NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings (4/13): 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 Tuesday, April 13th, 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 4/13

• • Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins (-325) - 5.5U
  • Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals (-160) - 6O
  • New York Rangers (-175) vs. New Jersey Devils - 6U
  • Calgary Flames vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-210) - 6U
  • Tampa Bay Lightning (-170) vs. Nashville Predators - 5.5U
  • Florida Panthers (-120) vs. Dallas Stars - 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 ($9,300 DK / $8,900 FD) - Matthews continues to dominate in any matchup and is the safest play on the entire slate. Matthews has been on a goal-scoring streak as he has found the back of the net in five straight games and has totaled eight goals scored in that five-game stretch.
• Sean Monahan, CGY ($4,300 DK/ $5,500 FD) - Even with Sean Monahan struggling this season, his price point is just too good to pass up over on DK. Monahan is seeing over 18 minutes of ice time per game and while he doesn't shoot the puck a lot, he racks up assists which helps creates a solid floor. Monahan has done well against Toronto this year as he has scored two goals and three assists in eight games played while also recording 25 peripheral stats during that stretch.

Other centers to consider: 

• High Priced- Bergeron, Barkov, Zibanejad, Point
• Mid-Tier- Strome, Lindholm, Kuznetsov, Backlund
• Value- Krejci, Cirelli, Granlund, Eller, Johansen

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Alex Ovechkin, WSH ($8,700 DK / $8,500 FD) - Ovechkin continues to just produce in any matchup and he comes into this game against the Flyers riding a three-game point streak. Ovechkin is shooting the puck at will as he has taken 24 shots on goal over his last five games while finding the back of the net three times. The Flyers have struggled to contain Ovechkin as he has scored five goals and two assists while taking 18 shots on goal in just four games played.
• Taylor Hall, BOS ($4,800 DK / $5,400 FD) - Taylor Hall is getting a fresh new start in Boston and there is no better way to get acclimated to your new team than facing your former team in your first game since the trade. Hall has been a disappointment this season but hopefully, he will be able to provide a new offensive spark with the Bruins. Make sure that he is active and good to go before you plug him into your lineup.

Other wings to consider: 

• High Priced- Pastrnak, Marner, Marchand, Panarin, Huberdeau
• Mid-Tier- Robertson, Arvidsson, Tkachuk, Gaudreau
• Value- Wilson, Smith, Gurianov, Galchenyuk, Sheary

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• Morgan Rielly, TOR ($5,600 DK / $5,300 FD) - The pricing on both sites for Rielly is very favorable and he has done well against Calgary this year. He is playing almost at a point per game basis against the Flames as he has seven points in eight games and has 19 peripheral stats in those games. Rielly has now scored a point in back-to-back games and is seeing over 22 minutes per game so he fits into our ideal cash game candidate.
• Noah Hanifan, CGY ($3,300 DK / $3,600 FD) - With some great pay-up options at other positions, Hanifan could make for a very viable defenseman for your cash game builds. Hanifan is seeing over 20 minutes of ice time per game and is averaging over four peripheral stats per game over his last five games played. Hanifan has racked up four assists in eight games against the Maple Leafs while also generating 20 peripheral stats in those eight games.

Other defensemen to consider: 

• High Priced- Hedman, Fox, Carlson, Josi
• Mid-Tier- Giordano, Klingberg, Sergachev, Trouba
• Value- Ekholm, Ellis, Schultz, Andersson, Stone, Oleksiak, Ahcan

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Dan Vlader, BOS ($8,200 DK / $7,700 FD) - At this point in the season, we know to target goalies against the Sabres. They just traded Traded Hall to the Bruins and with Jack Eichel still out, they really lack some offensive firepower. With Rask and Halak both on IR, Vlader should see more opportunities in net and it looks like he will be drawing the start tonight. Vlader is 2-2-1 on the year with a 3.40 goals allowed average in his five starts this season but he does have a win over the Sabres where he stopped 25 of 27 shots.
• Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL ($8,200 DK / $8,400 FD) - Vasilevskiy continues to prove that he is the top goalie in the league and is in great form as he has won four of his last five matches. Vasilevskiy is 25-6-1 on the season with a 2.00 goals allowed average and a .932 save percentage and is 5-0 against the Predators this season. In those five starts, Vasilevskiy stopped 148 out of 157 shots faced and accrued a 1.81 goals allowed average which makes him a viable option on this slate.

Other goalies to consider: 

• High Priced- Samsonov
• Mid-Tier- Driedger
• Value- N/A

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 

• BOS 1  
  • Marchand/ Bergeron/ Pastrnak (Ahcan, d-men add on)
    • With the addition of Taylor Hall, the Bruins decided to reunite their top line together, and in this matchup against Buffalo, they are too good to not consider. Boston will have the home-ice advantage which means they will control the line matching which only favors Boston even more. This top line is sporting a 2.49 expected goals for rate and is generating 28.94 scoring chances for per 60 and should take advantage of a Sabres team that is allowing close to 11 high danger chances per 60 over their last 10 games.
• WSH 1  
  • Ovechkin/ Kuznetsov/ Wilson (Carlson, d-men add on) 
    • The Caps top line of Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, and Wilson has done really well in just 36 minutes of ice time together. They are generating a 3.41 expected goals for rate while generating 29.83 scoring chances for and 16.57 high danger chances for per 60 minutes of ice time which are some of the better line numbers in the league. With them having the home-ice advantage, we could see the Ovechkin line avoid the defensively strong Couturier line which only places them in an even better spot on the entire slate.

Other Stacks to consider: TOR 1, TBL 1, NYR 2, TBL 3

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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