Almost a week into the NHL season, and it has been a fun ride already. Between MLB playoffs, the NFL, and now hockey, October is one of the best months for sports fans. The NHL slates so far have been manageable, and tonight is no different, with a nice five game slate. All games start at 7pm Eastern. Let’s dive into the best NHL DFS plays for tonight. Good luck!
Goalies
Joseph Woll – Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs host Chicago tonight, and this is your ‘safe’ goalie pick. Woll is a candidate for cash and single entry lineups. He should pull a win, but the shot volume may not be there for deeper GPP.
Vitek Vanecek – New Jersey Devils: This is a nice looking pick tonight, as the Devils host the Panthers. Florida should fire a bunch of shots toward Vanecek tonight, giving him a good look at some upside. Florida has also been struggling to score, so a win is not out of the question.
High Risk Goalie Pick – Petr Mrazek – Chicago Blackhawks: This is the ultimate leverage play tonight. The Leafs will fire a ton of shots at Mrazek tonight, and the Hawks are on the road, so there is a ton of risk here. However, the shot volume will be there, and Mrazek doesn’t have terrible numbers to start the season. If he shuts down or limits the Leafs, the leverage could be huge in deep GPPs.
Others to Consider: Igor Shesterkin (NYR), Jacob Markstrom (CGY)
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).
Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner/Tyler Bertuzzi/John Klingberg: Auston Matthews is on an absolute tear to start the season, netting a hat trick in both of their first two games. This line is hot, and in a great spot against Chicago tonight. Expect them to be heavily owned, and for good reason.
Detroit Red Wings 1 – Dylan Larkin/Lucas Raymond/Alex Debrincat/Moritz Seider: This is a fantastic looking line tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. They should match up against the top line, who is bleeding chances in the first two games of their season. This is a great GPP pivot off of Toronto, and could be the key to tonight.
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).
New York Rangers 2 – Filip Chytil/Artemi Panarin/Alexis Lafreniere: The Rangers host the Coyotes tonight in their home opener, and this is a good spot for the second line. They should see a bunch of the depth for Arizona tonight, opening them up lots of chances. You can also consider a power play look here, as Arizona has been pretty rough on the PK over the last few years.
Calgary Flames Power Play – Nazem Kadri/Elias Lindholm/Jonathan Huberdeau/Matt Coronato/Rasmus Andersson: The Flames have a good matchup tonight on the road against a Washington team that has limped out of the gate to start the season. The top line is the even strength play here, so mixing in Kadri will help differentiate and get exposure to the second line.
Florida Panthers 1 – Aleksander Barkov/Carter Verhaeghe/Evan Rodrigues/Oliver Ekman-Larsson: The Panthers’ top line is in a good even strength matchup against the second line for the Devils tonight. They are risky because they have been playing poorly to start the season, but this might be their chance to turn it around. Don’t stack them against Vanecek in the same lineup.
New Jersey Devils 1 – Jack Hughes/Tyler Toffoli/Jesper Bratt/Dougie Hamilton: Don’t trust Florida yet? That’s ok! We can turn to the top Devils line instead. They should see a lot of the Florida depth tonight, which puts them in a plus matchup.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: FLA2, NJDPP, TORPP
Value Options – DraftKings
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Filip Chytil ($4400) – New York Rangers
Wing: Corey Perry ($3000) – Chicago Blackhawks
Defense: Chris Tanev ($2800) – 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: Andrew Copp ($4300) – Detroit Red Wings
Wing: Corey Perry ($3800) – Chicago Blackhawks
Defense: Erik Gustafsson ($4000) – New York Rangers
Cash Considerations
Consider these NHL DFS plays in your cash lineups tonight. Be sure to stack!
Center: Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
Wing: Alex Debrincat – Detroit Red Wings
Defense: Adam Fox – New York Rangers
Goalie: Joseph Woll – Toronto Maple Leafs
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