NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings (4/12): Value Plays, Goalies, Stacks

Welcome, RotoBallers. Hockey season is back and I am thrilled to be covering this sport over at RotoBaller! As always, I will do my best to give you the stats and info you need to build the best lineups possible for your GPP and cash game NHL contests on DraftKings and FanDuel.

If you are new to playing NHL DFS, there are several things to know that will help you get caught up to speed. The first thing to know is that stacking lines is important and correlating your plays can pay off. In hockey, if someone scores a goal, there's a good chance that some on his team will receive an assist on that goal, so you want to build lineups around players skating together. The second thing is to make sure you look at the two sites and see the different ways to obtain points. On DraftKings, you get bonus points for 5+ shots or 3+ blocked shots so someone like Alex Ovechkin who is a volume shooter tends to be a better play there just because he can rack up additional points based on his style of play.

Today I'll be bringing you my NHL lineup picks, analysis, and advice for NHL DFS contests on DraftKings and FanDuel for Monday, April 12th, 2020 at 7:00 PM. Be sure to also check out our awesome NHL tools including our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, Projections, and DFS Cheat Sheets! Feel free to follow me on Twitter @jorgepucks as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions. Good luck RotoBallers!

NHL DFS Analysis and Picks for 4/12

• • Detroit Red Wings vs. Carolina Hurricanes (-400) - 5.5U
  • Chicago Blackhawks (-115) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (-105) - 5.5U
  • Toronto Maple Leafs (-140) vs. Montreal Canadiens - 6U
  • Winnipeg Jets vs. Ottawa Senators (-120) - 5.5O
  • St. Lous Blues vs. Minnesota Wild (-130) - 5.5U
  • Arizona Coyotes vs. Colorado Avalanche (-315) - 5.5O
  • Vegas Golden Knights (-190) vs. Los Angeles Kings - 5.5O
  • Anaheim Ducks vs. San Jose Sharks (-167) - 5.5U

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

The matrix above takes the averages of four categories and creates a rating scale to help you decide which goalies to use, which goalies to target against, and conversely which teams could be viable from a stacking standpoint. It looks at four categories: Goals Allowed (GA), Shots Allowed (SA), Goals For (GF), Shots For (SF). The higher the overall rating in the total column indicates that it is a more dangerous matchup for that team's goalie while it might be beneficial to stack against him. If the total is low, that means he is in a good matchup from a fantasy perspective and should be considered for your goalie selection. I match and sync this every day to the actual opponents that they are facing every slate so this is always slate specific.

NHL DFS Power Play Matrix

The Power Play matrix is to help locate matchups that can be exploited should there be an odd-man advantage during the game. Just like the goalie matrix above, the teams are matched up based on their own power play percentage rank and their opponent's penalty kill percentage rank. When looking at this matrix, you will want to look for teams that succeed in the power play rank (lower the rank the better they are) while their opponent has a poor penalty kill rank (the higher the rank, the worse their penalty kill is).

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NHL DFS Core Plays

The Core plays below are the players that you should focus on incorporating into your cash game builds and tournament builds. When it comes to cash games, you want guys that offer high floors that rack up peripheral stats (shots, blocks, etc).

When it comes to tournaments, it is best to take a core play and see who their linemates are and build line stacks based on that. I will give 2-3 plays (varies on slate size) at each position at different pricing ranges so that you can have a variety of plays to choose from when building your cash builds or needing cornerstones for your tournament builds.

NHL DFS Center Picks

• Auston Matthews, TOR ($9,200 DK / $9,000 FD) - It is hard to not pay up for Auston Matthews especially in your cash game builds. He is leading the league with 31 goals scored and has scored seven goals over his last four games played. Matthews has scored three goals and six assists in just five games against Montreal this year while also racking up 24 shots on goal during that stretch of games.
• Brayden Schenn, STL ($4,800 DK/ $4,700 FD) - Schenn doesn't have quite the upside as other centering options on the slate but he does carry a solid floor which is needed in cash games. He has notched an assist in back-to-back games and is averaging three peripheral stats per game over his last four games played.

Other centers to consider: 

• High Priced- MacKinnon, Trocheck, Scheifele, Aho, Kopitar
• Mid-Tier- Couture, Karlsson, Larkin, Staal
• Value- Dach, Norris, Danault, Texier

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Patrick Kane, CHI ($7,800 DK / $7,600 FD) - Kane has been dominant against the Blue Jackets this season as he has recorded four goals and 10 assists in just seven games this season so it makes sense to go right back to this spot on this slate. In his most recent game against Columbus, Kane recorded an assist while managing to take six shots on goal.
• Jaden Schwartz, STL ($3,900 DK / $4,900 FD) - The Blues winger doesn't have major scoring upside but he does offer a safe floor which is good for his price point. Schwartz has been successful against Minnesota this year as he has scored two goals in three games while taking nine total shots on goal. If looking for a cheaper winger play that carries a solid floor, Schwartz should be considered.

