NHL DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Thursday Playbook
Published: Jan 02, 2025
Welcome to the very first edition of the NHL DFS Playbook in the year 2025! Happy New Year to everyone and what a way to kick things off with 12 games around the league to dig into for our lineup building!
We have a multitude of teams on this slate with goal totals around four, so we are going to need to make some tough choices. Let’s take a look at some options and see if we can make it all come together.
NHL DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, January 2nd
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.
- Nikolaj Ehlers O/2.5 SOG
- Brock Boeser O/0.5 P
- Nikita Kucherov O/3.5 SOG
NHL DFS Pick'em Picks On Sleeper Fantasy
You could honestly go with anybody in the Jets lineup tonight to bet on for their shots prop as they are going to put up big numbers against this Ducks defense. Anaheim allows the 2nd most shots against per game in the NHL this season at 34.4 on the road, only the Sharks are worse. Ehlers logs big minutes for the Jets and should have no problem reaching 3 shots on goal, lock this one in and cash it.
I think the hockey world has a pretty good on again and off again with Boeser and that's fair but right now he's on the ball with 6 points in the last 4 games and his Canucks play an average at best Seattle team that is allowing 3.11 goals per game this season. Just one point is all it takes to cash this prop, let's do it!
You may be sensing a theme with the picks but another horrible defense is the San Jose Sharks and now that their goaltending is coming back to earth they are struggling and allowing 30.6 shots per game at home, 5th most in the NHL. Enter Kucherov who has posted 63 shots on net over just 16 games played, he should soar over 3.5 shots tonight.
Thursday Salary Cap DFS Picks
Goalie Of The Day: Connor Hellebuyck - WPG
This is going to be the mega chalk of the day, and I looked for reasons to pivot but I just couldn't find any good way to fade the best goalie in the NHL tonight.
He's first in so many analytical categories including goals saved above expected in which he is miles ahead at 26.5 of everyone else. The matchup against the Ducks is an easy one too so I will not be overthinking this one tonight.
Player Of The Day: Nikita Kucherov - TB
I think for player of the day you could go a couple different directions, but I chose Kuch as the Lightning head to San Jose to take on the lowly Sharks. San Jose has lost 8 straight games and has yet to win without MacKenzie Blackwood in net and during that span they have given up 32 goals for an average of 4 goals per game.
This is a game that Kuch and the Lightning could go nuclear, and I just can't miss out on the exposure to him or this group of players tonight.
Value Play Of The Day: Victor Olofsson - VGK
I like the Golden Knights all around tonight as the matchup against the Flyers is a great one as they are allowing 3.6 goals per game on the road this season the 5th most in the NHL. I came to select Olofsson though as his exposure on the top forward and power play units gives incredible opportunity given his price on DraftKings of 4.6k. The chances are going to be there and even if he doesn't score himself a chance of some points remains clear.
Stack Of The Day - TB PP1 (Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov & Victor Hedman)
Back on the attack against the Sharks tonight but this time with a full-on stack of players! These guys all log huge minutes and, in a game where the Lightning could easily score 4-5 goals, it's going to be critical to stack them all up. They are all members of the top powerplay unit as well which never hurts!
