NHL DFS

It’s finally here!!! The Stanley Cup Final kicks off tonight at 8pm Eastern, and will features two premier teams in the Lightning and Avalanche. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!

Slate Notes

Game one of the Stanley Cup Final is upon us, and this should be an AMAZING series! The Avalanche and the Lightning are both very, very good teams, and this one should be fun to watch. The Avalanche are looking to win their first Cup since 2001, and the Lightning are trying to make it THREE STRAIGHT.

Fun fact – this is the first series in Stanley Cup history where neither of the teams’ names end in the letter ‘S’.

If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our NHL DFS Showdown Strategy Guide for guidance on building your lineups for tonight.

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Colorado Avalanche

Implied Vegas Totals: TBL 2.8 / COL 3.4

Tale of the Tape:

Two powerhouse teams will clash for the Stanley Cup. We have been waiting for Colorado to get to this point for a few years now, as they have had a very, very solid regular season team. It was just a matter of time before they finally got to the Final again, and they are hard to argue against. They have a great roster up and down, and they are one of the more feared teams in the league. Loaded with talent, they have a very, very good shot at winning this thing.

Nazem Kadri is likely going to be out for a while, even though he did skate on Sunday without a stick. It is hard to imagine that he will be able to suit up for a game if he can’t (or won’t) carry a stick post-surgery. Darcy Kuemper should be good to go, but the Avalanche will likely not be forthcoming with any lineup information.

How do you argue the Lightning at this point? They have made it to their third Stanley Cup Final in a row, and are poised to win it yet again. They have taken a slightly tougher path to the the Final, losing five games, compared to the Avalanche only losing 2 games thus far in the playoffs. Tampa is dealing with potential health issues, as Brayden Point has been questionable to come back for what seems like 3 weeks. He did skate with the second line and was a bumper on the top power play in practice, so he should be in the lineup tonight.

With Point back, and questions around the goalie situation in Colorado, we are likely going to have to wait until warm-ups for a finalized lineup, and even those will be fluid throughout the game. Keep an eye on news through the day, and today might be a good day to wait for confirmations to build.

Goalie Matchup

Andrei Vasilevskiy vs. Darcy Kuemper

It’s hard to say anything bad about either of these goalies. Vasilevskiy is arguably the best in the world, and Darcy has made a real name for himself in Colorado. Something to consider here, though, is that both of these guys have great defenses in front of them, which helps more and more as we get deeper in the playoffs.

Against Edmonton, Kuemper was hurt, and did not play the last two games of the series. However, he was healthy for game four, and backed up Pavel Francouz. With a comfortable lead in the series and Francouz playing well, the Avalanche had no reason to play Kuemper and risk the long term. Kuemper was a solid goalie for the Avs throughout the year and definitely through the playoffs. However, he does sometimes face some issues with consistency. He won’t be able to be inconsistent in this series, as the Lightning will make him pay big time.

Line Matching Notes

With this game being in Colorado, we have to go by what the Avalanche do with their line matching.

Top Line

It’s MacKinnon vs. the opposing top line for Colorado, so expect the MacKinnon line to take on the Kucherov/top line for most of the game tonight. The stars will be out in this one! Best on best.

Second Line

Kadri usually takes the second opposing line, but not as a hard match. This trend should continue, even without Kadri, so we can expect the second vs second lines tonight, whatever they may be. The Avalanche second line should see a good portion of the Tampa second and some of the third lines tonight.

Third Line

The third Avalanche line generally doesn’t match anyone in particular, but their other matching schemes set this line up against the third and fourth lines of the opposition.

Fourth Line

The same thing as the third line goes here, as they will mix and match depth on depth.

Put it all Together

On paper, the Lightning top line has an advantage over the Avalanche,

Lines to Target

TBL1 – Steven Stamkos/Ondrej Palat/Nikita Kucherov/Victor Hedman: You need the stars in the playoffs, and this is a star studded line. Kucherov and Stamkos are the priority here, and keep in mind that Hedman shoots the puck a LOT.

COL1 – Nathan MacKinnon/Gabriel Landeskog/Valeri Nichushkin/Cale Makar: Top line, star studded, and they are the core of the offense.

COL2 – Mikko Rantanen/Andre Burakovsky/Artturi Lehkonen: The second Colorado line can be very different and has a good opportunity tonight.

The Build Options

These are build recommendations based on the NHL Showdown Strategy Guide

Tampa Bay Lightning Power Play – Point or Kucherov captain (Point should be different as captain, with the time off he has had)

Vasilevskiy captain/TBL2 stack – Depending on the way the Lightning line up, this is a great leverage play, and could prove to be optimal if the Avalanche come out flat

Colorado Avalanche Power Play – MacKinnon at captain will be chalk, but you can also use Makar or Rantanen at captain for a really nice GPP look

Value Plays

These are value plays that offer upside at a very low salary

Pat Maroon (W)

Andrew Cogliano (W) – if healthy and playing

Andre Burakovsky (W)

Alex Killorn (W)

Bowen Byram (D)

Erik Johnson (D)

Mikhail Sergachev (D)

Player Props

These are some interesting player props for tonight’s showdown

Nathan MacKinnon (COL): anytime goal scorer AND over 1.5 points

Steven Stamkos (TBL): anytime goal scorer

Andre Burakovsky (COL): anytime goal scorer – nice depth play for plus money (+320)

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.

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.