Other wings to consider: 

• High Priced- Pacioretty, Marner, Rantanen, Kane, Connor, DeBrincat, Landeskog, Ehlers, Stone, Hyman
• Mid-Tier- Marchessault, Meier, Svechnikov, Necas, Anderson, Laine, Labanc, NIederreiter
• Value- Mantha, Tatar, Kessel, Bunting, Stastny, Hoffman, Kyrou, Galhenyuk, Parise, Pitlick

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• Dougie Hamilton, CAR ($7,700 DK / $6,400 FD) - Hamilton has been such a consistent presence from the Hurricanes and he is in an ideal spot against Detroit. In six games against the Red Wings this season, Hamilton has netted two goals and recorded five assists while also racking up 29 peripheral stats in those six games.
• Neal Pionk, WPG ($4,400 DK / $4,300 FD) - The Jets best offensive defenseman is still priced down on both sites which continually makes him an attractive cash game option. Pionk is seeing over 20 minutes of ice time per game and has recorded a point in back-to-back games. He has found success against Ottawa this year as he has netted a goal and two assists while racking up 21 peripheral stats in six total games.

Other defensemen to consider: 

• High Priced- Pietrangelo, Theodore, Burns, Makar
• Mid-Tier- Chychrun, Rielly, Jones, Martinez, Morrissey, Karlsson
• Value- Krug, Parayko, Faulk, Slavin, Brodin, Dumba, Hague, Brodie

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Petr Mrazek, CAR ($8,400 DK / $8,500 FD) - The Canes are the heaviest favorite on the slate which once again makes Mrzaek the top goalie option to record a win. Mrazek had a rough outing on Saturday against Detroit as he stopped 24 of 28 shots and received a loss in overtime. While he didn't have lady luck on his side, it is hard to imagine the Canes dropping two straight to Detroit and Mrazek be the starting goaltender for those two losses. He is 3-0-1 over his last four starts and has only allowed six total goals scored in that four-game stretch.
• Connor Hellebuyck, WPG ($8,000 DK / $7,700 FD) - The pricing on Hellebuyck has risen a bit since his last start but he does draw a matchup that truly favors him. In five starts against Ottawa, Hellebuyck is 4-1 with a 2.00 goals allowed average and a .921 save percentage. Hellebuyck is in great form as he has won three straight starts and has only allowed five total goals in that three-game span.

Other goalies to consider: 

• High Priced- Campbell
• Mid-Tier- Talbot, Lankinen
• Value- Petersen

Note: If you do roster a goalie listed above, it is sometimes best to make a hedge lineup in tournaments and take the opposing offense against them in case he gives up a few goals while that opposing team carries lower ownership. Also, make sure that the goalie listed above is starting and if not, make sure to pivot!

Favorite NHL DFS Line Stacks 

• TOR 1  
  • Galchenyuk/ Matthews/ Marner (Rielly, d-men add on)
    • Alex Galchenyuk gets a big boost as he will now be skating at full strength with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on the top Maple Leafs forward line. While the Leafs have had a rotating door at the left-wing position, hopefully, Galchenyuk could be the missing piece of the puzzle that sticks with this line. While this line has only skated together for 16 minutes this season, they are producing a 4.95 expected goals for rate and have generated four even-strength goals, 14 scoring chances, and eight high danger chances.
• CAR 2  
  • Niederreiter/ Trocheck/ Necas (Pesce, d-men add on) 
    • The second line for the Canes could be a good stacking target in your tournament builds for tonight. They are sporting a 2.8 expected goals for rate per 60 minutes of ice time while also generating 31.04 scoring chances for and 11.11 high danger chances for per 60.  In just 19 minutes of ice time against the Red Wings this season, this line has produced two goals while generating eight scoring chances and two high danger chances. Niederreiter and Necas will correlate at even strength and on the second power-play unit and would make for a nice mini-stack if you can't fit Trocheck into your lineup.

Other Stacks to consider: COL 1, CAR 1, CHI 1, WPG 1, SJS 1, VGS 2, SJS 2

Key Abbreviations:

xGF/60= expected goal for per 60 minutes of ice time

GF/60= goals for per 60 minutes of ice time

SC/60= Scoring Chances per 60 minutes of ice time

If you have any additional questions, make sure to reach out to me on Twitter or in our NHL room at the RotoBaller slack chat!

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