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On this, the final day of the NHL regular season, we are blessed with a MASSIVE 15 game slate. What is wild about tonight’s slate is that there is basically nothing left to play for, outside of first round matchups. The Stars locked up the last playoff spot on Wednesday, and the Panthers locked up the President’s Trophy last night. We will have full rosters for some teams, while others rest their stars to get ready for the playoffs. Because of this, we MUST pay attention to news throughout the day. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Goalies
Casey DeSmith – Pittsburgh Penguins: The Pens host the Blue Jackets tonight in what should be a one-sided affair. The Pens should be able to handle Columbus, and DeSmith has been playing well of late.
Andre Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning head to New York to take on the Islanders, who have been scoring a little bit, but should be no match for Tampa tonight.
Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars: The Stars host the Ducks tonight in what should be a fairly easy matchup for them. However, keep an eye on this one. With the Stars clinching a playoff spot, they may choose to rest some of their players. If they do, then Oettinger becomes a little more risky.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Jeremy Swayman – Boston Bruins: The Bruins are headed to Toronto tonight to take on the Leafs, who are resting their studs. This is a nice spot for Swayman, and he should be able to still see some decent shot upside.
Lines to Build Around
These NHL DFS lines are considered top plays for the night and can be considered the focal point of your builds. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Pittsburgh Penguins 1 – Sidney Crosby/Jake Guentzel/Bryan Rust/Kris Letang: This line should have a field day against the Blue Jackets and J.F. Berube tonight. Berube is a pretty bad goalie, sporting a 3.61 GAA this season, and the Pens should be in a position to take full advantage.
Edmonton Oilers 1 – Connor McDavid/Evander Kane/Jesse Puljujarvi/Tyson Barrie: The Oilers host the Canucks tonight in a game they should be able to dominate. The Canucks have been playing well of late, but in their last five games, are still giving up a bunch of goals. The Oilers are red hot, and they should be able to continue that tonight.
Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Steven Stamkos/Nikita Kucherov/Ondrej Palat/Victor Hedman: So long as this line stays together tonight, they should have a really nice night against the Islanders. The Lightning are priming for the playoffs, while the Isles are priming for the golf course. The Lightning are playing for the 3 seed, so expect these guys to get some playing time tonight.
Dallas Stars 1 – Roope Hintz/Joe Pavelski/Jason Robertson/John Klingberg: The Stars host the Ducks tonight, and this line should be in a great spot against the Ducks. The Stars are better on home ice, and this is their primary scoring line.
High Risk Lines
These are NHL DFS plays that carry significantly more risk, but could pay off at low ownership. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Nashville Predators 1 – Mikael Granlund/Matt Duchene/Filip Forsberg/Roman Josi: The Preds head to the desert tonight to take on the Coyotes in what is ultimately a meaningless game. Nashville should dominate this game overall, but expect goals to come from both sides of this game, thanks to poor goaltending.
Boston Bruins 2 – Erik Haula/David Pastrnak/Taylor Hall: With Pasta back in the fray for Boston, this line has become viable once again. Against the Leafs lineup that will be without its stars, this is a nice little chance to jump on them tonight.
Buffalo Sabres 1 – Tage Thompson/Jeff Skinner/Victor Olofsson/Rasmus Dahlin: This line is generally better with Tuch up there, but that doesn’t change the chances they should see tonight. Chicago looks to be rolling out Collin Delia in net tonight, which gives these guys even more upside.
St. Louis Blues 1 – Robert Thomas/Pavel Buchnevich/Vladimir Tarasenko: As usual, or so it seems over the last month or so, this line is in a good spot tonight against the Golden Knights. This line has been absolutely dominant for a while now, and there is no reason that can’t continue tonight.
Florida Panthers 1 – Sam Bennett/Sam Reinhart/Anthony Duclair/Ben Chiarot: The Panthers just continue to score, as we saw last night against the Sens. They rested a bunch of their starters and still put up 4 goals. Tonight, they get an even nicer matchup as they head north to Montreal to face the Canadiens.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: ARI2, CHI1, CGY1, MIN1, VAN1, MTL1, COL1
Value Options – DraftKings
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Erik Haula ($3300) – Boston Bruins
Wing: Patric Hornqvist ($2800) – Florida Panthers
Defense: Chris Tanev ($3300) – Calgary Flames
Value Options – FanDuel
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on FanDuel. Be sure to stack!
Center: Erik Haula ($4600) – Boston Bruins
Wing: Jesse Puljujarvi ($4800) – Edmonton Oilers
Defense: Erik Brannstrom ($4100) – Ottawa Senators
Cash Considerations – DraftKings and FanDuel
Consider these NHL DFS plays for your cash lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. Cash lineups do not need to be stacked, and it is recommended to play no more than two players from a given team.
Center: Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
Wing: Jason Robertson – Dallas Stars
Defense: Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
Goalie: Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars
Player Props
In this section, we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Sidney Crosby (PIT): anytime goal scorer
Steven Stamkos (TBL): over 0.5 points
Connor McDavid (EDM): anytime goal scorer AND over 1.5 points
Roope Hintz (DAL): anytime goal scorer
Make sure to hop in our Expert Discord Chat for FREE! Jon and the NHL team will be there answering questions right up until lock! Be sure to be on the look out for future articles at https://windailysports.com/daily-fantasy-hockey/
All line combinations are courtesy of www.dailyfaceoff.com, and any advanced rates referenced in the above article are pulled from www.naturalstattrick.com.
