This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
There were just two games Wednesday, but there's no shortage of action tonight with 14 games on the docket. That gives us plenty of options to sift through, so here are my FanDuel lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
The four teams who played yesterday are off tonight, so every squad is going into Thursday's action rested. There's also just one game on Friday, and it involves two teams not playing tonight, so no one is on the first half of a back-to-back either.
GOALIES
Anthony Stolarz, TOR vs. ANA ($8,700): Stolarz is pricey, but justifiably so. He's having a fantastic campaign with a 9-5-2 record, 2.13 GAA and .928 save percentage across 16 appearances. Anaheim is a favorable assignment too – the Ducks rank 31st in goals per game with 2.37.
Jake Oettinger, DAL vs. NAS ($8,600): Nashville's offense has been a disaster in 2024-25 – the Predators rank 32nd in goals per game with 2.21 – so betting against them has typically been a good play, but tonight seems like an especially good time to do so. Oettinger is having a great campaign with a 14-6-0 record, 2.43 GAA and .912 save percentage in 20 appearances, making him a solid option even on nights when he's facing stiffer competition.
Ilya Sorokin, NYI vs. CHI ($8,100): Sorokin has done well recently, posting a 2.29 GAA and a .919 save percentage across his past six appearances, which gives him a 2.58 GAA and a .912 save percentage across 20 outings overall. The downside is that the Islanders often don't provide him with much goal support, and he has an underwhelming 8-8-4 record as a result. However, Sorokin is set to face Chicago on Thursday, which has a 9-17-2 record and ranks 30th in goals per game with 2.39, so he has a good shot at picking up a win.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL at CGY ($7,900): Vasilevskiy has been solid in 2024-25 with a 12-9-1 record, 2.39 GAA and .910 save percentage in 22 outings. He's been especially effective recently, saving 66 out of 71 shots (.930 save percentage) over his past three starts. The Flames rank 26th in goals per game with 2.59.
VALUE PLAYS
Chandler Stephenson, SEA vs. BOS ($4,500): Stephenson is on a roll with a goal and four points over his past four appearances, including two points on the power play. He's on track to surpass the 50-point mark for the fourth straight campaign with three goals and 20 points through 29 outings in 2024-25.
Joel Farabee, PHI vs. DET ($4,300): After setting career highs in 2023-24 with 22 goals and 50 points in 82 games, Farabee has been largely quiet this season, amassing four goals and 11 points through 29 outings. He might be heating up, though, after providing a goal and three points over his past four games. It helps that he's logged 18:11 of ice time over that four-game stretch, which is substantially above his season average of 15:37.
Michael Bunting, PIT at MON ($3,900): Bunting has recorded at least a point in four of his past five games, giving him three goals and six points over that stretch. It helps that he's been seeing time on the first power-play unit recently – three of those six points have been collected with the man advantage. He has seven goals and 13 points in 29 outings overall, which isn't great, but he did record 63 points in 2021-22 and 55 last season.
Shane Wright, SEA vs. BOS ($3,900): The 20-year-old Wright has six goals and nine points over his past nine outings. He did struggle early in the campaign, which led to him being a healthy scratch from November 17-23, but that seems to be behind him. Wright has a high offensive ceiling, so while he might go through more rough patches along the way, he should continue to develop into a great forward.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Blues vs. Sharks
Robert Thomas (C - $6,500), Jordan Kyrou (W - $6,300), Pavel Buchnevich (C - $5,500)
Thomas will enter tonight's action on a four-game scoring streak in which he's provided an incredible nine points (three goals). That makes him one of the league's hottest forwards, and his affordable price only makes taking him better.
His linemates haven't been as productive recently, but they're good in their own right. Kyrou has been a steady presence, recording eight goals and 15 points over his past 18 appearances while being held off the scoresheet just three times in that stretch. Buchnevich is on a three-game scoring streak (one goal, two assists) and has recorded at least a point in each of his past six appearances – a two-game absence from November 30 to December 3 due to a lower-body injury is what prevented him from potentially having a longer point streak.
This trio has a great opportunity to build off that success against the Sharks, who rank 28th in goals allowed per game with 3.45.
If Buchnevich being a center creates any issues for your lineup construction, you could swap him out for Dylan Holloway (W - $5,500). Although he's not projected to share the ice with Thomas or Kyrou, Holloway is a tremendous value option after scoring six goals and 11 points across his active seven-game scoring streak.
Lightning at Flames
Brayden Point (C - $8,500), Nikita Kucherov (W - $9,000), Jake Guentzel (W - $7,200)
Not only is this one of the best trios in the league, but they're also red-hot. Guentzel has found the back of the net in four straight games, bringing him up to 13 goals and 26 points across 26 appearances this campaign. On other lines, he'd be the headline figure, but in this grouping, he's the third-best forward.
Point is well on his way to reaching the 90-point mark for the third straight campaign, and he might even top his career high of 95 points. Through 22 outings in 2024-25, he's accumulated 18 goals and 30 points, including two goals and nine points across his past three appearances.
Kucherov missed two games from November 30 to December 5 due to an undisclosed injury, but he's provided a goal and four points across two appearances since returning. He's up to 13 goals and 38 points across 24 outings overall.
DEFENSEMEN
Zach Werenski, CBJ vs. WAS ($7,500): Werenski scored a power-play goal Tuesday to extend his recent success. The blueliner has accumulated six markers and 19 points over his past 13 appearances, making him one of the hottest defensemen in the league. He hasn't relied on the power play this campaign – 10 of his 29 points through 28 outings overall have been scored with the man advantage – but his last two points have come under those circumstances.
Quinn Hughes, VAN vs. FLA ($7,200): Hughes is such an amazing offensive defenseman, and he's having another strong campaign with seven goals and 32 points through 27 appearances. Florida is a great team, but the Panthers haven't been anything special at their end of the ice this campaign – they are in a three-way tie for 22nd in terms of goals allowed per game with 3.17.
Erik Karlsson, PIT at MON ($5,800): Karlsson is on a three-game scoring streak and has collected eight assists, three with the man advantage, over his past eight appearances. The 34-year-old isn't the top-tier offensive threat he once was, but he's not priced anywhere near that level either. For what he is, the cost is appropriate while he's hot and up against Montreal, which ranks 30th in goals allowed per game with 3.54.
Kris Letang, PIT at MON ($5,300): Letang is a similar story to Karlsson – a veteran defenseman who's unlikely to match his former success, but is now being offered at a discount price, making him worth selecting during hot streaks. Letang has arguably been even better than Karlsson recently, supplying three goals and six points across his past five appearances, including a goal and three points with the man advantage.
