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Get today's top DraftKings daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for October 30, 2025. Doug's expert NHL DFS goalies picks, value plays, stacks, and power play picks.
An 11-game slate seems tiny compared to the monstrosity that was Tuesday’s 16-game Frozen Frenzy. Tonight doesn’t have as much hype, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a slate worth playing. Dallas facing Tampa Bay and the Rangers heading to Edmonton are the two premium games on the slate, but don’t sleep on Pittsburgh and Minnesota as one of the potentially crazier games.
DraftKings continues to give some love to the Thursday slates, with no fewer than six tournaments priced at $20 or less having a top prize of at least $1,000. The $20-entry Cross Check has only 176 spots, with a five-max entry, and is your best bet to join the “Comma Club”. The $5 single-entry One Timer is a little more economical, with only 951 entries and a $1,000 top prize. I’ll see you there!
I aim to help you narrow your plays to get the most bang for your DFS buck. NHL Premium members can find members of the RotoBaller NHL family on Discord, where our chat is always active. I'll bring my NHL lineup picks, analysis, and advice for NHL DFS contests on DraftKings for Thursday, October 30, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Be sure also to check out RotoBaller's awesome NHL tools, including our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, and Heat Map.
NHL DFS Analysis And Picks For 10/30/25
New Jersey Devils (NJD1 - Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, Ondrej Palat; $18400 DK)
Defensive Addition: Dougie Hamilton ($6400 DK)
The two stacks I like the most tonight are Pittsburgh’s second line (more on them below) and the top line for the New Jersey Devils. The team has been incredibly on the road this year, scoring 3.55 even-strength goals per 60 minutes. Jack Hughes can produce anywhere, while wingers Jesper Bratt and Ondrej Palat are averaging more fantasy points on the road than at home.
Defender Dougie Hamilton, who plays on the top power play line with Hughes and Bratt, is starting to heat up with double-digit DraftKings points in four of his previous five games. A lot of this upswing in production can be traced back to him being awarded the blocked shot bonus (three or more blocked shots) in four straight games before Tuesday. He’s a must with your Devils stack.
The Sharks continue to be one of the best teams to pick on for DFS. They have allowed 3.79 even-strength goals and 14.41 high-danger chances per 60 minutes at home. Goalie Yaroslav Askarov has allowed four or more goals in six of his seven starts this season, which gives the Devils one of the highest expected floors on the slate.
There were 109 goals scored during yesterday’s Frozen Frenzy.
Jack Hughes had the prettiest of them all.
— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) October 29, 2025
Winnipeg Jets (WPG1 - Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi; $20700 DK)
Defensive Addition: Josh Morrissey ($6100 DK)
The Chicago Blackhawks have been playing at an unsustainably high level on defense away from home this year, yet some cracks are starting to show. On Tuesday night, goalie Spencer Knight allowed three goals and saved fewer than 90% of the shots he faced for the first time since October 11.
Advanced data is showing that he’s allowed 1.39 fewer goals per game than expected on the road, a number that is bound to turn around. The defensive pairing of Sam Rinzel and Alex Vlasic has played well to start the year, but their numbers are trending downwards. They’ve allowed 2.82 expected goals and 31.44 scoring chances per 60 minutes on the road and are prime for the taking.
Winnipeg Defender Josh Morrissey started the year slowly, scoring double-digit fantasy points just twice in the team’s first seven games, but he’s turned that around over his past three games. In that time, he’s averaged 20 DraftKings points per game, with a floor of 14.9 points.
The six combined goals and assists he’s had in those three games are three times more than the two he produced through the season’s first seven games. With Morrissey getting hot as the quarterback on the power play, that will help set up the rest of the offense.
Not surprisingly, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Gabriel Vilardi have combined for 12 goals and assists in the three games since Morrissey’s turnaround. Maybe I’d give Chicago a little bit of leeway with the way they are playing on defense against most other teams, but Winnipeg is one of the best offenses in the league, and I want to be on the right side of variance when Knight and the Blackhawks get caved for seven goals.
