RotoBallers, welcome back to our daily fantasy hockey (NHL DFS) lineup picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and FantasyAces. Below you will find our NHL cheat sheet - DFS lineup picks, sleepers and stacks for Thursday, December 29 of the 2016/2017 NHL season.

Tonight we have our biggest slate since before the Christmas break with 12 games on the schedule. With five games last night there will be five teams(TOR, TB, MON, FLA, LAK) playing on a back to back but don't look too deep into it as players recently had at least three days off.

Editor's Note: New users that sign up on Fantasy Aces, make a $20 deposit, and enter any game will receive our full season NHL Premium Pass (DFS Cheat Sheets) for free, a $99.99 value. Just email info@rotoballer.com with your new FantasyAces username - and boom, that's it! We will email you with your Premium pass.

NHL Daily League Lineup Picks for Thursday, December 29 

For those that are new to this, each day we'll be providing you with a few of our top DFS lineup picks for daily league cash games on FanDuel, DraftKings, and FantasyAces. We will also provide you with one of our favorite teams to stack for GPPs. You can grab the rest of our Premium DFS lineup picks and stacks through the NHL Cheat Sheet and DFS Premium Pass below.

Devan Dubnyk (G, MIN)

DraftKings - $8,300, FanDuel - $9,700, FantasyAces - $7,900

He comes into this matchup red hot as he continues to add to a Vezina Trophy-like season. He has played a huge role in the Wild's #1 ranked defense and 11 game winning streak with a .949 save % over his last 10 starts. He leads the league with a 1.58 GAA and .947 save % and has been great at home with a 10-3 record on the season. He is safe in all formats.

Artem Anisimov (C, CHI)

DraftKings - $6,200, FanDuel - $7,100, FantasyAces - $5,400

He made his return from a three-game absence on Tuesday night showing no rust at all. He played over 20 minutes of ice time and scored a goal on two shots playing on his regular line with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin. He is definitely not the safest option for cash games but has a lot of value for GPP's with his multi-point upside.

Mikael Granlund (W, MIN)

DraftKings - $5,200, FanDuel - $5,400, FantasyAces - $4,900

From a PTS/$ value perspective, Granlund is an elite play in the low to mid $5K range on all sites. While he should only be considered in tournaments due to his lower shot volume, he is red hot tallying 11 points over his last 10 games.

Rasmus Ristolainen (D, BUF)

DraftKings - $5,900, FanDuel - $6,200, FantasyAces - $5,550

Eric Karlsson is always an elite play in tournaments but at a big discount on DraftKings and FanDuel, Ristolainen is the clear choice in cash games. His price is going up but he trails Karlsson by just four goals, four assists, and 11 shots despite a slow start to the season(11 points in first 22 games).

Stacking Option

Calgary Flames PP - Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Alex Chiasson, Kris Versteeg

The Flames kept burning red hot out of the break outscoring the Avalanche 6-3 on Tuesday night. They have been another balanced scoring team, making the target the powerplay from a fantasy perspective. They have now scored a powerplay goal in 10 of their last 11 games.

Premium Cheat Sheets for Daily Fantasy Hockey

Get an edge on your NHL DFS competition with our Premium cheat sheets -- more lineup picks, deeper analysis, and advanced stats to unlock DFS player value.

Premium access to 15 deeply researched lineup picks including stats like Shots Attempted per 60, Points per 60, and more. Come see for yourself:

• Weekly Premium Pass - includes playoffs
• Monthly Premium Pass - includes playoffs
• Year-Long Premium Pass - includes playoffs

Sample NHL Premium DFS Cheat Sheet

Want to know what the Premium NHL DFS Cheat Sheets looks like? Below is a sample. We go above and beyond standard daily fantasy hockey analysis.

Click image to enlarge

 
Bonus: General NHL DFS Strategy Notes

For cash games, look at players who can contribute to your score even when they are not providing offense. Some examples are guys who take a ton of shots and defensemen who block a lot of shots. Also, look for guys who get power play time. You can find value in players who join a new line due to an injury, or just get a promotion and more ice time. It is also recommended to spread out your exposure to three or four different lines, and not put all your eggs in one basket.

For large field tournaments (GPPs), find payers who have multi-point upside and can grab double-digit fantasy points. If you want to stack the most upside in your forwards, a common strategy is to punt the defense position. This doesn't mean just grab anyone - try and look for a defenseman who will get power play time, or a playing time boost due to an injury. For a contrarian approach, paying up at the defense position can be a great strategy - but it also comes with more risk. GPPs bring a great opportunity for goaltenders in the value price range - you can look for backups on good teams.