.13 a game over the last 10) and Buffalo continues to play well, so I'm going to have lots of interest in Eichel today.

Taylor Hall: NJ - LW (DK: $7.7K, FD: $7.8K) **EARLY**

Goal last time out and I like him again today. Hall is averaging 5.4 shot attempts and 3.8 shots on net a game over his last 5 games.

Patrik Laine: WPG - RW (DK: $7.2K, FD: $7.7K) **EARLY**

I don't usually pick players against the Wild in Minnesota, but the Wild has been giving up 3.4 goals a game over their last 5 games and Laine had 5 goals and 14 shots last week.

Matt Dumba: MIN- D (DK: $5.7K, FD: $5.5K) **EARLY**

Dumba had two goals last time out, and while I don't expect him to have two goals again today, I'm going to keep playing him while he remains under $6K and is putting up almost 5 shots on net a night.

Joe Pavelski: SJ- C (DK: $6.9K, FD: $7.5K)

If you've been following the newsletter, you know that I typically target players that get at least 3 shots on net a game, but Pavelski has been very productive from a fantasy perspective and gets a great matchup against a Vancouver team that's giving up 4.8 goals a game over it's last 5.

Filip Forsberg: NSH - LW (DK: $6.7K, FD: $7.6K)

Forsberg had a short-handed goal his last game and I think he scores a goal again tonight. He's averaging 4.2 shots on net a game with 7.4 shot attempts, a 64 CF%, and 2.4 high danger shot attempts over his last 5 games.

Cam Atkinson: CLS - RW (DK: $7K, FD: $6.9K)

Atkinson gets a tough matchup, but he's averaging 4.6 shots on net a game over his last 5 and stands a good chance to put the biscuit in the basket tonight.

Thomas Chabot: OTT - RW (DK: $6K, FD: $5.1K)

I know he's been in the newsletter for at least a week straight, but his price has barely budged. I'm going to keep playing him.

Value Sticks 💲

Similar to the biscuit-in-the-basket watch list, in this section I’ll provide a center, wing, and defensemen who are priced in the value tier. If I can find someone under priced on both sites, I’ll highlight them. But in some cases, it could be site specific.

Eric Staal: MIN - C (DK: $5K, FD: $7.1K) **EARLY**

He's too expensive on FanDuel, but I like his pricing on DraftKings. Only averaging 2.6 shots on net a game, but getting 1.6 high danger shot attempts a game.

Rickard Rakell: EDM - LW (DK: $5.4K, FD: $7.2K) **EARLY**

Another "too expensive on FanDuel play." Rakell is averaging 4.2 shots on net a game and plays on the top line and top powerplay unit.

Anthony Mantha: DET - RW (DK: $4.5K, FD: $4.6K) **EARLY**

I'm not rostering Detroit a lot these days, as they're a team that isn't scoring a lot of goals, but I like Mantha as a one-off who takes a reasonable amount of shots (2.8 a game over the last 5), plays on the top powerplay unit and gets over 16 minutes a game.

Brandon Montour: ANH - D (DK: $4.6K, FD: $4.3K) **EARLY**

His price is creeping up a little, but I still like him a lot, as he's averaging over 3 shots on net on almost 25 minutes of ice time a night.

Jonathan Toews: CHI - C (DK: $5.3K, FD: $6.8K)

Just a gut call here from looking at centers in the mid-tier and thinking he scores tonight.

Andrei Svechnikov: CAR - LW (DK: $4K, FD: $3.6K)

Averaging 4.4 scoring chances with a 64 CF% and 3.8 shots on net with 3.2 high danger shot attempts a game over the past 5 games.

Patric Hornqvist: PIT - RW (DK: $5.2K, FD: $5.9K)

He's been averaging 4.6 shots on net with a 64 CF% and 2.4 high danger shot attempts game over the last 5 games.

Aaron Ekblad: FLA - D (DK: $4.6K, FD: $4.8K)

Checks the boxes for me from mid-tier D. 3 shots on net a game, around 23 minutes a game, and sits on one of the powerplay units.

Bottom of the Barrel

I did this last season, and I’ll do it again this season. These are the players in the bottom of the salary barrel but are in a good spot tonight.

Evan Rodrigues: BUF - C (DK: $2.5K, FD: $3.7K) **EARLY**

Blake Coleman: NJD - LW (DK: $3.9K, FD: $3.6K) **EARLY**

Charlie Coyle: MIN - RW (DK: $3.6K, FD: $3.8K) **EARLY**

Johnny Boychuk: NYI - D (DK: $3.9K, FD: $4.1K) **EARLY**

Tyler Bozak: STL - C (DK: $3.7K, FD: $4.3K)

Adam Erne: TB - LW (DK: $2.8K, FD: $3.5K)

Roope Hintz: DAL - RW (DK: $2.7K, FD: $3K)

Kevan Miller: BOS- D (DK: $3.2K, FD: $3.5K)

Line Stacks

Line stacking is a common strategy in GPP. You’ll see a lot of winning lineups where players are stacked from the same forward lines or power play lines.

I’m going to try something a little bit different with stacks. I’m going to present my personal favorite, as well as a value stack, and one with the best matchup. Here are my three favorite stacks on the night:

Early Slate:

Trying not to overthink it, just going to ride the hot hands:

BUF: Skinner-Eichel-Pominville (DK: $19.3K, FD: $19K)

NJ: Hall-Hischier-Palmieri: (DK: $20.3K, FD: $20K)

WPG: Connor-Little-Laine: (DK: $17.6K, FD: $18.1K)

Main Slate:

Same as early, not trying to get too cute on an 8 game slate:

COL: Landeskog-Mackinnon-Rantanen (DK: $21.9K, FD: $23.1K)

CLS: Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson: (DK: $18.7K, FD: $20.4K)

SJ: Kane-Pavelski-Donskoi: (DK: $16.3K, FD: $18.1K)

Risk-It-For-The-Biscuit Stack 🍪

MON: Drouin-Domi-Shaw (DK: $17.2K, FD: $16.9K) **EARLY**

BOS: Bjork-Krejci-Pastrnak (DK: $14.6K, FD: $17.5K)

Good luck today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.