There are 10 games on the NHL DFS slate for Thursday, so there are plenty of strong options at SuperDraft. Half of the games have a goal total of at least six. The Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens are leading the way with a goal total of 6.5.
Below you’ll see a few of my top plays at each position followed by a few honorable mentions. The Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche have the highest team implied totals on the slate and they’re all very strong options this evening.
Center
Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes vs. OTT (1X score multiplier)
Aho only has a 1X multiplier on SuperDraft, but he’s hard to ignore. He and Nathan MacKinnon are my top two centers on the slate. The Sens have allowed a league-high 3.94 goals per 60 minutes, and they let in six last night to the low-scoring Vancouver Canucks. Ottawa has lost five straight games and they’ve allowed at least four goals in each of those games. Aho has a healthy 10 goals and 20 points on the season, and he has two games over the last two weeks where he put seven pucks on the net. Aho and Andrei Svechnikov make a lot of sense tonight.
Nazem Kadri, Colorado Avalanche @ MTL (1.65X)
Kadri has a ridiculous 25 points in his past 13 games and checks in with a 1.65X multiplier. He’s hit the score sheet in 12 of his last 13 games. I prefer MacKinnon, but the Avs could easily score five or six goals tonight and Kadri has six in his last eight games.
Others to consider: Nathan MacKinnon, Joe Paveslki, Evgeny Kuznetsov
Winger
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche @ MTL (1.6X)
The Avs got rocked Wednesday night in Toronto, but they’re in a great spot to bounce back against the Montreal Canadiens. Rantanen had three goals and four points two games ago, and he’s put 23 pucks on goal in his past six games. He has seven goals and 16 points in his last nine games. His center Nathan MacKinnon returned to the lineup Wednesday and had two assists and five shots on goal. MacKinnon and Rantanen make for a strong duo as the Habs have allowed 3.53 goals per 60 minutes, which is the second-highest mark in the league. They’re among the leaders in penalties taken and they have one of the game’s worst penalty kills (63% on home ice).
Roope Hintz, Minnesota Wild vs. CBJ (1.75X)
Hintz is fresh off scoring a hat trick in his last game and enters Thursday’s game riding a five-game point streak in which he has seven goals and nine points. All 10 of his goals came in the month of November after a slow start to the season. He has at least three shots on goal in 10 of his past 11 games and 14 of his last 17 contests. The Blue Jackets have allowed the sixth-most shot attempts and the second-most shots at 5v5 per 60 minutes. On top of that, they’ve surrendered 3.06 GA/60 (third-most) and they rank inside the top 10 in scoring chances and high-danger chances allowed.
Others to consider: Andrei Svechnikov, Alex Ovechkin, Sam Bennett, Jonathan Huberdeau, Kirill Kaprizov, Jason Robertson, Ryan Hartman
Defense
Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers vs. BUF (1.7X)
Ekblad will always be a strong play for me regardless of the matchup if his multiplier continues to sit at 1.7X. He had three points in his last game and 10 in his last eight games. He’s among the leaders in ice time as he’s played at least 26 minutes in three of his past four games.
Others to consider: Cale Makar, John Carlson, Miro Heiskanen, Jonas Brodin
Goalie
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning vs. STL (1.25X)
All the other goalies listed below are in really good spots to pick up wins, but Vasilevskiy is safe and has the highest ceiling. Vasilevskiy has back-to-back shutouts on home ice, and he’s allowed two or fewer goals in five of his past six home games.
Others to consider: Antti Raanta, Sergei Bobrovsky, Jake Oettinger
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
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