NHL DFS Power Play for FanDuel, DraftKings: DFS Value Plays, Goalies Matrix, Stacks (8/9)

Welcome, RotoBallers. Hockey is one of my favorite sports to watch and play from a DFS perspective 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 for Sunday, August 9th, 2020 at 12:00 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 8/9

• Boston Bruins (-135) vs. Washington Capitals (+115)
• Dallas Stars (+120) vs. St. Louis Blues (-140)
• Columbus Blue Jackets (+135) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-155)

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 so for example, the Islanders GA and SA will get matched with the Panthers GF and SF.

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.

NHL DFS Core Four

The Core 4 picks are to help you construct your cash game lineups while also giving you plays that you can use and build around in GPPs. Stacking is critical in NHL DFS so you might want to pair these suggestions with a linemate or two, especially when building your tournament lineups.

1) DFS Center: Auston Matthews ($8,300 DK/ $8,800 FD)

After a slow start to the series against Columbus, Matthews has kicked it into another gear as he has produced six points over his last three games played. In his most recent game, Matthews took 10 shots and saw 28 minutes of ice time which is tremendous. It is hard to imagine fading him in cash games as he carries the highest upside on the slate based on the matchup and recent form that he has shown.

Other Top Center Plays: 

• Patrice Bergeron ($7,300/ $7,400 FD)
• John Tavares ($6,400 DK/ $7,300 FD)
• Ryan O’Reilly ($5,000 DK/ $6,600 FD)

2) DFS Winger: David Pastrnak ($7,500 DK/ $8,500 FD)

Since the postseason began, the top line of the Bruins has been relatively quiet from a goal-scoring perspective. David Pastrnak is the main goal-scoring leader for the Bruins as he has 95 points on the season and has gone two straight games without a point. He has done some damage against Washington this year as he has posted five points in just three games during the regular season. With him being under $8,000, Pastrnak looks to be a top play on this slate due to his goal-scoring upside.

Other Top Winger Plays: 

• Alex Ovechkin($8,200/ $8,400 FD)
• Cam Atkinson ($6,500/ $7,400 FD)
• Mitch Marner($6,000 / $7,600 FD)

3) DFS Defenseman: Seth Jones ($5,800 DK / $5,100 FD)

While Seth Jones has been relatively quiet from a scoring perspective, he has made up for it in ice time and peripheral stats. So far in the series against Toronto, he has seen over 26 minutes of ice time while racking up 15 blocked shots and six shots on goal. With this being the final game of the series, it is hard to imagine that Jones will not be out there trying to make plays.

Other Defenseman Plays: 

• Alex Pietrangelo ($6,200 DK/ $5,600 FD)
• Morgan Reilly ($5,100 DK/ $5,400 FD)
• Colton Parayko ($5,500 DK/ $5,200 FD)

4) DFS Goalie: Frederik Andersen ($8,000 DK/ $7,700 FD)

From a DFS goaltender standpoint, Andersen has been one of the top performers of the postseason. Even when he has allowed three or four goals, he has seen an insane volume which has helped make up for the goals allowed. This series with Columbus has been back and forth with tremendous goaltending and both goalies are in play with Andersen being the safer choice.

Other Goalie Options:

• Jake Allen ($7,800 DK/ $1,000 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Center

• Pierre-Luc Dubois ($4,800 DK/ $6,000 FD)
• Joe Pavelski ($4,200 DK/ $5,200 FD)
• David Krejci ($3,500 DK/ $4,800 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Wing

• Ondrej Kase ($3,800 DK/ $3,400 FD)
• Roope Hintz ($4,200 DK/ $5,000 FD)
• Kasperi Kapanen ($3,700 DK/ $3,800 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Defensemen

• Charlie McAvoy ($4,300 DK/ $4,900 FD)
• Vladislav Gavrikov ($3,500 DK/ $3,600 FD)
• David Savard ($3,900/ $3,800 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Goalie

• Joonas Korpisalo($7,200 DK/ $7,200 FD)

Top Team and Line DFS Stacks

Boston Bruins (L1)

The Bruins have been sluggish offensively to start the postseason and with Washington missing some key pieces, this seems to be a great spot to look at using the Bruins offense, especially their top line. This line has combined for 102 even strength points scored and should draw a favorable matchup since they are controlling the line matching for being the home team. While Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Marchand are all higher-priced, it could drive down ownership a tad making them a great tournament stack.

Toronto (L1)

Toronto had a remarkable comeback Friday night as they climbed back from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime. One of the main reasons they were able to climb back in and win was the late game strategy of pairing Matthews with both Mitch Marner and John Tavares which resulted in two of the four goals scored. Toronto might still elect to roll with Zach Hyman on the top line to start out but it would not surprise anyone if they decided to roll the dice and bring in this strong trio later on in the game. They also correlate together on the top power-play line and should be considered as a viable tournament stack on this slate. 

Other Stacks that could be lower owned:  CBJ (L1), STL L(2)

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