Joel Bartilotta 
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Saturday Slapshot. We’re getting close to the point of the season where teams will start jockeying for playoff position. We have a clear upper echelon of teams, a bottom tier, and then a bunch of in the middle. Tonight’s 7-game slate of NHL DFS gives us teams in all three categories. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a fun ride tonight.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
NHL DFS Goaltending
Matt Murray vs. Carolina – I don’t mind Matt Murray here one bit. Yes, the Hurricanes can have a dynamic offense at times. However, they haven’t shown it over the last couple of weeks. In their last 8 games, the Hurricanes have scored just 17 goals for an average of just a smidge over 2. This is a team that we can attack with a goalie right now and I plan on doing so with one that will cost us just $7.5k on DK tonight. He’s risky, but the price makes it appealing.
Darcy Kuemper vs. Pittsburgh – Another cheap goalie vs. another team struggling to put the puck in the back of the net. I’m a bit more risk-averse with my goalies these days and this is another example of that. The Penguins have scored less than 3 goals per game over the last couple of weeks, and I don’t think that changes much tonight. While they have some star power, they’re also all mostly struggling. This is a spot that Kuemper can succeed in tonight.
NHL DFS Stacks
Edmonton 1 (McDavid, Kane, Hyman) + Nurse vs. Vegas
The surface numbers aren’t that bad for Vegas right now. Over the last couple of weeks, they’ve given up just 2.88 goals per game. Not bad! However, if you dig a bit deeper you can see their goaltending has been keeping them afloat. Vegas is giving up nearly 16 high-danger chances per game and over 34 shots on goal per game over that stretch. Against an offense like Edmonton, that many high-danger chances and that many shots on goal are asking for trouble.
I’m going to attack Vegas tonight with the best hockey player on this planet, and that’s Connor McDavid. McDavid has 5 goals and 6 assists over his last 5 games. He’s having by far the best season of his career, and that’s saying a lot. I have a slight preference to pair him with Kane over Hyman as Kane is $500 cheaper on DK tonight. That savings, while not high, will come in handy when paying all the way up for McDavid.
Dropping down to line 2 is also in play. Draisaitl is also playing some unreal hockey right now with 12 points in his last 5 games. You can pair him with a very cheap Yamamoto. Yamamoto has 10 high-danger chances over his last 5 and we know that Vegas gives up a ton of those.
Dallas 3 (Johnston, Benn, Dadonov) + Heiskanen vs. Vancouver
Vancouver has been playing better of late, giving up just 2.29 goals over the last couple of weeks. That said, they’re going to have their hands full tonight vs. a very good Dallas Stars team. The Stars’ offense is rolling right now, scoring nearly 4.5 goals per game over their 8. They should be able to get to the Canucks tonight.
I’m going to drop down to the Stars’ third line tonight so save a little bit of cash. This line has been playing very well. Over their last 5, Benn and Johnston have combined for 7 goals and 12 total points. They should continue to play well in this matchup. We’ve seen the Canucks give up a ton of goals at points this season, tonight seems like a perfect time for it to happen again.
Columbus 2 (Roslovic, Johnson, Foudy) + Boqvist vs. Montreal
If you want to play both McDavid and Draisaitl together tonight, this line may your best bet to make it work. The Blue Jackets take on the Canadiens in a battle of 2 very awful teams. This game has the makings of a 7-6 game as neither team knows how to play defense and both teams have goaltenders that just aren’t very good.
This line is far from safe, but again, I want a piece of this game and this is a cheap way to get it. Roslovic has averaged close to a point per game over his last 5 games and is just $3.6k on DK. Johnson has 4 points in his last 5 and is even cheaper at $3.1k. If these guys can both get a couple of points while enabling us to fit the Oilers’ stars, we could be looking at a takedown tonight.
Other Stacks: Dal 1, Mtl 1 and 2, Columbus 1, NJ 1 and 2, Ott 1, Was 1, Stl 2
NHL DFS Top Value Defenseman
- Travis Hamonic – $3.8k on DK
- Mattias Ekholm – $3.7k on Dk
- Marco Scandella– $2.5k on DK
- Robert Bortuzzo – $2.5k on DK
Summary
We have a fun day of NHL DFS in store. I plan on loading up on Oilers tonight and going out from there. While I didn’t name them in my top stacks, St. Louis is in a marvelous position tonight.
Make sure to use our Projection model when setting lineups.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
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