NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings (4/8): 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 Thursday, April 8th, 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 4/8

• • New Jersey Devils (-130) vs. Buffalo Sabres - 5.5U
  • Philadelphia Flyers vs. New York Islanders (-165) - 5.5O
  • Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers (-120) - 6O
  • Boston Bruins vs. Washington Capitals (-120) - 5.5)
  • Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes (-145) - 6U
  • Tampa Bay Lightning (-210) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 5.5U
  • Winnipeg Jets vs. Montreal Canadiens (-148) - 6U
  • Edmonton Oilers (-195) vs. Ottawa Senators - 6.5U
  • Nashville Predators (-150) vs. Detroit Red Wings - 5.5U
  • Dallas Stars (-115) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (-105) - 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

• Connor McDavid, EDM ($9,100 DK / $9,000 FD) - McDavid is in an absolute smash spot against Ottawa tonight and is worth every penny on both sites. In eight games on the season against the Senators, McDavid has totaled 20 points while also recording 33 combined peripheral stats in those eight games. He is coming off of a five-point outing against them on Wednesday and it would be difficult to think that he would not be able to find the scorers sheet again.
• Jared McCann, PIT ($4,600 DK/ $4,400) - The pricing on McCann is starting to slowly rise but he is in play on both sites even if he is in the mid 4k range. Since returning to the lineup, McCann has registered a point in six of nine games played and has found the back of the net in back-to-back games.

Other centers to consider: 

• High Priced- Draisaitl, Zibanejad, Bergeron, Barkov, Crosby, Scheifele, Trocheck, Barzal
• Mid-Tier-  Strome, Nelson, Suzuki, Kuznetsov
• Value- Granlund, Pageau, Dach, Dubois, Eller, Middelstadt

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Artemi Panarin, NYR ($8,400 DK / $8,300 FD) - Panarin has been on fire over his last four games as he scored 11 points over that four-game stretch. Out of those 11 points, four have been goals and he is coming off of a four-point performance against the Penguins on Tuesday night. Panarin has been a thorn in the side of the Penguins this season as he has scored three goals and recorded seven assists in just five games played so there is no reason to not consider him in all formats with how well he has been playing and the given matchup.
• Tage Thompson, BUF ($3,200 DK / $3,300 FD) - Thompson is a talented winger for Buffalo and despite how bad the Sabres have been this year, he is one that could develop for them into the future. Thompson is not afraid to shoot the puck as he has taken 16 shots over his last five games and has registered a point in three of his last five games played.

Other wings to consider: 

• High Priced- Pastrnak, Kane, Connor, DeBrincat, Guentzel, Ehlers, Stamkos, Toffoli, Rust, RNH
• Mid-Tier- Kreider, Svechnikov, Necas, Eberle, Tolvanen, Mantha, Anderson, Kubalik
• Value- Puljujarvi, Tatar, Laine, Sharangovich, Copp, Batherson, Bailey, Stastny, Stuetzle 

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• Adam Fox, NYR ($6,700 DK / $6,200 FD) - Fox is one of the safest defensive options on the slate, and between his point-scoring upside and peripheral stats, he makes for one of the best overall plays on the slate. He has registered nine points over his last five games played and has recorded two assists in three of his last five games played. He is playing at a point-per-game pace against the Penguins as he has two goals and five assists in seven total games and has racked up 29 peripheral stats (12 shots, 17 blocked shots) in that seven-game span.
• Jacob Trouba, NYR ($4,100 DK / $4,300 FD) - If the pricing on Fox is too high, you could always slide on down to Trouba who is coming off of a two-assist performance against the Penguins. Trouba doesn't rack up the points as Fox does but he is a shot-blocking monster as he has blocked 12 shots over his last four games which gives him a solid floor per game.

Other defensemen to consider: 

• High Priced- Hedman, Josi, Nurse, Barrie, Letang
• Mid-Tier- Grzelcyk, Petry, Jones, Pulock, Morrissey 
• Value- Pionk, Keith, Montour, Yandle, Boqvist, Dobson

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Mike Smith, EDM ($8,300 DK / $7,200 FD) - The oilers are one of the larger favorites on the slate and with how Mike Smith has been playing this season, it is hard to not want to roster him in all formats. He is 13-3-2 on the year with a 2.41 goals allowed average while carrying a .919 save percentage and looks to be in the best form of his career at this point in time. Smith has gone 3-0 against the Senators this season as he has stopped 71 of 75 total shots faced while racking up a .947 save percentage in those three games.
• Kevin Lankinen, CHI ($7,600 DK / $7,300 FD) - While Lankinen hasn't been as sharp as he was early on in the season, he has continued his dominance against the Stars as he recorded another win against them which now makes him 3-0 on the year against Dallas. In those three games, Lankinen has stopped 87 of 92 total shots faced and is sporting a .946 save percentage. If you're looking for a value option on this slate, Lankinen looks to be one of the better salary savers in the net.

Other goalies to consider: 

• High Priced- Saros
• Mid-Tier- Ullmark
• Value- Hellebuyck

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 

• EDM 1
  • Draisaitl/ McDavid/ Puljujarvi (Barrie, d-men add on)
    • This is the clear-cut top line of the night, especially from a stacking perspective in tournaments. They scored one goal at even strength and generated 10 scoring chances in 15 minutes of ice time again Ottawa last night. This line is sporting a 3.29 expected goals for per 60 minutes of ice time and is generating 36.15 scoring chances for per 60. They do allow opposing lines to generate over 16 high danger chances against which is very alarming but part of that is the fast-paced nature of this line that likes to risk and push the pace. While they are an expensive stack, they are definitely worth it if trying to bank on a multi-goal performance from them.
• PIT 1  
  • Guentzel/ Crosby/ Rust (Letang, d-men add on) 
    • Even though the Pens were steamrolled by the score of 8-4 on Tuesday night against the Rangers, their top line actually played really well in 13 minutes of ice time. In those 13 minutes, they had a 72 corsi for rate while netting one goal. They also found a way to generate 10 scoring chances while also create a team-high five high danger chances as well. This line has fared well against the Rangers as they have scored six full-strength goals and are generating 29 scoring chances per 60 and 13.39 high danger chances in 76 minutes of total ice time.

Other Stacks to consider: BOS 1 CHI 1, WPG 1, CAR 2, BOS 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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