NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (2/13): 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, FanDuel, and SuperDraft.

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, Fanduel, and SuperDraft for Saturday, February 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 2/13

• • Boston Bruins (-128) vs. New York Islanders - 5.5U
  • Tampa Bay Lightning (-140) vs. Florida Panthers - 5.5O
  • Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-125) - 6.5U
  • St. Louis Blues (-143) vs. Arizona Coyotes - 5.5U
  • Columbus Blue Jackets (-110) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (-110) - 5.5U
  • Detroit Red Wings vs. Nashville Predators (-175) - 5.5U
  • Carolina Hurricanes (-125) vs. Dallas Stars - 5.5U
  • Calgary Flames (-135) vs. Vancouver Canucks - 6O

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 last column indicates that it is a more dangerous matchup for that team's goalie while it might be beneficial to stack against him. 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. When looking at this matrix, you will want to look for teams that succeed in the power play rank while their opponent has a poor penalty kill rank.

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.

NHL DFS Center Picks

• Brayden Point, TBL ($7,300 DK / $7,700 FD) - The Lightning look to be without Steven Stamkos for Saturday's matchup against the Panthers which means more of the scoring will need to fall on the shoulders of guys like Brayden Point and Victor Hedman. Point is coming off of a two-goal performance against Florida on Thursday night and has scored a point in 11 of 12 total games played this season.
• Sean Monahan,  CGY ($4,900 DK / $6,800 FD) - The pricing on DK for Monahan is just too low to pass up on for this slate. Monahan has generated 11 points in 13 games so far this season and is coming off of a two-point outing against Vancouver on Thursday night. In just three games against the Canucks this season, Monahan has generated one goal and four assists so close to half of his production on the season has come from playing the Canucks.
• Luke Kunin, NSH ($3,800 DK / $3,800 FD) - Luke Kunin gets a big bump up to the top line and will be centering a line that features Victor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg. Kunin is coming off of an assist in their game against Detroit on Thursday night and while he isn't a big shot generator, he does have some assist upside skating with two skilled wingers.

Other centers to consider: Pavelski, Tavares, Larkin, Schmaltz, Suter, Roslovic, Strome, Backlund, Stenlund

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Patrick Kane, CHI ($7,800 DK / $8,300 FD) - Patrick Kane has been a point machine for this Blackhawks team as he has accrued 20 points in just 15 games so far this season. Kane is averaging over four shots per game over his last four games and has notched nine total points that his four most recent games played.
• Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA ($5,200 DK / $7,100 FD) - The pricing on Huberdeau has come down a bit on DK and while the matchup against Tampa Bay is a tough one, he could make for a viable one-off for lineups. Huberdeau has registered three points over his last four games and is due for a good shooting performance as he has only attempted only three shots over his last four games.
• Oliver Bjorkstrand, CBJ ($4,400 DK/ $5,400 FD) - Bjorkstrand is one of the more overlooked wingers in the league and really will draw better overall matchups as teams will focus on the Blue Jackets top line which features talents like Patrick Laine and Cam Atkinson. Bjorkstrand has produced 12 points in 15 games so far this season and has notched a point in three out of his four most recent games played.

Other wings to consider: Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Forsberg, Marner, Svechnikov, Hornqvist, Gaudreau, Arvidsson, Nylander, Keller, Niederreiter, Mangiapane, Kessel, Drouin, McGinn

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• Victor Hedman, TBL ($7,100 DK / $7,200 FD) - Hedman is playing at an above point-per-game pace and has recorded two assists in back-to-back games. He has one of the highest ceilings of all of the defensemen in the league and has multiple ways of hitting value. Florida has been one to attack with rostering defenseman so this seems like a no-brainer to consider Hedman in all formats.
• Seth Jones, CBJ ($5,000 DK / $5,100 FD) - The pricing on Seth Jones remains to stay low on DK which is a benefit to all of us! Jones is riding a five-game point streak and during those five games, he is producing close to five peripheral stats per game.
• Erik Cernak, TBL ($2,800 DK / $3,500 FD) - A cheaper option to consider on the slate at the defenseman position is Erik Cernak. Cernak is seeing close to 18 minutes of ice time per game and while he doesn't rack up points like other Lightning defensemen, he does a good job creating a good fantasy floor by taking a few shots and blocking a few shots per game.

