This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Wednesday's NHL slate consists of four games after 7:30 p.m. EST. Below, you'll find a breakdown of the action and suggested options for crafting an effective DraftKings DFS lineup. All game lines and odds used below come courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
SLATE PREVIEW
The two obvious teams to build around Wednesday are the Avalanche and Hurricanes, who are substantial home favorites against the Ducks and Flyers, respectively. Anaheim-Colorado is tied with Seattle-Edmonton for the highest over/under at 6.5 goals. An Islanders-Canucks matchup rounds out the schedule.
GOALIES
Antti Raanta, CAR vs. PHI ($8,300): Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov ($8,100) are splitting the net for Carolina with Frederik Andersen out indefinitely. Raanta's 4-2-0 despite an ugly 3.01 GAA and .878 save percentage, but his rate stats figure to improve moving forward, as he posted a 2.45 GAA and 2.23 GAA in his previous two seasons with the Hurricanes. A visit from a Flyers team that has the second-worst power play in the league at 7.7 percent offers a nice opportunity for Raanta to start improving those peripherals.
Thatcher Demko, VAN vs. NYI ($7,900): Demko's the chalk goalie play Wednesday against an Islanders team that's tied for the second-fewest goals per game at 2.36. He'll be eager to bounce back after a clunker against the Maple Leafs last time out, and even after that ugly outing, Demko sports an impressive 7-3-0 record, 1.96 GAA and .934 save percentage. Demko already has two shutouts as well.
Ilya Sorokin, NYI at VAN ($7,500): Sorokin has actually been outplayed by backup Semyon Varlamov ($7,300) thus far, but both Russian netminders benefit from the Islanders' defensive style. He'll face plenty of rubber from a Canucks offense that's averaging a league-best 4.40 goals per game, and while Sorokin's 3.21 GAA and .907 save percentage this season are nothing to write home about, his career 2.39 and .923 marks suggest there's some upside here as an against-the-grain value play.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Connor McDavid, EDM vs. SEA ($9,200): McDavid's off to a quiet start by his sky-high standards, and there's speculation that he came back from injury early to play in the Heritage Classic in late October, but last season's leading scorer is still capable of coming alive and carrying a lineup on any given night. Perhaps he's getting healthier, as McDavid notched multiple points in Edmonton's previous game, marking the first time he has done that since Oct. 21. He has a 3-9-12 line in 12 appearances, averaging a point per game after racking up 153 points in 82 games in 2022-23. Given the uncertainty over whether McDavid's playing at full health, teammate Leon Draisaitl ($8,500) makes for a sensible alternative.
J.T. Miller, VAN vs. NYI ($7,400): Miller's 9-14-23 line is good for second on the Canucks' league-best offense in both goals and points through 15 games, trailing Brock Boeser ($7,100) and Elias Pettersson ($8,400) by three goals and two points, respectively. With a 3-4-7 line during his current four-game point streak, Miller's well on his way to a third consecutive season over a point per game.
Owen Tippett, PHI at CAR ($5,200): Tippett's tied with Travis Konecny ($6,600) and Cam Atkinson ($5,700) for the team lead with 48 shots, but Tippett has been the unluckiest of the three, scoring only five goals while both teammates have at least eight. The 24-year-old winger's luck has been turning around lately, though, as three of those five goals have come in the last two games. His ability to put the puck on net could prove useful against a Hurricanes team that's gotten shaky goaltending this season.
Ryan Strome, ANH at COL ($4,300): You don't have to break the bank for Strome, who is off to a hot start. Strome's averaging a point per game through 14, and all three other Ducks with at least 12 points this season have a valuation at least $2,000 greater than Strome's.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Avalanche vs. Ducks
Nathan MacKinnon (C - $9,800), Mikko Rantanen (W - $8,600), Valeri Nichushkin (W - $4,700)
Rantanen and MacKinnon have been their usual dominant selves, with 10-11-21 and 6-12-18 lines, respectively, through 14 games. MacKinnon also ranks third in the NHL with 68 shots on goal. Nichushkin's an appealing value play as long as it's his turn to share the ice with Colorado's pair of elite forwards. The hulking Russian's 3-6-9 line is good for the third-most points among Colorado's forwards.
Hurricanes vs. Flyers
Sebastian Aho (C - $6,500), Seth Jarvis (W - $5,500), Andrei Svechnikov (W - $5,300)
You can lock in Carolina's entire top line and still have room to spend elsewhere as the Hurricanes look to stay perfect at home this season. Aho's 4-9-13 line has come in just 12 appearances, and that production includes a 3-4-7 output in his last five games. Jarvis has a 5-5-10 line through 15 games, and this is a buy-low opportunity on Svechnikov, who has four helpers through seven games since returning from injury.
Kraken at Oilers
Matty Beniers (C - $4,300), Jaden Schwartz (W - $5,800), Kailer Yamamoto (W - $3,500)
Seattle has struggled this season, but a matchup with an Oilers team that's allowing 3.71 goals per game might just get the Kraken's top line going. Schwartz has been the team's most productive player, as he leads the Kraken with eight goals and is tied for the team lead with 14 points. Beniers had a 24-33-57 line in his first full season last year, and the 2021 second-overall pick should pick up the pace from his 1-6-7 line through 16 games once his 3.8 shooting percentage starts to normalize closer to his career 14.6 percent mark. Yamamoto has a modest 2-2-4 line, but he may have some extra motivation here facing his former team.
DEFENSEMEN
Cale Makar, COL vs. ANH ($7,700): Makar's worth paying up for as a standalone option or part of larger Colorado stack against a Ducks team that's finishing up a back-to-back set. The star defenseman is tied with MacKinnon for second on the Avalanche in points with a 4-14-18 line, and he's also second in points among defensemen, trailing only Vancouver's Quinn Hughes ($7,300) by five.
Evan Bouchard, EDM vs. SEA ($6,100): Despite Edmonton's overall struggles, Bouchard has picked up where he left off after breaking out in the second half of last season. His 3-9-12 line through 14 games includes seven points in his role on the Oilers' star-studded top power-play unit, which should thrive against a 71.4 percent Kraken penalty kill that ranks fourth-worst in the NHL.
Vince Dunn, SEA at EDM ($4,600): Dunn's tied with Schwartz for the team lead in points, and he finished second on the Kraken last season with 64 points. Given his sustained production and the favorable matchup against the defensively challenged Oilers, Dunn's a terrific value at $4,600.
Ryan Pulock, NYI at VAN ($3,800): Pulock's two-way contributions make him a nice bargain blueliner. He has blocked multiple shots in seven of the past eight games while adding a 1-2-3 line over the past six. Pulock has topped the 30-point threshold on three previous occasions.