Boston Bruins (BOS1 - David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, Morgan Geekie; $19300 DK)
Defensive Addition: Charlie McAvoy ($5100 DK)
Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has started only one game this year, but it wasn't a good one, as he allowed four goals on just 22 shots to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s not like any of the other goalies on Buffalo have been any good, with the team giving up 3.43 even-strength goals per 60 minutes on the road.
Their defense pairing of Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson hasn’t played a ton of minutes together, but when they have, it’s been bad. They have allowed 3.92 expected goals and 13.69 high-danger chances per 60 minutes at home, rates that were equally bad when Dahlin was paired with Bowen Byram.
Dahlin is a defender you want to attack when he’s facing a premium line. The word premium is perfect to describe David Pastrnak, who continues to be one of the best fantasy players in the league. Pasta hasn’t completely exploded this year, but he does have a combined 15 goals and assists in 12 games, averaging just under 15 DraftKings points per game.
Morgan Geekie is the most pleasant surprise on the team, averaging over 10 fantasy points per game this year on the strength of eight goals and an average of over three shots on goal per game. With guys like Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm setting him up, Geekie is an excellent play at just $5,200.
Want more NHL DFS tools and content? Our NHL Premium package includes our daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Research Station, Lineup Optimizer, and access to our VIP Discord Chatrooms. Doug Shain (@BanksterDFS) joined the NHL team in 2023 with his proven track record - join in on the winning!
Back-to-back @DraftKings Fantasy Hockey World Championship trips! Let’s get the main prize this year! Thank you to @banksterdfs for the amazing daily fantasy content! @NHL pic.twitter.com/dONSvJMtIR
— 🇺🇦Shockmain (@Shockmain) January 6, 2023
NHL DFS Value Stack of the Night
Pittsburgh Penguins (PIT2 - Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Mantha, Justin Brazeau; $11700 DK)
How in the world are Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau both still priced at a combined $6,500? They have averaged 22.3 DraftKings points per game, with each having scored at least 10 DraftKings points six times in 11 games. For comparison’s sake, there are 11 players individually priced at $6,000 or more today who average fewer than Brazeau’s 12.3 fantasy points per game.
The mini-stack of Mantha and Brazeau is the best value in DFS right now. Veteran Evgeni Malkin is priced at just $5,200, and he’s third in the NHL in combined goals and assists with 16. Getting this trio for just $11,700 feels like stealing.
This is particularly true tonight as they’ll face off against a Minnesota squad that has allowed 13.96 high-danger chances and 2.99 expected goals per 60 minutes at home. Their defensive pairing of Jared Spurgeon and Jacob Middleton has been the most generous, allowing 3.74 expected goals, 35.65 scoring chances, and 14.4 high-danger chances per 60 minutes at home.
Goalie Filip Gustavsson has saved just 73% of the high-danger shots he’s faced at home. This is a perfect storm for Pittsburgh’s second line, who happen to pair very nicely with all of our top stacks of the night.
Justin Brazeau - Pittsburgh Penguins (6) pic.twitter.com/XNUKZC0uq5
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 29, 2025
NHL DFS Goalie to Target
Dan Vladar (PHI - $8000 DK)
Dan Vladar has been an under-the-radar stud in net for the Flyers this year. He’s started five games and hasn’t given up more than two goals in any. He’s also saved over 91% of the shots he’s faced each time out, including a stellar 87.5% of the high-danger shots that have come his way. That kind of poise under pressure will be needed tonight against a Nashville offense that has averaged over 12 high-danger chances per 60 minutes on the road.
Vladar hasn’t shown a massive ceiling yet this year due to a low shot volume against him. He’s seen more than 30 shots just twice, but his floor has consistently been at least 13 DraftKings points, so we pretty much know what we’re getting when we click his name. That makes Vladar an ideal cash game option on a slate where high-end goalies playing well are hard to find.
Others in consideration: Tristan Jarry (PIT), Jeremy Swayman (BOS), Connor Hellebuyck (WPG), Thatcher Demko (VAN), Igor Shesterkin (NYR)
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