Welcome to the Saturday Slapshot, where I’ll go through the top NHL DFS Goalies and Stacks on DraftKings and Fanduel.
It’s Saturday and that means we have ourselves a nice-sized slate of NHL DFS. Tonight, the NHL schedule makers have blessed us with a very manageable 7 games. While it’s manageable, it’s a tough slate on paper as there are really only 2-3 games that have blowout potential per Vegas. We have a bunch of teams battling that are close in the standings.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money!
NHL DFS Goalies
Jake Allen vs. Florida Panthers
If you’ve followed my writings, you know that the one thing I love to do is chase cheap goaltending. Tonight will be no different as I’m going to be chasing Jake Allen tonight. Allen hasn’t played much over the last few weeks, just 2 games to be exact. In those 2 games, however, he’s been very solid with a .938 save % and just a 2.01 GAA. Those are great numbers, and they’re even better when you factor in his $7k price tag.
Is he a sure thing? Very far from it. The Florida Panthers are a dynamic offense that can score in bunches. Just take last night against the Rangers for instance as they scored 4 against Quick. That said, they played a tough one last night and could be a little tired tonight. I’m willing to take the chance with a $7k goaltender this evening. He’s best reserved for GPP’s.
Joel Hofer vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Staying with the theme of cheap goaltending, I’m going to bring Joel Hofer into my bin of goaltenders tonight. He too checks off some boxes for me. He’s cheap and playing extremely well right now. Over the last 3 weeks, Hofer has played in 3 games. He’s posted a .966 save % and has allowed just 1.22 goals per game. For a goaltender that’s just $7.1k tonight on DK, those are exceptional numbers.
Like Allen, he doesn’t come without risks this evening. Pittsburgh is playing some of their best hockey of the season as they’ve gone 3-1-1 over their last 5, while scoring 3.2 goals per game. Something working in Hofer’s favor though is that they are also taking around 32 shots per game. That means he’ll have a great chance of returning value in this one. He’s also best reserved for GPP’s.
Other goalies: Pyotr Kochetkov and Anthony Stolarz
NHL DFS Stacks – Main
Pittsburgh 1 (Crosby, Guentzel, Rakell) vs. St. Louis Blues
If you aren’t playing Hofer in net tonight, I highly recommend the top line for Pittsburgh tonight. Vegas has Pittsburgh currently at 3.6 goals tonight and that trails only Florida. The Blues have been about average of late as they’ve allowed 3 goals per game over the last couple of weeks. Nothing awful, but this shows that the Penguins can squeak a few by the Blues tonight in this one.
This top line for Pittsburgh has been playing great. Over their last 3 games, they have combined to score 3 goals and have also played pretty strong defensively. They also have a very strong 47 SATF over those 3 games. Only a few lines playing tonight have stronger numbers than them. The player I’ll be building around first in this line will be Jake Guentzel. He’s been the top player as he’s scored 3 and helped on another 3 over his last 5 games. He also has a very strong 23-scoring chances over those 5. He has upside at his $7.6 salary tonight.
Next up I’ll either go full stack with deploying Crosby and Rakell. Rakell’s price tag of just $3.8k tonight will make it much easier to go full stack and that’s how I’m trending right now. Both Rakell and Crosby have very similar numbers over their last 5, making it easier to make the full stack viable. 18 scoring chances over 5 games for a guy that’s below $4k is very strong.
Carolina 1 (Aho, Svechnikov, Teravainen) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Vegas has this game fairly close, with the Maple Leafs having a slight edge in goals with 3.4 for them vs. 3.3 for the Hurricanes. I just don’t see it. I see Carolina taking this one tonight with ease. The Maple Leafs are coming off a brutal loss last night to the Blue Jackets in 6-5 OT thriller. They are just not a good defensive team. Over the last 2 weeks, they’ve averaged giving up over 4 goals per game. That’s horrendous, and it very much brings the Hurricanes into play tonight.
My lean right now is this top line for Carolina. They’ve been good over the last 3 games, scoring a combined 3 goals. If we go out a little further, we have to love what we see out of Svechnikov as he has 5 goals and 3 assists over his last 5 games. He’s also been taking on average 3 shots on net per game. He’ll be my core to this Hurricanes stack as his price tag of $5.2 is very fair this evening.
The leader of this line though is Sebastion Aho. He’s been marvelous over his last 5 games. No player skating tonight has more points over their last 5 games than Aho as he has 12 points over those 5. It’s mostly been assists as he has 10 over those 5 games. With his recent production, his $7.2k price tag is also very fair. I may just go in a 2-man stack on this one as Teravainen doesn’t bring much in the way of fantasy production. You could easily bring in someone like Bunting to make it more of a power play stack and he’s also significantly cheaper at just $3.6k.
Other stacks I like tonight:
New Jersey 1 vs. Boston (this Boston team has some holes in their D)
Boston 1 vs. New Jersey
Florida 1 and 2 vs. Montreal
Toronto 1 vs. Carolina
LA 1 and 2 vs. Edmonton
Edmonton 1 vs. LA
Value D
Matt Roy – $3.9k
Mattias Ekholm – $4k
Hampus LIndholm – $3.2k
Erik Cerniak – $2.7k
NHL DFS Summary
This is a tough slate tonight and one that I would recommend taking it lightly. With DK contests on the lower end, it’s a night to not go crazy with your bankroll. Both the top lines for Pittsburgh and Carolina fit perfectly tonight if you’re willing to roll out some value D tonight. I will be. Join me for the ride.
Make sure to drop into Discord where we’re constantly talking about plays for every slate.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green.
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