RADIO
NHL is back! We have an 11-game slate to kick off our first weekend of the season. Plenty of options to look at tonight, in what should be a much more well-rounded slate compared to last night which only had four games.
Vegas lines are big when it comes to picking games to target, and that's a good place to start for goalies. When it comes to skaters, goal totals is another main place to start. Usually, 5.5 goals are average, so targets game at six, and can look for goalies in games with a total at five.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 10/6/18. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to hit me up on Twitter @DFS_Tom. Let's get to it, shall we?
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DFS Forwards to Consider
Nathan MacKinnon - C, COL vs PHI (FD - $8,500, DK - $7,400)
I'll start off by saying this, I'm a big MacKinnon fan. Not really sure why, but I love the way he plays and is truly a star. He is the center on the first line and sees time on the first power-play, making him viable in all formats tonight. If you are going to be running him in tournaments, the first line or power-play stack is very expensive with Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, so you will have to spend down elsewhere to fit him in. He is perfect as a one-off in GPPs since he can create offense on his own, this will be a theme all year.
Vladimir Tarasenko - W, STL vs CHI (FD - $7,600, DK - $7,200)
Tarasenko is in an absolute smash spot tonight and is 100% cash game viable. He has the one game under his belt this season where he took six shots but was held without a point in either column. Tarasenko is a pure sniper and has hat-trick upside nearly any night, giving him plenty of tournament upside. The ice time will be there for him, which is massive tonight since he is up against a Blackhawks team, who should end up as one of the worst defenses in the league come year end.
DFS Defenders to Consider
Brian Dumoulin - D, PIT vs MON (FD - $4,000, DK - $3,100)
Dumoulin is a cheap option across the industry and gets you exposure to the Penguins offense, which always has a ton of upside. Dumoulin is on the top defensive pairing, so he will have a solid base of minutes, but he doesn't see time on the power-play. So if you are rostering him, you are banking on the fact he will grab a point while paired up with one of the top two forward lines, since he may not see a ton of points otherwise.
Victor Hedman - D, TB vs FLA (FD - $6,700, DK - $6,400)
Hedman is on the other end of options at defense compared to Dumoulin, as he is very expensive and sees power-play time. Hedman and the Lightning are having their season opener tonight and we should be in for exactly what we saw from them last season, a very high powered offense. He is a very safe option at defense who has a high floor of points, along with having a high ceiling of points due to this offense.
DFS Goalies to Consider
Frederik Andersen - G, TOR vs OTT (FD - $8,400, DK - $8,400)
Andersen comes in as a massive -245 favorite at home tonight versus the Senators, who will ultimately end up as one of the worst teams in the league. Paying up for a goalie is a trend you see in cash games since you want to be a close as you can to a guaranteed win. We are dealing with an 11-game slate, so you will have plenty of choices out there for some value plays, which will help you find the salary for Andersen.
