NHL DFS Picks for December 17, 2025: Top Stacks, Best Value Plays & Goalie Targets
Wednesday, December 17th. Much lighter slate than yesterday across the industry, but still an interesting 5-gamer. Let’s get to it.
Top Stack of the Day
Winnipeg Power Play 1 (Vilardi, Scheifele, Perfetti, Morrissey, Connor)
This is less a bet on the Jets and more an indictment of how awful St. Louis has been. Road Favorites with perfect correlation, Winnipeg is in a great spot to get fantasy players a nice return on investment tonight. Yes, they are expensive, but they deserve it and I wouldn’t begrudge anyone from firing up a full 5 man stack here.
Top Value Stack of the Day
Las Vegas Golden Knights 1 (Marner, Howden, Stone)
OR
Las Vegas Golden Knights 2 (Barbashev, Hertl, Dorofeyev)
Jack Eichel will be out tonight at home versus New Jersey and that opens up tons of value elsewhere in the Knights top 6. They will be shuffling the lines a little to account for this, but overall, either top 6 pairing, the first or second line, will see bumps across the board because Eichel normally accounts for such a large part of the Golden Knights offense. I’m partial to Dorofeyev/Hertl myself, but I can be convinced that VGK 1 is the better spot. Either way, take advantage of the Eichel illness to get some teammates who will be forced to step up tonight.
TOP C Value
Cody Glass, New Jersey Devils (3.0k DK)
In the same game, we have Cody Glass centering NJ2 and NJ PP2, at a price that really should be much higher by now. He has had this role since Hughes went out with the freak finger injury and he has been great. Expect more of the same tonight versus a depleted Knights.
Top W Value
Michael Carcone, Utah Mammoth (3.0k DK)
All of the Knights wingers are great value tonight and both linemates for Glass make sense for New Jersey, but give me something different in Carcone. He has been a bulwark of the Mammoth 3rd line that has been getting the job done going back to last season and tonight gets to head to Detroit in a pick’em which should also be one of the highest scoring matchups of the night. He gets a couple of opportunities every game and if he converts one, you could be looking at a tournament winner for 3k.
Top D Value
Noah Hanifin, Las Vegas Golden Knights (4.1k DK)
Another beneficiary of the Eichel illness, Hanifin gets to quarterback the VGK PP1 tonight. The Knights have been running a 5 forward unit for most of the season and the Defenseman that would normally be the replacement is Theodore, but he will also miss the game tonight with a handful of nagging injuries. Plug in Hanifin who has a high BS and SOG floor and a ceiling that is only raised by power play point opportunities.
Top G Value
Pyotr Kochetkov, Carolina Hurricanes (8.2k DK)
Goalie is tough tonight and its possible you just want to play one who isn’t against your own skaters. This is the case for me as Carter Hart admittedly looks a little better for $100 cheaper, but I like Devils skaters. You should never be playing more than a skater against your own goalie, even on a small slate, as you severely cap your upside that you need to win tournaments. Give me Kochetkov as I am not a fan of the Nashville skaters tonight, but I could also see Saros here if you need the salary savings and are going for a punt.