Welcome to ‘NHL DraftKings Wednesday Slate Stack Attack’. This article will focus on the best NHL lineup stacks on DraftKings for Wednesday February 13th.
For those who didn’t read my last NHL DraftKings article two days ago, I suggested a Penguins stack and it ended up paying off big time.
Three players in my lineup hit double-digit DraftKings points including Sidney Crosby (10), Alexander Ovechkin (11), and Matt Murray (12). Kris Letang (7.5) and Crosby’s linemates Jake Guentzel (6.5) and Bryan Rust (3.5) also did very well making this one of my most successful top-five stacks in recent memory.
There are only two games to look at ahead of tonight with both of them locking at 8 p.m. so there isn’t much wiggle room for late stack swaps. Let’s see if we can make lightning strike twice!
I will begin by looking at my favorite line/power play stacks before transitioning to ideal value picks. I may also refer to a ‘top-five stack’ which is a team’s top line combined with their number-one defenceman and starting goaltender.
Although a Pittsburgh stack is always appealing, I won’t be starting there tonight as everyone’s price has gone up from last game thus making things very expensive. They’re still playing the lowly Oilers on a two-game slate so I will certainly be featuring them as the alternative stack.
We’ll actually start with Vancouver as they head into Anaheim to take advantage of duck season.
NHL DraftKings Wednesday Slate Lineup Stack Attack
Vancouver Canucks (25-25-7) @ Anaheim Ducks (21-26-9)
This is a strange place to begin as Vancouver has been playing average hockey at best as of late, but there’s just so much to like about any team going up against Anaheim these days.
First of all, the Ducks are coming off an absolutely disastrous road trip that saw them go winless through five games while allowing 29 goals. To make matters worse, it appears as though John Gibson will not be available to play. He still hasn’t practiced after leaving last Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury.
Ryan Miller is also still out due to injury paving the way for another start from backup journeyman Chad Johnson. It’s been a rough season for the Ducks’ third-string tendy as Johnson has gone 2-11 with a 3.63 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage over 19 games between Anaheim and St. Louis.
From a DFS standpoint, stacking against him seems like a dream. A good place to start is with a top-five stack featuring Elias Pettersson ($6.6K), Brock Boeser ($6K), Josh Leivo ($3.5K), Ben Hutton ($3.9K), and Jacob Markstrom ($7.6K).
With 5.6K left per remaining roster slot, that’s a very affordable stack that gives you 60% of the top power play. Leivo also plays on the second unit.
If you want to be a sneaky contrarian, you could stack the other line featuring Bo Horvat ($5.6K), Antoine Roussel ($3K), and Zack MacEwen ($4K). MacEwen is a rookie who recorded an assist and two shots in his NHL debut during a 7-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
This line gives you less exposure to the top power play. MacEwen is currently on the second power play unit but Roussel has no power play exposure at all. I would potentially take Horvat and/or MacEwen either as one-offs or as a mini-stack if I decide to stack Penguins; however, I wouldn’t prioritize any player on that line.
Adding both Horvat and Nikolay Goldobin ($3.3K) to the main top-five stack does gives you Vancouver’s entire top power play along with $6.75K for your remaining two roster slots so there is some additional incentive to squeeze in Horvat.
Now let’s tackle those expensive Penguins.
NHL DraftKings Wednesday Slate Lineup Stack Attack
Pittsburgh Penguins (29-20-7) @ Edmonton Oilers (24-26-1)
It’s tricky to decide whether to take a Pittsburgh stack over a Vancouver stack; however, Edmonton is just as vulnerable these days. Over their last five games, they’ve gone 1-4 while allowing 21 goals.
It doesn’t matter whether they start Cam Talbot or Mikko Koskinen as both have been the definition of shaky lately. The Oilers are also second last in the league on the penalty kill. It’s honestly hard to tell who’s worse these days when comparing them to Anaheim.
The Pens’ stack options are similar to my last article; however, this time we know that Evgeni Malkin will be out ahead of time.
You would naturally save quite a bit of salary using the second line; however, it’s hard to fade the Crosby top-five stack after the dominant performance they put up last game.
To refresh your memory, a top-five stack begins with Sidney Crosby (up $300 to $7.6K), along with his linemates Jake Guentzel (up $300 to $6.2K) and Bryan Rust (up $200 to $5.3K). Kris Letang (up $500 to $6K) and Matt Murray (up $800 to $8.3K) would round things out leaving a lowly $4.1K for each remaining roster spot. It’s tough to pay $2100 more than I did for this same stack two days ago.
Although Murray is the likely starter, I would encourage you to keep an eye on the news throughout the day in case they opt to go with Casey DeSmith (up $800 to $8.1K and he didn’t even play last game).
Marcus Pettersson ($3K) is an even greater value player to use than before. His price only went up $200 yet he still plays on the top pairing and has now been upgraded to the first power play. He will be leaned on even more heavily as well in wake of the injury to Olli Maatta.
It’s hard to say whether or not Pittsburgh will roll Tanner Pearson–Nick Bjugstad–Phil Kessel as the second line in Malkin’s absence; therefore, I encourage you to follow a Penguins beat reporter such as @JMackeyPG on Twitter in order to see which line combinations the team decides on at today’s morning skate.
Now that we’ve looked at some potential stacks, it’s time to spot the value before creating our lineups.
NHL DraftKings Wednesday Slate Lineup Stack Attack
Spotting The Value
If you choose to go with a Vancouver stack, there are some solid value options from each side of the Pittsburgh-Edmonton game.
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As previously mentioned, there’s a lot we won’t know about the Penguins’ line combinations until today’s morning skate (unless you’re reading this later on in the day). What we do know is they’ve been happy with Nick Bjugstad ($3.7K) since his arrival; therefore, it would be surprising to see him absent from the top-six or the power play.
The Pens have also used Dominik Simon ($3.2K) and Tanner Pearson ($3.1K) in power play and top-six situations this season thus making them potential value plays as well.
Remember, Marcus Pettersson is a must-use in his current role at $3K.
If you want to find value in Oil Country, look no further than Zack Kassian ($2.5K). He doesn’t get power play time, but he’s on the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He also has six goal and eight points over his last ten games. At that ridiculously low price, he’s worth a dart throw.
If you decide to stack Penguins, there’s value to be had in the Vancouver-Anaheim game and all of it is with the Canucks. As you likely understand, I cannot recommend a single Ducks player in good faith right now.
Maybe Nick Ritchie ($4.3K) as a value play in a worst-case scenario, but I digress.
To recap the Vancouver value i’ve already touched on: Zack MacEwen ($4K; Line 1, PP2), Nikolay Goldobin ($3.3K; Line 3, PP1), and Antoine Roussel ($3K; Line 1, no PP) are all viable cash-saving plays. Jake Virtanen ($3.4K; Line 3, PP2) can also be considered.
Sample Lineup
Remember, this is just a re-creation of what an ideal lineup might look like based on my opinion. This is not a surefire NHL DraftKings winner and should not be directly used as your lineup.
Also, remember to check both your lineups and the news as close to lock as possible as starting goaltenders, healthy scratches, and injuries occur constantly. It’s not nearly as bad as basketball but you should still be on your toes. Good luck tonight!
C: Pettersson ($6.6K)
C: Horvat ($5.6K)
W: Draisaitl ($7K)
W: Boeser ($6K)
W: Leivo ($3.5K)
D: Hutton ($3.9K)
D: Pettersson ($3K)
G: Markstrom ($7.6K)
UTIL: Letang ($6K)
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