NHL DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Sunday Playbook
Published: Dec 15, 2024
Welcome back for another NHL Playbook! We have a short four game slate to take your attention away from the first week of fantasy football playoffs. Sundays are about football, but we can build some good NHL DFS lineups even on a short slate. Let’s dive into the action and see which players we need to be focusing on.
NHL Pick 'Em At Sleeper Today
Before we get into DFS, let’s make some pick’em picks for the night over on Sleeper There are lots of ways we try to fill your wallet over here at Fantasy Alarm and this is just another option.
Sleeper NHL Picks, Sunday, December 15th:
- Auston Matthews O/4.5 SOG
- Martin Necas O/0.5 PPP
- Tage Thompson U/3.5 SOG
Auston Matthews is an elite shooter and he loves to fire the puck on home ice. He’s averaging over five shots on goal at home and he has a great matchup against the Buffalo Sabres, who can’t defend that well and are without Rasmus Dahlin. This is a smash spot for him.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are playing their second game in as many nights and they have a very tough matchup against Carolina. The Blue Jackets aren’t very good on the power play, so we need to exploit that. Martin Necas is having a sensational season, so if anyone can find the scoresheet on the power play, it’s him.
The Sabres have lost nine games in a row and are playing their second game in as many nights. Tage Thompson is an elite forward, but his numbers on the road are just not good. He is averaging just over two shots on goal away from Buffalo and with how good the Leafs have been this season on home ice, it could be a long night. I’ll take the under here and hope for the best.
SALARY CAP DFS
Goalie Of The Day: Pyotr Kochetkov
This is a no-brainer. The Carolina Hurricanes are at home and have a date with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are playing their second game in as many nights. Pyotr Kochetkov is a very good goalie and has the best chance of picking up a win of any goalie on the slate. All we need to confirm is if he’s starting.
Play Of The Day: Auston Matthews - TOR
It was a tossup between Kirill Kaprizov and Auston Matthews, but in the end, I flipped a coin and it landed on Matthews. The Leafs Captain has seven goals in ten home games and averaging over five shots on goal. The volume is key here because he probably needs the shot bonus on DraftKings to hit value. Kaprizov is a good option, but there’s better value on the wing that we can exploit.
Value Play Of The Day: Jake Neighbour - STL
The New York Rangers are a mess and that brings a smile to my face. For DFS purposes, it means we should be exploiting them. St. Louis isn’t elite by any means, but there are players we need to target, one being Jake Neighbour. He’s skating on the second line and top power play unit while also seeing close to 17 minutes a night. He’s affordable and in a pretty decent spot. He’s the best value on the slate.
Stack Of The Day - CAR PP1 (Sebastian Aho - Martin Necas - Andrei Svechnikov)
Columbus is in the bottom third of the league when it comes to killing penalties, so it would be wise to target some Carolina skaters who are on the power play. Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas are two easy choices and if you want some five-on-five correlation, Andrei Svechnikov gives you that. If you need to save some salary, you can swap him for Seth Jarvis or even Shayne Gostisbehere. Whatever three-man power play combination works for you is good with me.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | W | D | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Auston Matthews  $9,700 |  Kirill Kaprizov $9,300 |  Zach Werenski $8,000 |  Pyotr Kochetkov $8,400 |
| Sebastian Aho $7,700 | William Nylander $8,300 | Joseph Woll $8,200 | ||
| Medium |  Robert Thomas $6,100 | Jordan Kyrou $6,500 |  Shea Theodore $5,700 | Filip Gustavsson $7,800 |
| Matt Boldy $7,100 | ||||
 Martin Necas $7,700 | ||||
| Low | Marco Rossi $4,700 | Kent Johnson $5,100 | Shayne Gostisbehere $4,900 | Joel Hofer $7,400 |
 Filip Chytil $4,000 | Max Pacioretty $3,300 | Brock Faber $4,000 | ||
| Christopher Tanev $0 | ||||
 Owen Power $4,600 |
Stacks
| Maple Leafs | Auston Matthews | Mitch Marner | William Nylander |
| DraftKings | 9700 | 7500 | 8300 |
 Fanduel | 8700 | 7700 | 7500 |
| Wild | Brock Faber | Kirill Kaprizov | Matt Boldy |
| DraftKings | 4000 | 9300 | 7100 |
| Fanduel | 5100 | 8700 | 7600 |
| Blues | Jordan Kyrou | Justin Faulk | Robert Thomas |
| DraftKings | 6500 | 4200 | 6100 |
| Fanduel | 6400 | 4900 | 6600 |
| Maple Leafs | Auston Matthews | Mitch Marner | William Nylander |
| DraftKings | 9700 | 7500 | 8300 |
| Fanduel | 8700 | 7700 | 7500 |
| Wild | Brock Faber | Kirill Kaprizov | Matt Boldy |
| DraftKings | 4000 | 9300 | 7100 |
| Fanduel | 5100 | 8700 | 7600 |
| Blues | Jordan Kyrou | Justin Faulk | Robert Thomas |
| DraftKings | 6500 | 4200 | 6100 |
| Fanduel | 6400 | 4900 | 6600 |
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Panthers released TE Jordan Matthews.
Matthews converted to tight end a few years ago and hasn’t made much noise at the position. The change has, however, likely kept him in the league for a few more seasons. He appeared in four games with the Panthers last year but didn’t record any stats on offense. The Panthers also released or waived WR Dax Milne, C Andrew Raym, and TE Colin Granger.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.