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These playoffs have been amazing so far! The playoffs rarely disappoint, and this year is no different. It’s great to have the full playoff atmosphere back in play, and it really does make the game completely different. Tonight, we have another four game playoff slate. One team is on the brink, and the others are pretty tight series so far. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Goalies
Darcy Kuemper – Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche have pushed the Predators to the brink of elimination, and it’s honestly hard to find any reason they can’t complete the sweep tonight. The Preds have just not brought any sort of fight to this series, and they are way, way outmatched. Expect the Preds to pull out all the stops tonight on home ice to try to send the series back to Colorado, creating a nice upside spot for Kuemper.
Jacob Markstrom – Calgary Flames: Markstrom has been a very solid goaltender all year, and that has continued into the playoffs. Expect him to have some upside tonight, and if he can stay solid, the Flames can definitely get a win tonight.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars: Oettinger and his counterpart, Markstrom, have both been playing really well in this first series. Oettinger has some upside tonight, putting him in consideration for a high risk play. The Flames will be looking to rebound after a loss, and they very well could, but this series is far from over. He may not get the win, but he has been solid enough to run out tonight.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Igor Shesterkin – New York Rangers: The Rangers are on the road tonight against the Penguins, and they just got dominated the other night to the tune of 7-4. This play is the rebound play. We can hope for Igor to bounce back from that poor performance and be better tonight, all while facing a similar number of shots. The upside here is very nice, and if he does in fact rebound, he could be the top goalie on the slate.
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).
Colorado Avalanche Power Play – Nathan MacKinnon/Nazem Kadri/Mikko Rantanen/Gabriel Landeskog/Cale Makar: The power play combo for the Avalanche has absolutely dominated this series so far. Expect nothing less tonight. This combination of players has a combined 26 points so far, in just three games in the series. You know that Cale Makar guy? He is very, very good, and he is leading the way with 7 points this series.
Pittsburgh Penguins 1 – Sidney Crosby/Jake Guentzel/Bryan Rust/Kris Letang: The top line for the Penguins has been very good so far this series, and that trend should continue. The top line leads the way for the Penguins in terms of points so far this series. Even though the majority of those points came in games 1 and 2, they are still in a very good spot tonight against the Rangers, especially with home ice. If they can dominate tonight, they can take a 3-1 lead in the series as it heads back to New York. Of course, if you choose Igor as your high risk goalie, don’t play these guys against him in the same lineup.
Florida Panthers 1 – Aleksander Barkov/Jonathan Huberdeau/Anthony Duclair/Aaron Ekblad: Despite trailing 2-1 in the series, these guys have been playing well. They have been contributing nicely to the cause, but they find themselves down in the series. Expect them to rebound tonight, and this should be the line to help them do that.
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).
Dallas Stars 1 – Roope Hintz/Joe Pavelski/Jason Robertson/John Klingberg: The Stars have been better all year on home ice, and this top line has played well so far. The problem with this line, and this series, even, is that it has been brutally tight and low scoring. Because of that, we have to consider these guys risky, from a DFS standpoint.
Calgary Flames 1 – Elias Lindholm/Matthew Tkachuk/Johnny Gaudread/Rasmus Andersson: We can consider the top Flames’ line high risk for the same reasons as the Stars’ top line. Most of the scoring from this set of series has come from the other three games. However, if there is a time for a line to make a statement in the series, it could be tonight. With the Flames dropping their last game in the series, they will be looking to rebound, and they very well could tonight.
New York Rangers 2 – Ryan Strome/Artemi Panarin/Andrew Copp: The second line for the Rangers has contributed 7 of the 34 points that have been tallied by the Rangers so far this series. That isn’t a majority, but that’s enough to consider them for value. The top Ranger line is in play here too, so you can consider running a power play look.
Washington Capitals 3 – Lars Eller/Conor Sheary/Connor McMichael: This one is about opportunity more than it is about production. The Caps’ third line should be up against the opposing third line for a good bit of the night, which creates a really nice matchup for them.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: NSH3, WSHPP, NYR1, PIT2
Value Options – DraftKings
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Nicklas Backstrom ($3300) – Washington Capitals
Wing: Frank Vatrano ($4200) – New York Rangers
Defense: Christopher Tanev ($3100) – 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: Nicklas Backstrom ($4900) – Washington Capitals
Wing: Kaapo Kakko ($4000) – New York Rangers
Defense: Jani Hakanpaa ($4000) – Dallas Stars
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: Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche
Wing: Jake Guentzel – Pittsburgh Penguins
Defense: Cale Makar – Colorado Avalanche
Goalie: Darcy Kuemper – Colorado Avalanche
Player Props
In this section, we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Jake Guentzel (PIT): anytime goal scorer
Nathan MacKinnon (COL): over 1.5 points
Artemi Panarin (NYR): anytime goal scorer
BOLD PICK – Lars Eller (WSH): 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.
