DFS Lines To Target: 12/13/19

It’s a typically slow Friday night in the NHL with just two games on the slate. There are no high-priced stacks I’d want to pay for tonight, but there are a few mid-range and value stacks worth targeting. I’ve gone over my top picks for each below. Good luck!

Mid-Range

Dallas 1 – @Jamie Benn ($5,500), @Mattias Janmark ($3,200), @Tyler Seguin ($6,900)

Dallas’ top line saw a mix of the opponent’s top-nine in Rick Bowness’ first home game behind the bench, so I’m assuming that will be their matchup spread again tonight. The Golden Knights create as many scoring chances as any team in the NHL, but they’re vulnerable defensively as a result. They surrender the eight most high-danger chances per 60 in the league. While their production has taken a hit in recent years, Benn and Seguin are still an elite duo at even strength. Dallas averages a robust 35 scoring and 15 high-danger chances per 60 when the two of them are on the ice. Look for them to take advantage of the Golden Knights’ high-risk playstyle tonight.

Adding to their upside tonight is the potential power-play production. Benn and Seguin are both heavily featured on the Stars top power-play unit, and the Golden Knights penalty-kill is in a bit of a slump. The team owns the seventh-worst PK% in the league (75.7%) over the last 30 days. Inversely, the Stars power-play ranks ninth in the NHL over that same timespan. Janmark won’t be joining his line-mates on the top unit, but he is seeing some time with the second power-play unit. His bottom-of-the-barrel price tag brings some much-needed affordability to the full stack.

Value

New Jersey 3 – @Jesper Boqvist ($2,900), @Jack Hughes ($4,100), @Wayne Simmonds ($3,600)

Last summer’s first overall pick continues to bounce up and down the Devils lineup. After spending most of the last few games on the top line with @Taylor Hall, Hughes will centre Simmonds and Boqvist on line three tonight. Hughes will most likely see Colorado’s new-look second line of @Gabriel Landeskog, @Nazem Kadri, and @Mikko Rantanen at even strength tonight.

Coach Jared Bednar has been trying to shelter the Kadri line on home ice lately, most likely due to their disastrous defensive play. He’s avoided using them against the opponent’s top-six, most often matching them up with the opposing third line. Kadri has been grossly outshot and out-chanced at 5v5 this season, and he hasn’t fared any better with Landeskog or Rantanen on his wings. Hughes, on the other hand, has been his most effective with Simmonds on his wing this season. The two of them are averaging 11 high-danger chances per 60 while surrendering just five to the opposition. They should see plenty of quality zonetime and scoring chances against the Kadri line at 5v5, and their power-play correlation gives them that extra bit of upside. Both Simmonds and Hughes are currently on the Devils’ second power-play unit. Feel free to omit Boqvist in favour of the mini-stack.