NHL DFS Power Play for FanDuel, DraftKings: DFS Value Plays, Goalies Matrix, Stacks (8/13)

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 Thursday, August 13th, 2020 at 3:00 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 8/13

• Columbus Blue Jackets (+150) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (-170)
• Chicago Blackhawks (+175) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (-210)
• Carolina Hurricanes (+125) vs. Boston Bruins (-145)
• Calgary Flames (-115) vs. Dallas Stars (-105)

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: Brayden Point ($6,100 DK/ $7,700 FD)

Brayden Point had himself a game the other night as he registered two goals with one of them being the game-winning goal in an instant classic against Columbus. Point took nine shots on goal and had 33.5 DK points which is every NHL DFS player's dream from their center. Point has registered five points over his last four games and is looking like he is getting more involved on the offensive end with Stamkos out. Point looks viable in all formats and will be a popular play based on price and upside.

Other Top Center Plays: 

• Patrice Bergeron ($7,400/ $7,300 FD)
• William Karlsson ($6,200 DK/ $5,900 FD)
• Sebastian Aho ($7,200 DK/ $7,700 FD)

2) DFS Winger: Jonathan Marchessault ($6,100 DK/ $ FD)

Marchessault has been very steady the past two games as he has averaged 22.5 DK points and five shots per game over that mini stretch. In that same span, he has also recorded four points with it including two goals and two assists. While Marchessault is not on the top line, he is the prominent scoring figure on the second line and also sees time on the top powerplay line so he will see plnty of chances against Chicago.

Other Top Winger Plays: 

• David Pastrnak ($7,800/ $8,500 FD)
• Nikita Kucherov ($5,800 / $8,400 FD)
• Max Pacioretty ($7,400 / $7,400 FD)

3) DFS Defenseman: Shea Theodore ($6,600 DK / $6,100 FD)

Shea Theodore is riding a nice little three-game hot streak and he doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. He is averaging 23.8 DK points over his last three games and has taken a total of 14 shots during that span. He is seeing over 23 minutes of ice-time and has recorded five points in that three-game stretch so he is carrying serious upside and could be the top defenseman on the slate. Theodore is viable in all formats and could be rolled out in lineups on both sites with confidence.

Other Defenseman Plays: 

• Victor Hedman ($5,600 DK/ $6,400 FD)
• Zach Werenski ($5,200 DK/ $5,900 FD)
• Dougie Hamilton ($6,200 DK/ $5,700 FD)

4) DFS Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy  ($8,100 DK/ $9,000 FD)

While Korpisalo was setting records on Tuesday night, Vasilevskiy was calmly matching save for save as he notched 61 of 63 saves that he faced and recorded the win. Vasilevskiy registered 44.7 DK points and had a .968 save percentage in what was one of the most impressive goalie battles that we have seen in quite some time.  This was a big win for Tampa as they were swept 4-0 last year by this same Columbus team so they will be riding a nice wave of momentum into their next game which could have a positive effect on Vasilevskiy.

Other Goalie Options:

• Robin Lehner  ($8,300 DK/ $8,400 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Center

• Joe Pavelski ($4,000 DK/ $5,300 FD)
• Mikael Backlund ($4,800 DK/ $5,600 FD)
• Vincent Trocheck ($4,400 DK/ $5,000 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Wing

• Reilly Smith ($5,000 DK/ $5,600 FD)
• Ondrej Kase ($4,400 DK/ $3,400 FD)
• Denis Gurianov ($3,300 DK/ $3,900 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Defensemen

• David Savard ($4,100 DK/ $3,900 FD)
• Ryan McDonagh ($3,500 DK/ $4,100 FD)
• Noah Hanifan ($3,300/ $3,900 FD)

DFS Value Plays: Goalie

• Joonas Korpisalo ($7,300 DK/ $7,400 FD)
• Petr Mrazek ($7,500 DK/ $7,300 FD)

Top Team and Line DFS Stacks

Vegas Golden Knights (L1, PP1, L2)

 Vegas ended up going off for four goals in their first game against Chicago and we could see a similar result as we look at game 2. Vegas dominated the puck possession in their first matchup as they posted a 57.14 corsi for percentage at even strength and 10 high danger chances throughout the game. The top two lines for Vegas really stood out and played well as they combined to have a 66 corsi for rating while generating 11 total scoring chances. Both lines are viable yet again on this slate and mini-stacks could be used in cash games. 

Tampa Bay Lightning (L1, L2, PP1)

Just like we saw in the opening round qualifier, Columbus hung in and upset Toronto partly due to their tough overall defensive play. Tampa was able to generate plenty of scoring chances throughout their eight periods of play as they racked up 88 total scoring chances and were able to only convert on three of those. What really stands out is that their top line dominated the corsi stat with a 73.97 corsi rating and generated 24 scoring chances throughout the game. They are a great tournament stack as Korpisalo has the ability to limit the Lightning's scoring ability but with the number of chances that they were able to generate, that is where the true upside lies!

Other Stacks that could be lower owned:  BOS (L1, L2), CAR (L1), CBJ (L1)

NHL Player News and Updates

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis