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THE PLAYOFFS ARE FINALLY HERE!!! Hockey is an amazing, exciting sport. PLAYOFF hockey is about as good as it gets! Even if you don’t have a team in the tournament, this is the best time to watch hockey. The excitement gets ratcheted up 10-fold in the playoffs, as does the intensity. There is truly nothing like playoff hockey, and today, we start the best tournament in sports. Not only will we have an NHL DFS breakdown, but we will also preview the 4 series that start tonight. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Playoff Notes
Best of the Best
The playoffs mean that each team will be throwing their best lines together, with their best players. Many guys will play pretty banged up during the playoffs, but that doesn’t always slow them down. This means that we don’t have to worry about line shuffling too much, unless a team gets down big in their series and gets desperate.
Schedule
From here on out, there will be no more than 4 games in a given NHL DFS slate, and, there will be no back-to-backs to worry about. We now have an ‘easier’ breakdown for each night. The matchups will be the same every other night, so for example, LAK/EDM play tonight, and will again on Wednesday, then Friday, and so on.
Home Ice Advantage
Home ice matters more for teams, now that they changed the line change rules, but home ice in the playoffs gives a slightly better edge. The intensity of the home crowd can energize a team and help swing momentum just a bit. You don’t get that element in a game in October.
NHL DFS in the Playoffs
How does all of this affect the NHL DFS aspect? In the playoffs, trends are huge. The first couple of games is kind of like a new season, where we can only use the stats and rates from the regular season. But as the games go on, trends will come out. If you follow these trends, you can have a ton of success playing NHL DFS in the playoffs. A good example is last year, when Tampa Bay got a lot of scoring from their third line. Not only did that depth scoring help lead them to a title, but it also helped when playing DFS. If you pick up on these trends, it can give you a slight edge on the field, who may not be following as closely.
Goalies
Mike Smith – Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers start out at home tonight against the Kings, who struggled to score on the road all year long. This is a really nice spot for Smith and the Oilers tonight.
Jack Campbell- Toronto Maple Leafs: There is some inherent risk involved in playing a goalie from this series, but there is also a lot of upside. The Leafs and the Lightning can both score, but Campbell has been the better of the two goalies towards the end of the season. He should see plenty of shots, and if he can stay solid, this is a great DFS play.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Linus Ullmark – Boston Bruins: The Bruins are headed to Carolina to open their series against the Canes tonight. The matchup here is risky in itself, as the Canes have been playing well lately. This play is purely based on the shot volume. The Bruins can win this game, which would be a nice bonus for Ullmark. He played well to end the season, so let’s see if he can carry that over to the playoffs.
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).
Edmonton Oilers Power Play – Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Zach Hyman/Tyson Barrie: The Oilers have arguably the best matchup on the board tonight. Yes, the Kings got hot at the end of the season, but the Oilers really got it together and are just a better team overall. This power play unit gets you access up and down the lineup, and playing McDavid/Draisaitl together is never a bad thing, especially in the playoffs.
Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner/Alexander Kerfoot/Morgan Rielly: The Leafs’ top line has a very, very nice matchup tonight. This game should be high event, and they will have plenty of chances. With the way that Vasilevskiy ended his season, this line should be able to ride the energy of their home crowd and pot a few goals tonight. You can consider running a power play look here also.
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).
Boston Bruins 2 – Erik Haula/David Pastrnak/Taylor Hall: The second line for the Bruins has a nice little matchup tonight against the Canes. This line was doing a bunch of damage before Pasta went out. Now that he is back and the B’s are healthy, they should be able to get back to their scoring capability.
St. Louis Blues 1 – Robert Thomas/Pavel Buchnevich/Vladimir Tarasenko: This line is becoming “Old Reliable”, in that we can almost count on them for every slate they are on. They get a matchup tonight with the Wild where they should see their chances. The goalie matchup for them is favorable, so expect them to be in the mix tonight.
Minnesota Wild 1 – Ryan Hartman/Kirill Kaprizov/Mats Zuccarello/Jared Spurgeon: The Wild top line is also in a good spot in that STL/MIN game, and they should see their chances. Husso for the Blues was a little shaky to end the season, so this one could go either way. This top line became primary scoring for the Wild, and you can expect that to continue into the playoffs.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: CAR1, BOS1, LAK2, MIN2, TBL1, TOR2
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 ($3100) – Boston Bruins
Wing: Brandon Saad ($2900) – St. Louis Blues
Defense: Jake Muzzin ($2700) – Toronto Maple Leafs
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 ($4400) – Boston Bruins
Wing: Kailer Yamamoto ($4100) – Edmonton Oilers
Defense: Hampus Lindholm ($4200) – Boston Bruins
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: Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
Wing: Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
Defense: Tyson Barrie – Edmonton Oilers
Goalie: Mike Smith – Edmonton Oilers
Player Props
In this section, we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Vladimir Tarasenko (STL): anytime goal scorer
Steven Stamkos (TBL): over 0.5 points
Connor McDavid (EDM): anytime goal scorer AND over 1.5 points
Auston Matthews (TOR): anytime goal scorer
Series Previews
LAK v EDM
What a terrible draw for the Kings. This team scratched and clawed its way to a playoff spot, and then they get matched up with the only other hottest team in the West. The Kings, you have to give it to them, they really made a push there. However, this matchup just looks bad. On paper, the Oilers are a way better team up and down. The Kings have been somewhat streaky and those consistency issues can wreak havoc on your playoff chances. They might be able to put up a fight, but their path to winning this series appears to be very, very rocky. Oilers in 5.
TOR v TBL
This series should be a fun one to watch. The Leafs have been known for their early playoff exits recently, and they will be up against the criticism all series long. The Lightning are battling for their THIRD STRAIGHT title, and it will be a tall task for both teams. These teams are star-studded, and they both know how to show up. Expect this one to be an exciting, wide open series, with a good bit of scoring. The Lightning are great, of course, but they are facing some goaltending issues. If Vasilevskiy continues like he did at the end of the season, the Lightning are going to struggle. Leafs in 7.
BOS v CAR
The Bruins/Hurricanes series should see a little bit of everything. This one is going to be for more of the middle of the road fans, with a little bit of old time hockey mixed with some of the new speed and skill of the here and now. Both of these teams offer depth scoring, and they both have very good team chemistry. Boston is a good team at home, and it is tough to play in the Garden as an opposing team. They have a team that can slow down the Canes, and they may very well do that. However, this does not feel like the Bruins of the last few years. They have some holes in their game that the Canes might be able to exploit. In the end, this is going to be a tight series. Canes in 7.
MIN v STL
The Blues/Wild series is going to be an interesting one. On the Blues’ side, you have some playoff veterans who have been there (and even won a cup together). On the Wild side, you have a team that has been relying on its youth to get to where they are. Both teams play a different style. The Blues are a little more grind-it-out, and the Wild are a little more wide open. That should make for an interesting series. The keys here will come down to goaltending and depth scoring. Both teams have struggling goaltending, but only the Blues have more depth scoring. The Blues’ veteran “been there, done that” presence should give them a slight advantage in this one. Blues in 6.
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.
