NHL DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Sunday Playbook
Published: Mar 16, 2025
Welcome to today's NHL DFS picks and Playbook!
Let's close out the week with a strong five-game slate as the intensity for the playoffs ramps up each and every day.
NHL DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, March 16th
We have a number of teams on the second game of a back-to-back, so be sure to check on the starting goalies tonight.
NHL DFS Pick'em Picks on Sleeper Fantasy
- Evan Bouchard Higher Than 2.5 Shots on Goal
- Evan Rodrigues Higher Than 2.5 Shots on Goal
- Jordan Kyrou Higher Than 3.5 Shots on Goal
Evan Bouchard has been doing his normal thing and firing the puck a ton with 32 shots on goal over his last 10 games, which is tied for the highest on the Oilers with Leon Draisaitl. It's no surprise to see the Oilers with 65.14 Total Shot Attempts Created per 60 minutes in five-on-five situations over the last two weeks, which is the fifth-highest in the league.
Evan Rodrigues, yes, Evan Rodrigues leads the Panthers with 30 shots on goal over the last 10 games. It's not Aleksander Barkov, not Sam Reinhart, and not Carter Verhaeghe. Rodrigues isn't scoring a ton but with a role on the first forward line and the first power-play unit, he will have plenty of chances to rack up the shots against a weak Islanders defense.
Jordan Kyrou is coming off a hat trick the other night and while that isn't sustainable, the shot volume is. A solid 29 shots on goal over the last 10 games is exactly what the St. Louis Blues need as they make a push toward a Western Conference wild-card spot. This is a juicy matchup against the Anaheim Ducks, who have allowed 73.23 Total Shot Attempts per 60 minutes in five-on-five situations over the last two weeks, which is the worst in the league.
Sunday Salary Cap DFS Picks
Goalie Of The Day: Vitek Vanecek - FLA
The Florida Panthers played last night and had Sergei Bobrovsky in net, so I'm guessing it will be Vitek Vanecek between the pipes tonight, but we need final confirmation.
The Panthers are looking to bounce back after yesterday's loss and they have a strong matchup to do so against the New York Islanders. Over the last two weeks, the Islanders have scored 1.51 Goals per 60 minutes in five-on-five situations, which is the third-lowest in the league. They haven't had a strong offense for years and this season is no different, which puts Vanecek in a plus matchup.
Over that same time, the Panthers have only allowed 1.49 Goals per 60 minutes in five-on-five situations, which is the sixth-best in the league. Vanecke might not be Bobrovsky but the matchup is a great one to attack.
Play Of The Day: Leon Draisaitl - EDM
It's always tough to decide between Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on any given NHL DFS slate but more and more I'm leaning towards Draisaitl.
Over the last 10 games, Draisaitl has 8 goals, 7 assists, and 32 shots on goal. In the last 10 games for McDavid, he has 2 goals, 12 assists, and 25 shots on goal. The goals are what we're truly after here and Draisaitl is shooting at a higher volume and grabbing the goals, as he's been going all year.
The Edmonton Oilers come in with a slate-high 3.6 implied and Draisaitl will likely be involved with that.
Value Play Of The Day: Zack Bolduc - STL
Zack Bolduc comes in with 6 goals, 1 assist, and 17 shots on goal over his last 10 games, making him a viable value option tonight at under $5K on DraftKings.
Is he going to continue scoring at this rate forever? No, but he's got the hot hand right now and he has a solid matchup against the Anaheim Ducks, which gives the St. Louis Blues a 3.2 implied goal total tonight. With a role on the third forward line, and more importantly the first power-play unit, Bolduc will still have chances to pile up the goals.
Stack Of The Day: WPG L1/PP1 (Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi)
As much as I like the Edmonton Oilers and their 3.6 implied goal total tonight, we can't play all of their top players. They are very expensive and it can strain lineup construction when we are dealing with a five-game slate and a lack of value options across the board.
The Winnipeg Jets have a 3.2 implied goal total and are just a bit more affordable, which is always helpful. They are going up against the Seattle Kraken, who have allowed 3.01 Goals per 60 minutes in five-on-five situations over the last two weeks, which is the sixth-worst in the league.
We have full correlation from the first forward line to the first power-play unit, which should have plenty of chances of grabbing multiple goals tonight.
Today's NHL DFS Cheat Sheet & Stacks
Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | W | D | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Leon Draisaitl  $9,000 |  Kyle Connor $8,500 | Evan Bouchard $6,500 | Connor Hellebuyck $7,900 |
| Connor McDavid $8,900 |  Sam Reinhart $7,700 | Josh Morrissey $6,200 | ||
 Artemi Panarin $8,200 |  Quinn Hughes $6,600 | |||
 Clayton Keller $8,100 | ||||
| Medium | Mark Scheifele $7,400 | Nikolaj Ehlers $7,100 | Jake Walman $6,000 | Vitek Vanecek $7,600 |
 Robert Thomas $6,900 | Gabriel Vilardi $6,800 |  Vince Dunn $5,900 | Jordan Binnington $7,700 | |
| Sam Bennett $7,000 |  Frank Vatrano $7,000 | Mikhail Sergachev $5,900 | ||
| J.T. Miller $6,600 | Jordan Kyrou $6,500 | |||
| Zach Hyman $6,400 | ||||
| Low | Logan Cooley $6,400 | Evan Rodrigues $4,800 | Darnell Nurse $5,700 |  Ilya Sorokin $7,000 |
| Pavel Buchnevich $5,800 | Zack Bolduc $5,000 | Justin Faulk $4,900 | ||
| Brayden Schenn $5,700 | Viktor Arvidsson $5,400 | Gustav Forsling $4,800 | ||
| Chris Kreider $5,400 |
Stacks
| Jets | Mark Scheifele | Gabriel Vilardi | Kyle Connor |
 DraftKings | 6600 | 6700 | 7900 |
| Fanduel | 7400 | 6800 | 8500 |
| Oilers | Connor McDavid | Evan Bouchard | Leon Draisaitl |
| DraftKings | 9200 | 6700 | 8400 |
| Fanduel | 8900 | 6500 | 9000 |
| Jets | Mark Scheifele | Gabriel Vilardi | Kyle Connor |
| DraftKings | 6600 | 6700 | 7900 |
| Fanduel | 7400 | 6800 | 8500 |
| Oilers | Connor McDavid | Evan Bouchard | Leon Draisaitl |
| DraftKings | 9200 | 6700 | 8400 |
| Fanduel | 8900 | 6500 | 9000 |
| Jets | Mark Scheifele | Gabriel Vilardi | Kyle Connor |
| DraftKings | 6600 | 6700 | 7900 |
| Fanduel | 7400 | 6800 | 8500 |
| Oilers | Connor McDavid | Evan Bouchard | Leon Draisaitl |
| DraftKings | 9200 | 6700 | 8400 |
| Fanduel | 8900 | 6500 | 9000 |
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.