Other defensemen to consider: Josi, Petry, Ellis, Giordano, McAvoy, Pulock, Andersson, McDonagh, Yandle, Weegar, Edler, Djoos, Romanov, Miller

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL ($8,300 DK / $8,700 FD) - Vasilevskiy suffered his arguably worst loss of the season against Florida on Thursday night as he allowed four goals on 28 shot attempts. Vasilevskiy has been a rock in net for the Lightning as he is 8-2-1 with a 2.00 goals allowed average and a .929 save percentage in 11 games started. The Panthers have some offensive firepower as they average 3.3 goals per game and 31.6 shots per game but if Vasilevskiy can limit Florida to two to three goals this game, he will put himself in a great position to collect another win.
• Jacob Markstrom, CGY ($8,100 DK / $8,300 FD) - Markstrom might be my own personal favorite goalie choice on this slate. He is 3-0 against the Canucks this season and is carrying a 1.00 goals allowed average and a .968 save percentage against them. On the season, Markstrom is 7-3-1 with a 2.36 goals allowed average while also holding a .921 save percentage. Vancouver is scoring 2.9 goals per game and taking 30.5 shots per game so Markstrom is certainly in a position to see a high shot volume while being able to hold the Canucks to a low goal total.
• Kevin Lankinen, CHI ($7,700 DK / $8,300 FD) - The Blackhawks have been somewhat surprising on the defensive end this season and part of their success has come from the great play of Kevin Lankinen in net. Lankinen is 5-2-3 with a 2.55 goals allowed average and a .924 save percentage and has won two of his last three games started. He was roughed up against the Blue Jackets on Thursday night but could be a bounce-back candidate for tournament builds due to his solid overall play and that Chicago will have the line matching advantage as they will be the home team.

Other goalies to consider: Price, Greiss

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 incase he gives up a few goals while that opposing team carries lower ownership.

Favorite NHL DFS Line Stacks

• CHI 1
  • DeBrincat/ Suter/ Kane (Keith, D-men add on)
    • The Blackhawks top line has done very well so far this season and with DeBrincat sliding back up to the top forward line, it only makes that line more lethal when it comes to producing goals. This line is carrying a 2.63 expected goals for rate while generating 29.75 scoring chances and 10.45 high danger opportunities per 60 minutes of ice time. The Kane line saw a bunch of the Blue Jackets' bottom-six forwards and generated a 75 corsi for rate while generating six scoring chances and one high-danger opportunity during their game against Columbus on Thursday night.
• CGY 2
  • Gaudreau/ Monahan/ Bennett 
    • The Flames second line featuring Monahan and Gaudreau hasn't been the best line to use this season but they have had some strong moments against the Canucks that make them viable on this slate. That duo is carrying a 2.84 expected goals for rate while generating 31.43 scoring chances and 9.24 high danger opportunities against Vancouver this season through 32 total minutes of ice time. The pricing on both is extremely soft on DK and makes for a great mini-stack that carries some high-upside for tournament builds.

Other Stacks to consider: NSH 1, DAL 1, MTL 1, TBL 1, CBJ 2, CGY 3

SuperDraft NHL DFS Picks

C: Point (1.X), Bergeron (1.45X), Monahan (1.7X), Duchene (1.95X)

W: Kane (1.15X), Marchand (1.45X), Gaudreau (1.55X), DeBrincat (1.7X)

D: Hamilton (1.25X),  Josi (1.35X), Jones (1.55X), Rielly (1.8X)

G: Vasilevskiy (1.25X), Markstrom (1.3X), Greiss (1.6X)

*Core 4 for SuperDraft are Bolded

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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