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Get today's top DraftKings daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for October 14, 2025. Doug's expert NHL DFS goalies picks, value plays, stacks, and power play picks.
The whole week of the NHL season is complete, and we finally have ourselves a normal slate size. It’s not too small, not too big; eight games is just right. Half of the games start in the early window, highlighted by teams like Tampa Bay, Edmonton, and Toronto. The second half of games in the late window will feature Vegas, Carolina, and the plucky Anaheim Ducks.
As it is every Tuesday, DraftKings has its best prize pools of the week. The biggest tournament is the $100k Kick Save, a $15 entry contest with a $25,000 first prize. The $5 Poke Check has a $10,000 first prize, and three other tournaments priced at $12 or less have a $2,000 top prize, including the $5 One-Timer single-entry contest. There is a lot of money to be won tonight, so let’s get it!
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 Tuesday, October 14, 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.
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NHL DFS Analysis And Picks For 10/14/25
Tampa Bay Lightning (TB1 - Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel; $20800 DK)
Defensive Addition: Victor Hedman ($5900 DK)
Tonight, the Lightning head into Washington to take on a Capitals defense that has holes, the biggest of which is their defensive pairing of Matt Roy and Rasmus Sandin. They have been one of the more generous duos early this season, allowing 3.62 expected goals, 42.09 scoring chances, and 15.03 high-danger chances per 60 minutes. High-danger shots are what’s going to hurt them the most, as goalie Logan Thompson has saved just 77.8% of those shots at home over the team’s previous 15 games.
Tampa Bay is a powerhouse, but its top line hasn’t yet broken out this season. Through three games, the trio of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Brandon Hagel has combined for just three goals and four assists. We’ve seen single games where this line has exceeded those numbers, and it’s only a matter of time before it happens. The team has played well on the road over its prior 10 games dating back to last year, with a 2.89 xGF/60 (expected goals for per 60 minutes).
Vegas Golden Knights (VGK2 - Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev, Brandon Saad; $15200 DK)
Defensive Addition: Shea Theodore ($5700 DK)
The Calgary Flames have been one of the worst defenses in the NHL this season. Through three games, they’ve allowed 12 goals, with no games of fewer than three goals allowed. Goalie Dustin Wolf has saved more than 90% of the shots he’s faced just once this year, and dating back to last year, he’s allowed 2.73 goals per 60 minutes and saved just 77.7% of the high-danger shots he’s faced over the team’s previous 15 games.
The team’s defensive pairing of Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl has been awful. They were the most generous duo on the team last season, and this year they’ve allowed 3.01 expected goals, 30.35 scoring chances, and 13.66 high-danger chances per 60 minutes at home. They should spend the majority of their ice time facing off against the second line for Vegas, which includes Pavel Dorofeyev and his league-leading five goals.
Brandon Saad and Tomas Hertl haven’t kept pace with Dorofeyev as he’s done most of his work on the power play, but any time you play on a line with someone as dangerous as him, your chances of tallying goals and assists increase. This is not an overly expensive stack, which will allow you to pair them with many other teams in a balanced lineup, rather than a stars-and-scrubs configuration.
Pavel Dorofeyev comes back with a wicked wrister of his own 🎯 pic.twitter.com/ubiS2DKwoT
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) October 9, 2025
Anaheim Ducks (ANH1 - Chris Kreider, Alex Killorn, Leo Carlsson; $15300 DK)
Defensive Addition: Jackson LaCombe ($4700 DK)
This is the third game the Ducks have played this year, and it’s the third time they’ve featured in this article. We expected them to be a high-volume team, and they’ve come through so far, averaging a league-leading 39.5 shots on goal per game. Anaheim may not win a ton of games due to its poor defense, but this offense is one to watch all year, thanks to its aggressive nature.
We’ve focused on their young second line for their first two games, but tonight we will stack their veteran-laden top line. Chris Kreider, Alex Killorn, and Leo Carlsson have started the year well, combining for 24 shots, four goals, and two assists in just two games.
Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry has struggled on the road over the team’s prior 15 games, allowing 3.88 goals and saving just 74% of the high-danger shots he’s faced. Pittsburgh’s defense in front of Jarry isn’t robust, allowing 3.12 expected goals and 12.86 high-danger chances per 60 minutes over their past ten road games dating back to last year. Anaheim should feast, and given the other “bigger” names on this slate, should come in at a low ownership; perfect for tournaments.
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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
Montreal Canadiens (MTL2 - Kirby Dach, Brendan Gallagher, Zack Bolduc; $10500 DK)
Zack Bolduc, in his first year with the Canadiens after coming over from St. Louis, has scored in each of the team’s first three games this season. He’s been surprisingly aggressive, taking at least three shots on goal in every game so far. Linemates Brendan Gallagher and Kirby Dach have benefitted from Bolduc’s production, combining for four assists this year.
That makes them worthwhile additions to your Canadiens stack, despite them only combining for three shots on goal on the season. You could also add in defender Mike Matheson, who has assisted on one of Bolduc’s goals and has also chipped in with eight SABS (shots and blocked shots) on the year, averaging 8.2 DraftKings points per game.
Montreal’s second line is appealing because they’ll be going up against Seattle’s worst defensive pairings, who happen to be one of the worst in the league this year: Brandon Montour and Ryan Lindgren. They’ve combined to allow 3.53 expected goals, 43.58 scoring chances, and a whopping 22.74 high-danger chances per 60 minutes on the year.
My latest article for @TheHockeyNews is about Zack Bolduc being on his way to make history: https://t.co/8p8J8dgRFR #GoHabsGo #CH #Canadiens #Habs #THN
— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) October 12, 2025
NHL DFS Goalie to Target
Adin Hill (VGK - $8200 DK)
Vegas goalie Adin Hill has been a brick wall on the road over the team’s past 15 games, dating back to last year, giving up just 0.97 goals, while saving 96% of the shots he’s faced, including 88% of the high-danger shots that have come his way. He struggled in the first game of the season for Vegas, at home, allowing five goals, but then came back strong to give up just two goals in Seattle on Saturday.
The Flames have scored just 2.32 goals per 60 minutes at home over their last ten games, dating back to last season. This year, they’ve scored just three total goals in their previous two games after scoring four in their first game of the year. Calgary doesn’t take a ton of shots per game, nor does Vegas allow all that many, but given how Hill has played on the road, he’s still worth a look in cash games at his price point.
Others in consideration: Jake Oettinger (DAL), Igor Shesterkin (NYR)
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