Today's NHL DFS Cheat Sheet & Stacks
Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | W | D | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Nathan MacKinnon  $9,800 |  Nikita Kucherov $9,700 | Cale Makar $8,200 |  Connor Hellebuyck $7,800 |
| Brayden Point $7,000 | Kyle Connor $8,400 |  Zach Werenski $5,700 | Andrei Vasilevskiy $7,600 | |
 Jack Eichel $0 |  Mikko Rantanen $8,500 | |||
| Medium | Mark Scheifele $6,600 | Brandon Hagel $4,900 | Victor Hedman $5,700 |  Logan Thompson $0 |
 Dylan Larkin $7,700 | Mark Stone $0 | Shea Theodore $0 |  Jeremy Swayman $8,300 | |
 J.T. Miller $7,300 | Wyatt Johnston $4,900 | Josh Morrissey $6,500 | ||
| Nikolaj Ehlers $5,700 | ||||
| Gabriel Vilardi $5,800 | ||||
| Low | Ross Colton $4,000 | Kent Johnson $3,500 | Neal Pionk $3,700 | Elvis Merzlikins $7,100 |
| Elias Lindholm $5,200 | Victor Olofsson $0 | Noah Hanifin $4,200 | ||
| Adam Lowry $3,300 | Alexis Lafreniere $4,200 | Damon Severson $4,000 | ||
| Nick Paul $4,000 | Cole Perfetti $4,800 |
Stacks
| Lightning | Brayden Point | Victor Hedman | Nikita Kucherov |
| DraftKings | 7000 | 5700 | 9700 |
 Fanduel | - | - | - |
| Jets | Mark Scheifele | Kyle Connor | Josh Morrissey |
| DraftKings | 6600 | 8400 | 6500 |
| Fanduel | - | - | - |
| Golden Knights | Victor Olofsson | Shea Theodore | Jack Eichel |
| DraftKings | - | - | - |
| Fanduel | - | - | - |
Player News
Ivica Zubac had a productive outing, finishing with 27 points (11-of-15 FGs, 5-of-8 FTs), five rebounds, one assist and two blocks in the Game 5 loss to the Nuggets on Tuesday.
Zubac continued to score the ball well, finishing with a series-high in points on efficient shooting. However, Zubac’s usual impact on the glass was absent, securing just five rebounds in Game 5 after tallying at least nine in the previous four, with his one assist also tying his lowest output of the series. Down in the series 3-2, the Clippers head back to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Thursday, where they face a must-win situation to keep their season alive.
James Harden concluded Tuesday’s Game 5 loss to the Nuggets with 11 points (3-of-9 FGs, 5-of-8 FTs), eight rebounds, five assists and two steals in 35 minutes.
Harden had a quiet night on Tuesday, barely cracking double figures in scoring and failing to register double-digit shot attempts. The 2018 NBA MVP has faced a stifling Nuggets defense that, over the last few games, has forced the ball out of his hands, leading to inferior performances compared to earlier games in the series. Harden will look for a bounce-back performance on Thursday as he tries to lead the Clippers to a season-saving victory in Game 6.
Kawhi Leonard stuffed the stat sheet in Tuesday’s Game 5 loss to the Nuggets, posting 20 points (8-of-15 FGs, 3-of-7 FTs), nine rebounds, 11 assists, one steal, two blocks and one three-pointer.
Leonard did a little bit of everything for the Clippers in Game 5. The two-time NBA Finals MVP posted a series-high in assists and also hit the glass hard, resulting in a near-triple-double. Leonard has scored at least 20 points in all five games of this series. However, the Clippers may need even more from him going forward as they look to extend their season beyond Thursday’s Game 6 at the Intuit Dome.
Nikola Jokic earned a triple-double in the Nuggets’ Game 5 win on Tuesday over the Clippers, finishing with 13 points (4-of-13 FGs, 4-of-5 FTs), 10 rebounds, 12 assists, one steal, two blocks and one three-pointer.
The three-time NBA MVP had a relatively quiet game by his standards, but still came away with his third triple-double of the series. Jokic struggled with shooting efficiency, and his scoring output was the lowest of the series. Yet, his points were not as necessary in this game, given how well the rest of the Nuggets shot the ball. Nevertheless, Jokic will be in line for another big performance on Thursday when the Nuggets face the Clippers in Game 6.
Russell Westbrook came off the bench and produced 21 points (8-of-15 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), one rebound, one assist and three three-pointers in the Nuggets’ Game 5 win over the Clippers on Tuesday.
Westbrook was electric in his first game back in the lineup following a foot injury that kept him out of Game 4. His second-quarter scoring ignited the crowd and helped set the table for what would be his highest-scoring game of the postseason. The 2017 NBA MVP has had himself a nice series thus far from a scoring standpoint and will have a chance to end his former team’s season on Thursday in Game 6.
Teoscar Hernández went 4-for-5 with two doubles, four RBI, and two runs scored to lead the Dodgers to a 15-2 win over the Marlins on Tuesday.
Hernández continues to come through with runners on for the Dodgers as he drove in four on Tuesday on four hits, including two doubles. The 32-year-old slugger is up to an MLB-high 31 RBI while slashing .297/.313/.613 with nine homers and two steals across 116 plate appearances.