DraftKings NHL DFS Picks: Fantasy Hockey Targets and Stacks For August 17

There are four games on Monday and four series that stand at 2-1, and the NHL DFS slate gets going at 3 p.m. E.T. with a group of pivotal Game 4s. There are a lot of moving parts today as many teams have had their rosters shaken up by injuries, and some new lines should lead to some new opportunities. Below you’ll find some of the best choices for both high-priced and value stacks on today’s NHL slate.

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Top Stacks

Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon ($8,500), Mikko Rantanen ($7,100), Gabriel Landeskog ($5,800)

The Avalanche has mixed and matched throughout the series, flipping back and forth between a top-heavy and a more balanced approach. For Game 3, the Avs decided to keep their big guns together with MacKinnon, Rantanen and Landeskog sharing almost all of their even-strength ice time. This trio is always in play for a few shifts and also for power-play time but if with a full game’s worth of correlation it becomes a lot harder to pass up on them. The matchup against the Coyotes continues to be a relatively average one, but the combination of talent and increased ice time is as good as it gets on Monday’s slate.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Brayden Point ($6,700), Nikita Kucherov ($8,000), Ondrej Palat ($4,800)

The Lightning continues to play this series without Steven Stamkos ($6,300) and while the games have been close without him, it’s not for lack of scoring opportunities. Point, Kucherov and Palat were one of the best lines in the NHL this year and they’ve continued that in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. The expected goals and high-danger scoring chance metrics are there, so it’s not a fluke that this line has already tallied six goals in three games and they’ve arguably deserved even more. They should continue to be one of the best-producing groups through the rest of this series and the rest of the playoffs.

Value Stacks

Colorado Avalanche

Nazem Kadri ($5,400), Valeri Nichushkin ($3,100), Joonas Donskoi ($3,100)

The depth lines of the Avalanche continue to be underpriced, with this second line, in particular, coming in at just $11.6K collectively. The Avalanche are probably the best offensive team on today’s slate and while the aforementioned first line gets most of the recognition, there are still plenty of competent players below them on the roster. Kadri, Nichushkin and Donskoi possess plenty of skill and they should also benefit from drawing less defensive attention from the opposing Arizona Coyotes.

Carolina Hurricanes

Vincent Trocheck ($4,300), Martin Necas ($2,900), Ryan Dzingel ($2,500)

The Hurricanes will be forced to make some changes in Game 4 without the team’s best winger in Andrei Svechnikov and this new look line of Trocheck, Necas and Dzingel will be an important group in terms of making up for that key loss. We don't actually know for sure that these guys will be playing together so this is more of a best guess, but the Hurricanes’ depth players are underpriced and however they match up would be appealing. Dzingel actually didn’t dress for Game 3 on Saturday but he should be in there for Svechnikov and while he didn’t have a great season, he has a very strong track record of goal-scoring capability. However the lines break down, there are players here that are definitely worth watching out for.

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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.