NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings (4/26): 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 26th, 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 4/26

• • Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames (-132) - 5.5U
  • Colorado Avalanche (-177) vs. St. Louis Blues - 6U
  • Vancouver Canucks (-122) vs. Ottawa Senators - 6U
  • Carolina Hurricanes (-134) vs. Dallas Stars - 5.5U
  • Florida Panthers (-130) vs. Nashville Predators - 5.5O
  • Edmonton Oilers (-105) vs. Winnipeg Jets (-117) - 6.5U
  • Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings (-152) - 5.5U
  • Arizona Coyotes (-108) vs. San Jose Sharks (-113) - 5.5O

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).

Did you know RotoBaller has a Premium NHL DFS subscription? Like what you read today? You can show your support for Jorge by using promo code JORGEPUCKS when purchasing an NHL DFS Premium Pass. You get 10% off, and exclusive access to all of our Premium NHL cheat sheets, DFS research tools, Premium Slack Chatrooms, Stack Builder, Correlation Matrix and Lineup Optimizer!

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

• Connor McDavid, EDM ($9,200 DK / $9,200 FD) - McDavid continues to just be one of the best fantasy hockey players to roster in cash games and the biggest decision will come down to either rostering him or Nathan MacKinnon. McDavid has been in top form as he has scored eight points over his last three games and has fared well against the Jets this season as he has scored four goals and notched 11 assists in seven total games.
• Josh Norris, OTT ($5,100 DK/ $4,500 FD) - Norris is a bright spot on this young Senators roster and he could be looked at as a solid cheaper center option on this slate. Norris has scored six points over his last five games and has recorded three goals and an assist while taking 19 shots on goal against the Jets.

Other centers to consider: 

• High Priced- MacKinnon, Draisaitl, Barkov, Trocheck, Kopitar, Horvat
• Mid-Tier- Miller, Hertl, Granlund, Staal
• Value- Dvorak, Schmatlz, Johansen, Wennberg

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Gabriel Landeskog, COL ($7,100 DK / $6,800 FD) - Landeskog has been very successful against the Blues this season as he has scored three goals and recorded five assists in seven games this season. He has been in good form as he has scored two goals and five assists over his last five games that he has played.
• Andre Burakovsky, COL ($5,300 DK / $4,400 FD) - If the pricing is too high for both MacKinnon and Landeskog, you can always save some salary by looking to roster Andre Burakovsky. Burakovsky has slid up to the top line in the absence of Mikko Rantanen and is coming off of a two-assist performance against the Blues on Saturday night.

Other wings to consider: 

• High Priced- Connor, Ehlers, Kane, Hornqvist, Pavelski, Boeser, Hubrdeau
• Mid-Tier- Brown, Tarasenko, Wheeler, Iafallo, Meier, Schenn, Svechnikov, Kempe, Batherson, Duclair, Necas
• Value- Brown, Hoffman, Puljujarvi, Gurianov, Kessel, Hoglander, Niederreiter, Schwartz, Backes, Keller, Kahun

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• Jakob Chychrun, ARI ($6,500 DK / $5,200 FD) - Chychrun is the model of consistency from a DFS hockey standpoint. He has recorded 28 peripheral stats over his last five games played and also recorded a point in four out of five of those games. One thing that really stands out is that he has hit double-digit DK points in eight of his last 10 games played and would look to be a lock from a cash game lineup perspective.
• Torey Krug, STL ($4,200 DK / $4,600 FD) - It's very rare that we see Krug have a stinker of a game as he is usually good for at least three peripheral stats per game which gives him a decent floor. Krug notched two assists against the Avs on Saturday night and he has recorded four total assists against them on the year. Krug is someone who has floated in the low 5k range over on DK so seeing him in the low 4k range makes it very enticing to use him in your cash game builds.

Other defensemen to consider: 

• High Priced- Josi, Hamilton, Nurse, Burns, Makar
• Mid-Tier- Chabot, Doughty, Hughes, Ellis, Heiskanen, Morrissey, Pionk
• Value- Ekholm, Girard, Lindell, Pesce, Oleksiak

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Mike Smith, EDM ($7,600 DK / $8,100 FD) - The matchup for Smith isn't an easy one but he has fared well against the Jets so far this season. He is 3-0 against them and has stopped 95 of 103 total shots that he has faced. Smith has been very good in road games as he is sporting a 9-2-2 record with a 2.07 goals allowed average, a .933 save percentage, and three shutouts. Smith is in good form as he has won three of his last five games and in those three wins, he has only allowed two goals total.
• Thatcher Demko, VAN ($8,000 DK / $7,100 FD) - Demko was on the losing end of his most recent matchup against the Senators as he let in two goals on 24 total shots. Demko is 12-13-1 on the year with a 2.75 goals allowed average but is 4-1 on the season against Ottawa. In those five starts against the Senators, Demko has stopped 173 out 181 total shots faced which resulted in a .956 save percentage and a 1.58 goals allowed average.

Other goalies to consider: 

• High Priced- Petersen, Bobrovsky
• Mid-Tier- Smith
• Value- NA

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 

• COL 1  
  • Landeskog/ MacKinnon/ Burakovsky (Makar, d-men add on)
    • Even if Mikko Rantanen is ruled out yet again, the Avalanche top line is still one of the best lines to consider. Andre Burakovsky has been moved up to join Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog on both the top forward line and the top power-play unit which makes this three-man forward stack more affordable on either site. In just 28 minutes of ice time together, this line has a 2.45 expected goal for rate and is generating 8.28 high danger chances for per 60 minutes of ice time. In just 23 minutes of ice time against St. Louis, this line has netted two goals and generated seven scoring chances and four high-danger opportunities which shows the upside is there for this line.
• FLA 2  
  • Huberdeau/ Bennett/ Duclair 
    • When looking at the different lines from the Panthers, the second line for Florida really jumped out at me. In 50 minutes of ice time, this line is generating a 3.28 expected goals for rate per 60 and is generating 33.25 scoring chances for and 14.25 high danger opportunities per 60 minutes of ice time. While the Preds could line match in this game, we would guess that they would look to stick their best line or top line against the Barkov line which means the Bennett line could see easier matchups throughout the game. Bennett and Huberdeau make for a great mini-stack as they look to be skating with each other at even strength and both are featured on the top power-play unit as well.

Other Stacks to consider: VAN 1, OTT 1, EDM 1, DAL 1, SJS 1, LAK 1, CAR 2, ARI 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!

NHL Player News and Updates

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis